A NORTH Yorkshire dairy farm is one of six UK finalists in this year's NMR/RABDF Gold Cup competition.

Metcalf Farms of Washfold Farm, Leyburn, is a family partnership run by brothers David, Brian and Philip, with retired parents John and Thora, and help from 20 staff.

The team includes 12 staff who milk the 900-cow herd three times a day through the unit’s 32:32 rapid-exit parlour. It runs for 20 hours each day.

Over the last four years the herd has almost doubled from 550 head, through a mixture of bought-in and home-bred replacements.

Housed all year round and fed a TMR, the herd’s average production, for the year ending September 2014, was 10,926kg of milk at 3.58 per cent butterfat and 3.14 per cent protein, and a somatic cell count of 196,000cells/ml.

Its margin over purchased feed is 21.44ppl and the milk is sold to Paynes Dairies.

The next big step is the installation of a new 72-point Boumatic rotary parlour which will give the farm the scope to increase cow numbers even further – possibly by 300 or 400 cows – and "future proof" the business.

It has altered substantially during the past two years and since the Metcalfes entered the competition last year, young stock management has been transformed.

All heifers up to 12 months old are managed away from the main farm at a specialised unit. Another unit takes them from 12 months through to calving at 24 months.

"Heifer rearing is a job in itself and requires an organised – almost regimental – approach," said Philip.

The business has invested in training and developing staff. "We’re building a skilled team using local people," he said. "And because we’re running a large herd, putting protocols in place has proved invaluable when it comes to ease of management.

"Full-time staff are allocated key responsibilities, such as 'calf feeding' or 'fertility', and they produce regular reports so we have a handle on what’s happening."

Philip said cow numbers are not an issue. "We’ve got a dairy 'blueprint' in place and it’s working well. For me, it’s very much about managing people now. There are several 'right-hand' people in the team, including herdsman Mark Chapman who manages the staff rota, and the business is a success thanks to their skills, hard work and dedication."

Good communication and a clear over view of the dairy are vital to its success, particularly when there are three other demanding separate businesses on the farm.

They include a haulage business, lorry and repair workshop and an anaerobic digester, and two other 'dairy' businesses that include agricultural contracting and pedigree Holstein sales.

"There’s certainly plenty to keep us all busy," said Philip, whose main responsibility is the dairy. "The diversifications do relieve some of the pressure caused by milk price volatility. It’s good not to have all our eggs in one basket."

Selling surplus stock from the pedigree Washfold herd also helps with cash flow. Philip is looking for longevity when selecting sires: "We’re looking for at least five lactations and a lifetime daily yield of more than 25kg. We want to calve heifers, with plenty of chest width at a target age of 22 months, that can carry condition with a well-attached udder, good feet and legs and locomotion."

He said breeding is part and parcel of building a herd with the future in mind. "After considerable expansion, we’re now looking at a period of fine tuning and consolidation. The new parlour will allow us to further improve efficiency," said Philip. "We’ve always wanted to do things right and do them well. That’s our motivation."

The farm will now be judged by Ian Macalpine, RABDF chairman, former Gold Cup winner and Lancashire-based Jersey producer, Trevor Lloyd, NMR Board member and Isle of Anglesey producer; and Mike Miller, 2012 Gold Cup winner from Worcestershire.

The winner and runner-up will be announced at the Livestock Event, NEC Birmingham, on July 8.