Troutbeck Ayrshires "Around the World of Dairy" Tour - Cowsmo

Troutbeck Ayrshires “Around the World of Dairy” Tour

Our next tour takes place at Troutbeck Ayrshire. A family operated farm that is situated in the County of Cumbria, England. It is 10 miles from the Scottish border and on the edge of the Lake District National Park.

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LtoR: James Mattinson ,Frank Mattinson and Philip Mattinson with Troutbeck Robina EX94

Who are the owners of the farm and how long has the farm been operating?
Troutbeck Ayrshire is a family run operation. Frank, Margaret along with their twin sons Philip and James take care of the day to day running of the farm. The Mattinson family moved to their farm, Rosewain, 12 years ago. Greenfield Dairy is a farm we purchased last year and We are currently in the process of building a state of the art barn there. Once completed it will house the Troutbeck Ayrshire herd and the current farm, Rosewain will house the young stock.

What is your Farm Size and what crops are grown?
The farm is 550 acres. Forty of those acres are sown down to wheat and the rest is down to grass.

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Their herd grazes from early April to late October

 

 

 

How many cows and young stock are located on your farm? What breed does your herd consist of?
Our herd consists of 280 Ayrshire and Red & White Holsteins. We currently have 330 calves. We are hoping to increase our milk herd size to 330 and reduce our young stock numbers by using more sexed semen and beef bulls.

How many employees do you currently have working on your farm?
We currently have 3 full time staff members and 2 part-time employees. Their responsibilities are the milking’s, the day to day running of the herd, feeding the cows and calves, as well as carrying out most of the tractor work on the farm.

What is your average milk yield/cow?
Our average milk yield is 8100kg, 4.67%F, 3.39%P. We have a calving interval of 387.

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Cow on the left is the UK Dairy Expo Champion 2014, Troutbeck Robina EX94, sired by Westmossgiel Lord of the ring. Cow on the right is Troutbeck Antic 17 EX 94, sired by L Maples Ace of Hearts Red. She is also the dam of their Stock bull Troutbeck Romatic EX95.

What does the diet for your milking cows and young stock consist of?
Our cows graze from early April to late October. Our winter ration includes grass silage, whole crop wheat, Brewers grains and a blend of soya beet pulp and cereal are the fed concentrates in the milking parlour. The first week a calf is born they receive their mother’s milk. After this is they are moved into a larger group pen where they are fed on an automatic calf feeder where they receive milk for a further 65 days as well as concentrate pellets and straw.

What is your Milk price per litre? Is the production for cheese, yoghurt, liquid milk?
Our milk is sold to Arla to make Lake District cheese. Our current milk price is £27/Litre

What is your farms Breeding objectives & considerations?
Our breeding goals are to produce a medium sized cow. One that is hard wearing with a good set of feet and legs. This is an important trait to have as we are grazing herd. We are actively involved with shows around the UK so type is an important trait for us as well. When choosing bulls and AI sires we focus in on good cow families.

What Sires are currently being used on your farm?
We are currently using Ayrshire bulls such as Palmyra Tri Star Burdette, Troutbeck Skyfall, Hunnington Famous. The Red Holstein bulls we are currently using are Delta Colorado, Cranberry Red, Spitfire and Jaccot.

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The Rosewain herd is milked twice a day in this parlour system

What temperature extremes are you faced with on your farm and how do you manage these factors?
Cumbria average rainfall is 2000mm (8”). We rarely see temperatures below freezing as the farm is located close to the coast. In summer our temperature ranges from 20-30 degrees Celsius.

What Type of housing is provided to your herd?
Our milking herd is housed in free stall cubicles on mattresses. In summer they graze day and night.
Our calves are hand reared in individual pens for the first week. They are then moved into a larger pen with a group of around 50 calves.

What Type of parlour system is used on your farm? 
We have a 32-32 Fullwood parlour system. It has an automatic dipping and flushing system equipped in it. Our herd is currently milked twice a day.

MattisonAyrshire_SM130612-03Crop_12x8__Show_Boards_Young_Stock_Mattinsons_4cowsmo2017Is there a Quota system in your region?
There is no national quota system in the UK. However our milk processor uses a seasonality system to reduce the price of milk in the spring months and give a bonus for milk produced in the autumn and winter months. This is done to try and encourage level milk production all year round.

How does the classification system work in your region?
The classification system is carried out twice a year, in the spring and then again in the fall.

 

 

Unique Facts about Troutbeck Ayrshire

  • The farm is run entirely on green energy from our farms own wind turbine and solar panels
  • Our new barn will be the first farm in the UK to have the triolet robotic feeder to feed silage to the cows
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