Andrew McRae's UK Exchange

Applications for this year's UK Exchange close midnight Sunday 28th July. Planning on applyng? Text Adam on 0401 096 507 to let him know or email youth@holstein.com.au - and here's all you need to know about applying.

What will your UK experience be like? Here's a taster for you - Andrew McRae's story of his UK experience on last year's exchange.

As I fly home from an incredible UK exchange, I’ve been reflecting on some of the differences between UK and Australian dairy, with biosecurity and sustainability management being a big one.

To keep producing and promoting dairy there is a need to meet new environmental requirements. In the UK laws now restrict stocking rates on a nitrates per acreage system and there is increasingly strict effluent storage regulation and policing geared towards lowering farm emissions.

I can see similar measures being introduced in Australia, and while these will be a major curve ball for many, there is a necessity for them.

Breeding programs

Across the UK most farmers were using at least 95% sexed semen when breeding to Holsteins and using around 40% beef semen across their breeding programs.

A major reason for this is protocols with unwanted calves are much stricter. Housing unnecessary animals, as well as adding cost, impacts each breeder’s legal stocking rate requirements.

Another key difference was in selection of bulls, with daughter fertility not being as critical as at home as most breeders calve all year round rather than trying to tighten seasonal calving.

I found Holstein UK’s breeding information highly advanced and easily accessible. For example, farmers are now transitioning to genotyping whole herds using an ear tag that takes a skin sample when applied and provides a QR code that relates to the tag. All farmers have to provide is a birth date with the sample and the laboratory can register the pedigree from the information that the skin sample provides, tracing dam and sire through the genotyping system.

My UK Tour
Holstein UK organised my itinerary around the key dairy show events of the year, and I hit the ground running at UK Dairy Day (UKDD) in Telford, the largest and most prestigious national Holstein show.

With the exhibitors settling in as I arrived, I joined the Firstlook Genetics team, a newly established herd built up over the last three years by James and Steph Doherty, with their knowledge and experience fast-tracking breeding abilities through their herd.

Exhibiting seven Holsteins and one Jersey, I had a great few days with Firstlook.  UKDD was a great networking event for breeders and trade suppliers. Holsteins dominated the show from the youngest class - in calf heifers - through to mature age cows. Later in my travels it was great to spend some time on farm with the Doherty’s and see their herd.

My first farm stay, just down the road from Telford, was a great introduction to the UK farming environment with Hallon Holsteins and the Tudor family.

Housing 230 milking cows year-round in sand bedded cubicles they calve all year in a high input system. The herd was in peak production while I was there, a mind boggling 43 litres per day on a twice daily milking platform.

It was truly incredible to take in the day-to-day workings of the farm, with the herd being managed by the Tudor’s knowledgeable and talented 25-year-old daughter Pippa, with younger brother Tom managing the arable side of the farm. I look forward to following their journey as they convert to a robotic milking platform.

After a busy first week followed by a relaxing sightseeing weekend in London with Naomi from Holstein UK, I travelled to the Baker family’s BB Holsteins in Abergavenny, South Wales. Milking 300 cows, their commercial focus sees them breeding a smaller more versatile cow, which I saw as lower maintenance and like our breeding focus at home.

Big sheds!

Next stop was the well-known Willsbro Holsteins in Cornwall, southwest England, working with Wendy Young and her team at Clipaholics in preparation for the Willsbro reduction sale of 350 live lots and a large consignment of embryos.

Willsbro is by far one of the largest single holding UK dairy farms, with 1,800 registered Holsteins milking year-round in a fully housed system. Milking through a 60-unit rotary system three times a day, the dairy was in operation for almost 20 hours daily.

The size of the facilities, attention to detail and tidiness right across their operation, from breeding program and feeding system to milking, was incredible. The same attention to detail was evident in the clipping team I joined, and over four days working together I made some great friends.

Northern Ireland and Scotland

From Cornwall I flew to Northern Ireland (NI) to greeted by old friend, Andrew Patton, who I had met through the exchange program when he came to Australia in 2017. Andrew’s family run a 200 cow Holstein herd under the prefix Ards Holsteins in Newtown Ards. Andrew also took me to see the sights of Belfast and the small seaside town of Newcastle.

I also spent a couple days with John McLean and his family who run a mixed breed herd under the Priestland Farm prefix in the picturesque northern coastal region of Bushmills. They’ve built a herd using some incredible imported cow families, including Australia’s very own Bonnie family.
Nethervalley Holsteins in Ayrshire, Scotland was my first time working with robots, seeing the day-to-day pros and cons of working with the technology on a two-unit Lely robotic milking platform.

Milking 110 cows and calving year-round, Robbie Scott runs the farm with his two teenage sons who juggle school and college commitments with the dairy operation. Holstein youth is strong in this area, which I experienced first-hand at the local Tarbolton show with many local farmers supporting the breed and young farmers.

At Overside Holsteins in the Strathaven region, where they had recently sold 120 of their best in milk cows, I was blown away with the group of freshly calved two-year olds coming through their breeding program. From an original focus on breeding tall extreme show cows, they have moved to breeding shorter more balanced neat uddered cows with a more production orientated future.

Bath and the All Breeds All Britain Show
As my trip drew to a close, I headed back to southern England and the Bath and west Showgrounds for the annual dairy show where Holstein numbers were minimal, but the quality was exceptional. Helping Olly Read of Beaconhill Holsteins we had one heifer and one milker to prepare, but with great results with the milker winning her class and taking out reserve champion cow.

From the show I went to Ben and Lizzie Yates’ and the estate Ben manages,  including a 400-cow commercial dairy platform, and helped prepare two of their heifers for the All Breeds All Britain (ABAB) show where I was allocated to the Lancashire team.

For ABAB, calves must qualify in their local county show and handlers must also qualify for their respective showmanship classes in the Holstein section, with the show attracting a huge 360 calves and 300 handlers, all under the age of 27.

With nine heifers and ten members, the Lancashire team had great results with three heifers making the championship class. It was a great event with a focus on building skills and a community for young breeders from across the UK. I was blown away by how so many young people came together, expressing their passion for the breed and community, making everlasting connections here and throughout the Holstein Young Breeders program.

I would like to thank all the organisers of this scholarship that I can see will have a positive effect on my future, and to all the families and businesses that welcomed me with open arms into their lives. I strongly encourage all passionate young Australian farmers and Holstein breeders to apply for this life changing program.

Applications for this year's UK Exchange close midnight Sunday 28th July.

Text Adam on 0401 096 507 if you are thinking of applying or email him at youth@holstein.com.au