Parlour patter with the... THOMAS FAMILY
Cheryl Thomas of Gelligatrog, Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire, runs 160 cows under the Gatrog prefi x, alongside husband Elwyn and daughter Anwen
Silage time was upon us
again as we starting mowing on May 10th
.
We did have some rain during cutting, but managed a dry sunny day on harvesting. Silage making can be challenging at times and I do praise contractors that work long hours to keep us farmers happy.
In May I was asked to speak to a local senior citizens club in my home village of Bancyfelin. This was an enjoyable afternoon spent with a few local characters present. At the end of my speech, one lady did comment that she was so glad that she hadn’t married a farmer, something I wonder about at times too! During May and June, we exhibited Cramar Sid Cherry at three local shows, St Clears, Cothi Bridge and Llanddarog. She gained supreme champion at the fi rst two shows, but Anwen took the limelight at Llanddarog with her Jersey third calver Bluegrass Regans Royal Sahara taking supreme and champion of the fi eld. The end of May took us to Staffordshire County Show as Elwyn was judging the Holstein section. A great day was had with high standard of cattle forward, many thanks to Bev Cope for looking after me. June always means one thing to me – Race 4 Life, this must have been my eighth year taking part. Each year I tell myself to train, but this never materialises and I always end up with sore legs for days. Anwen fi nished well ahead of myself and she was fi t as a fi ddle the day after. What it is to be young.
In the time since my last article we’ve experienced yet again another milk price drop. Going back 20 years we were having roughly the same for our milk, red diesel was 10p/litre, concentrates £120/ton, there was less red tape and paperwork and fewer people living off the cow. How does this make sense? No other industry would tolerate such circumstances and it infuriates me to hear people saying they would pay more for milk in the shops. So why are the supermarkets getting away with day-light robbery? We have been talking for more than a year at Gelligatrog about the state of our current parlour and cubicles. Eventually we decided if we were to stay in the dairy industry, we needed to invest in a new parlour and housing shed.
Milk prices have dropped since the project started hence our mixed feelings of excitement and worry. We both love working with cows, but the current state of the industry does make us wonder if we have made the right decision. We managed to squeeze second cut silage into the end of June and
were lucky to get it in dry. I can’t remember making it as early as this in the past, but time will tell if the cows like it.
In the meantime, I was asked to judge the domestic section at a local show at the start of July, something I have never done before. I love baking and have competed in the past, but judging was a fi rst. It all went well until I got to the chutneys! Fruit chutneys were fi ne, but I was glad my mother was with me to sample the vegetable ones. Another day off was had at the Great Yorkshire Show as Elwyn did his Holstein judging duties. I regard these days off as our holidays as many of you must know by now, Elwyn does not like the sand and sea, therefore, I make the most of judging days. Yet again a great turnout of cows and as Elwyn made comment about his champion; she was most probably the greatest cow he has ever judged. On a sad note I must pay tribute to my successor of The Welsh Woman Farmer of the Year Award Eleri Lloyd who sadly passed away after a brave and courageous fi ght with cancer. Eleri was an inspiration to us all and will be sadly missed. As this is my last article, I would like to thank Holstein UK for this opportunity and thank you as society members and friends for your kind remarks and feedback around the country. Hopefully, most of you have enjoyed reading what I’ve had to say and with a bit of luck things will improve in the dairy industry and we as farmers will regain the respect we deserve.
Cheryl
Herd Size: 160; Average milk yield: 10,125 litres; Farm size: 192 acres; What is in the fl ask: Iota, Mincio, Sid, Contrast, Fever, Golddust, Deman, Mardigras; Classifi cation: 47 EX, 55 VG, 23 VG heifers and 11 GP, averaging 88 points; Best cow: Weeton Golden A Oralie Ex95 and giving 55kgs a day, she is our highest classifi ed and highest production cow; TMR Ration: Wholecrop silage, fodder beet, grass silage and formulated blend; What’s on fl ush: Indianhead Rubens Rachel Red, a seventh generation EX from Sellcrest Rachel, fl ushing to Appsolute Red.
112 THE JOURNAL AUGUST 2015
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