THE award-winning Jersey herd at Wheelbirks has just added another trophy to the cabinet.

The Richardson brothers, Hugh and Tom, scooped this year’s Lily Hill award for the best Jersey herd in the national RABDF NMR Gold Cup competition. The second time round for the family, they also won it in 2012.

On this occasion, they were judged on their 2015 herd averages of 115 cows at 5766kg at 5.88 per cent fat and 4.01 per cent protein, with a 373 day calving interval.

Hugh said he thought it was the small, incremental changes they had been making on their farm, near Stocksfield, that was the secret of their success.

“Because the dairy industry is in such a depressed state, it’s the little tweaks that can make a difference financially,” he said.

“I don’t really know what the judges were looking for, but we are doing everything we can to make a more robust and clean herd and perhaps that interested them.”

One of the simplest, but most effective, steps had been greatly reducing those grumbling, low-level illnesses that could undermine the strength of the cattle and therefore their resistance to disease in general.

Under the watchful eye of livestock manager Chris Shipley, selective dry cow therapy, for example, had been introduced. That had reduced the amount of antibiotics given to cows drying off after lactation by around 60 per cent over the past five years.

“It’s about selecting those cows that aren’t showing any signs of infection and not giving them any precautionary antibiotics, as we would have done in the past,” said Hugh.

“That’s actually helping to keep the herd fit and healthy by allowing them to fight their own battles. We are a level one, Johnes and BVD-free herd, and we are working hard to keep it that way.”

The herd has been closed for five years now, with new additions only introduced via embryo transfer boasting the best in genetics.

A new shed built last year and used primarily for young stock had proved a very useful addition too, particularly the ‘igloos’ element that provided calves with additional shelter.

The bottom line for the Richardsons is the quality of the milk produced at Wheelbirks, not least because a significant portion of their income comes from the ice cream parlour run by Tom’s wife, Lucinda, on the farm. Simply put, the higher the fat and protein content, the better the end product.

While they do sell some of their raw milk through the parlour, the family still sends most of it through Arla, a contract that at least offers a degree of financial security.