Sunninghill Park for many will still bring memories of a wonderful AGM visit to Ascot in 1999, when John and Valerie Berry treated us "Royally" and the herd of 120 cows were on display in the parkland setting. The herd was the highest yielding in the land and were based on classical breeding lines in that John, one of the old school still put his faith in sons of his best cows, and occasionally a son of a good cow purchased elsewhere but brought home to prove herself at Sunninghill Park.
Sunninghill Park today is a herd of over 400 milking cows, of which John Berry's herd formed the nucleus, transported to the other end of the country in Cumbria. I found myself this week standing in the midst of this herd with John Berry, on a beautiful summers day with Guernsey cows all around us and a magnificent view across rolling countryside. John as those who know him will appreciate was typically generous in his praise. "Marvellous, absolutely marvellous, hello old girl," as another of his cows appeared from amongst the multitude.
Who is behind this transformation, the front man is Frank Thomlinson, but make no mistake, this is still very much a family operation, with brother David and his two sons Michael and Chris, all involved in the twice daily milking operation. The Thomlinson's had the devastation of Foot & Mouth disease and lost 270 quality Holsteins, after the cleansing and disinfection and the re-introduction of Sentinel stock, the family were considering their options, when they saw an advert for the Sunninghill Park Guernseys.
Frank travelled down to Ascot, had a good look, phoned his brother from the middle of the field and agreed the deal there and then. It took a further six months before the cows could move to Cumbria, and in the meantime the Brea Vean Herd from Cornwall and the Coach Road herd from Cheshire were also purchased and these 270 cows all travelled in January 2002 to start a new chapter in the Guernsey annals.
The Thomlinson's farm next door to the Chester family who had lost their Jersey herd to FMD, and who were also restocking' and the two herds provided an attractive pool of milk to Processor Robert Graham from Stirling in Scotland. Robert Graham who has a large Jersey herd of his own, had taken on the processing of the Gold Top milks for Highgrove Foods, both Breakfast Milk and the newly launched Gold Top in a clear plastic bottle, so as to show the creamline. This "new" product had been more successful than expected and required extra milk.
The Thomlinson's decided to increase numbers and purchased 110 cows from the Chiltern Vale herd in the spring of 2002 and then the 60 cow Aller Vale herd on Peter Mills retirement in August 2002. Since then John Berry has been active at every dispersal sale, and has tried to add the best cows from each sale to the herd in Cumbria, but admits that it is not easy to spend some one else's money!
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| Miling Parlour at Bolton Park |
The milking parlour at Bolton Park was a fairly new 16 a side herringbone parlour with concentrates fed at milking and a "TMR" based on grass silage and wholecrop wheat fed in the cubicle houses.
Milking of this number of cows was taking 3 to 4 hours at each end of the day and so in May of 2003 the parlour was extended to 25 a side reducing the milking time by one and a half hours at each end of the day.
I had the pleasure this week to help with the morning milking, and with a team of three in the pit, 366 cows went through in 2.5 hours, but do not think that the milking was rushed, you were busy but had time to check that each cow had milked clean, only 1 cow needed a kick bar and only 5 cows raised their tails, which is a testament to the quiet ways of the Thomlinson family with Mike who works the back of tbe parlour and lets the cows in calling "come on Ladies" to each batch whilst his father David works the front and makes sure that each cow is milked clean, whilst the man in the middle, on this occasion myself takes off the quick and the stale cows, to prevent any over milking. One side is filled and David will wash the udders of the first 6 and then start putting on cups, the other 2 continue washing the rest of that side and will then start putting on cups , normally working 2 or 3 cows apart, so that you are not in each others way.
Once that side are all milking, the other side are let in and the process repeated and the cups are transferred, all milk is held in jars which are above head height, and milk is manually released to the bulk tank, this allows the cowmen to see how much milk is produced and remains to me an essential pleasure of milking cows. Teats are sprayed as the units come off and the whole line is released and because of the length of the pit this would happen before the last 2 or 3 were transferred.
I was amazed at the orderly way in which the cows moved in and out with the only hiatus being at the exits when during summer the cows go left at night for the night grazing, and right during the day for the day grazing, but with 3 men in the pit this is easily sorted.On only one occasion did the smooth operation falter, and this was because the 24th cow in the line was a slow milker, and she was allowed enough time to milk out, and when suddenly a string of only 16 appeared I was surprised that they had all been through .Frank was kind enough to offer me the Relief milkers job, but I should need to leave home at 11pm the night before, to be there for a six am start!
Milking 400 cows is perhaps the "easy" part of the operation, managing the other aspects are far more difficult, and require flexibility and quick decision making, there is no doubt that in what were ideal grazing conditions this week, the cows are better at grass, but last August, the whole herd had to be brought back inside on to winter rations, for a month, as ground conditions were just too wet.
New silage pits were built in 2002 as the original pit was turned into cubicles and a feeding passage, and for this winter a shed with 120 cubicles with a suspended floor to allow storage of slurry underneath, will be available and that will allow for grouping by stage of lactation, and more efficient use of the TMR.
Frank complains that the Guernseys do not eat enough silage, having been used to Holsteins with their ever open mouths, and has an embarrassment of silage but some of this is a legacy of FMD when with the farm empty of stock grass was put into Big Bales, which were used before the pits were opened last Autumn.
Breeding policy is kept simple and echoes John Berrys philosphy, in that the best 200 cows are bred to Natural Service Sires, with the rest going to Belgian Blue, for sale at 2 to 3 weeks of age through the local markets.
The first 2 sires were purchased on the evidence of their uncalved daughters and were sons of 2 of the outstanding brood cows in the breed , though Frank did not know that at the time, and were Trewarnevas Fayette Giselle, a T Giselles Souvenir son of Laurinda, used by Francis Grose at Brea Vean, a blend of ancient and modern, and Bulkeley Bridies Lindon, a AH TF Lindon son of the oustanding Bulkeley Bridie 2, who had heifers on the ground at Sunninghill Park.
These have been followed by Easby Alacrity after he had finished collection by Genus, and he has now been replaced by .a Royal Oak son bred by Robin Jamaneau on the Island and Meadowbrook EM Rays Wizard who has also just finished semen collection.
Underpinning all of this is some top class farming with grassland in wonderful condition and every field well, fenced with every gate properly hung , and all equipment kept in first class order.
I would like to take Frank to see some of our Top herds, but he is very busy as he has a passion for Sheep, and when not milking or feeding his heifer calves all of which he feeds by hand from quart bottles on whole milk., is off buying ,sorting or selling sheep.
Finally, we are lucky to have acquired the talents and enthusiasm of the Thomlinson family, they are bringing a fresh approach to the breed and have no preconceptions as to what the Guernsey is, but demonstrate clearly the advantages of the breed, in particular her leg and foot structure and her ability to walk, cows are walking long distances each day during the summer and then have an eight month winter on concrete and cubicles, a task that is beyond most Holsteins!
The temperament and ease of management is another bonus, with the local " vets, none of whom have had any experience of the breed all commenting on what a pleasure they are to work with.The other important factor is an enhanced milk price, which Frank states is a considerable bonus and makes him very happy with his choice, and with 2 million litres production planned in the coming year every extra penny a litre makes an impact.
