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
In early March I was
fortunate to be invited to HSBC’s International
Women’s Day event at the Hardwick Restaurant, Abergavenny. It was nice to have a day away from the farm discussing topics other than milk prices and weather. Guest speakers included Elin Rhys, managing director of Telesgop multimedia production company, Simon Wright, food writer and broadcaster and Jonathan Lloyd-Davies, master fl orist. I thoroughly enjoyed myself with great company. The following day Gareth, who helps at Gatrog, was tied up with other arrangements as he was getting married. We had a wonderful day at the wedding and his bride Ffi on looked beautiful. On the cattle front we had three sets of twins in
March...none of which were both heifers which is typical. Although some heifers that are twin to bulls go on to breed, it is always a risk and with individual pens fi lling up we decided not to keep them. We have had several Gen-I-Beq Sammy calves and are fortunate to have two heifers calved from the Erle family, one out of Llan Talent Erle and the other Gatrog Llan Goldwyn Erle. These calves are strong, aggressive eaters and a pleasure to work with.
Anwen is a keen rugby player and supporter and her birthday fell the day before the Irish match at Cardiff. I managed to get three tickets and so together with Elwyn’s sister Marian we went to Millenium Stadium. I was on the edge of my seat for the whole 80
minutes...along with jumping up and down – what a match. We were surrounded by lots of Irish supporters who provided good banter. Back at home, fertiliser was spread on the 16th
March and although
sunny it was cold. Seasons don’t seem to exist anymore and as farmers we are faced with challenging decisions all the time – if only the weather could be on our side. Cows were turned out at the beginning of April with high yielders being kept in at night, with the milk price as it stands it was nice to see them grazing outdoors. The Welsh Celtic Dairy Showcase was soon upon us yet again. We had a successful show with our two entries both winning their classes, the fi fth calved Weeton Golden A Oralie and the freshly calved second lactation Cramar Sid Cherry. Cherry stood top of a strong class of seven three year olds in milk before taking the reserve championship behind Sahara Atwood Ambrosia 5. The Welsh equivalent of WI known as ‘Clwb Gwawr’ were meeting at the beginning of April and, as it was my turn to organise a day out, we went to a dairy farm on the outskirts of St Clears. Not for a farm walk but to one of the outbuildings that has been converted to a spa and health facility known as Llety Cynnin. After a massage and facial I was totally relaxed and ready for afternoon tea. What a treat, I was ready to face the cows the following morning and any challenges that lay ahead.
Elwyn was fortunate to be asked to judge the
Western Holstein Show in April. As we don’t get much chance for the three of us to be away at the same time we took the opportunity to go with him. It was a great display of cows and Elwyn really enjoyed his evening judging. The next morning we had the opportunity to have a lie in, but my alarm went off on my mobile at 4.30am. Not impressed – but I only had myself to blame. Then an hour later Elwyn’s phone made a noise – milk quality results – so much for a long lie.
During the Easter holidays I was invited to Iwan Morgan from Erie Holsteins’ future wife Menna’s Hen Party. We all got our creative skills fl owing and made Easter bonnets. It is funny how you don’t see some people for months on end and then suddenly you see them all the time – sorry Jill George from Brynhyfryd Holsteins...HSBC day out, Western Show and then Menna’s Hen Party ... great company. Youngstock were turned out to some rented land a few miles away on April 23rd
and it was nice to
see the sheds empty and heifers enjoying being out at grass. I got the job of travelling in the lorry and couldn’t help noticing that everywhere looked bare, as if the trees had been felled and cleared. But then it dawned on me, I wasn’t used to being so high up in a lorry. Iwan and Menna’s wedding was another day out and what a day, great weather and fabulous food. Menna looked stunning. We had great company on our table, Jill and Michael George (Brynhyfryd), Elaine (Maesyrafon) and Robin Phillips, Audrey and Sion Davies (Praire) and Susan and Mark Knutsford (Riverdane), it was very enjoyable.
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 55kg 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.
108 THE JOURNAL JUNE 2015
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