BRITISH FRIESIANS EARN THEIR KEEP AT GOONHILLY
ABOVE The Goonhilly herd graze from February to mid-December.
LEFT James Tripconey has more than 20 cows in the Goonhilly herd over £200 PLI.
milk quality as our milk is sold to Arla for making Cornish clotted cream. The Friesian suits our grassland farm, providing long lasting easy managed cows”. Blackisle Glen Albyn has bred very well for the Tripconeys, producing five Excellent cows including the fantastic ninth calved cows Goonhilly Glen Yasmin BFE92 and Goonhilly Glen Zara BFE92. Deangate Centurion and Winnoch
he Goonhilly herd of Friesians is one the highest indexing herds in the country with more than 20 cows over £200 PLI. James and Clare Tripconey are milking 150 cows on their tenanted 240-acre grassland farm at Roses Farm, Blackrock, Camborne, Cornwall. James aims to keep the cows outside from February to mid December, with the use of fodder crops from October. Most of the cows calve between 1st October and the end of December and the current herd average is 6700kg at 4.21%bf and 3.45%p, with a calving interval of 382 days (and an impressive 67% in calf to first service).
T
Male calves are raised for beef and sold as two-year old steers, having had two summers at grass. With a very low replacement rate the herd sells surplus heifers privately.
James has always been interested in pedigree breeding and in 2010 he registered the Goonhilly prefix and started grading up the herd. The high standard of the cows has produced some tremen- dous classification results, with more than 20 cows having been scored excellent on the Friesian scheme.
“I’m looking for very good udders, legs and feet when I select which bulls to use,” says James. “I’m also keen to breed for high
104 THE JOURNAL FEBRUARY 2015
Officer have also bred well, combining high production with good conformation. Officer has sired two EX and six VG daughters and one of the herd’s top pro- duction cows is Goonhilly Officer Tamsyn that has averaged more than 9000kg for her last four lactations.
“I’m pleased with the Centurion daughters. I’ve used two of his sons, Catlane Chad and Catlane Snowstorm and the Officer daughters have developed into tremendous cows – improving as they got older.” Tittenser Hylke has made a massive impact on the herd, siring eight EX and 11 VG daughters. Goonhilly Hyl Laura BFE93, Goonhilly Hyl Fuschia BFE92, Goonhilly Hyl Maureen BFE92, Goonhilly Hyl Winnie BFE91 and Goonhilly Hyl Annie 2 BFE91 all have PLI figures over £200 and combine high production with fantastic type. Goonhilly Hyl Maureen BFE92 is the dam
of Goonhilly Top Maureen BFV85, a promising young cow by
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132