Petch family's century of dairy farming in shadow of Roseberry Topping

A dairy farm that sits under the picturesque landmark of Roseberry Topping in North Yorkshire has remained in the same family for more than a century.

The tenancy of Whitegate Farm, near Great Ayton, was taken on by Herbert Smith Petch in 1921. Dairy cows were added to the operation towards the end of the 1920s and have been a passion and prime cog of this farm ever since.

The legacy has been continued by Herbert’s four sons, all of whom have followed agricultural careers.

David, the second son, registered the Aytonian prefix following the Second World War, when he was a teenager impressed by the dairy stock others were breeding and selling in places like York Auctions.

Now in his nineties, David and his son, Martin, are still as passionate about high-producing and performing pedigree Holstein cows today as David was all those years ago.

Martin explains that the driver for them both – and the whole business – has been the aspiration to try to do better. The aim is and always will be to achieve a genetic brand through the cows and heifers the farm breeds – a genetic brand that Martin says “satisfies the needs of our farm but is also appreciated by others”.

He says: “We get tremendous satisfaction from selling batches of offspring that go on and do well for their new owners. Of course I’d like to be recognised by breeding a bull that succeeds in an AI company.”

The cows at Whitegate Farm under the picturesque Roseberry Topping

Whitegate Farm is now solely owned and extends to some 1,100 acres, predominantly around the main farmstead, with about 40 per cent comprising grass for grazing and silage making (the herd is grazed during the summer months), and the remainder down to arable rotations of mainly winter wheat and barley, with some oilseed rape.

With the cows fed a total mixed ration based on grass silage, the farm also has grain storage and drying capacity which has enabled reliance on home grown, milled and mixed corn for feeding to the stock for many years.

A major reduction saw nearly 200 head from the milking herd and close calving heifers sold last November at Harrison and Hetherington’s Borderway mart, Carlisle, to relieve pressure on numbers and to give Martin time to have a hip replacement and recover.

With the farm adopting a near exclusive policy of all sexed dairy semen for replacements, the running of so many followers utilises the land on the farm and also fuels the inevitable reputation the Petch family has for selling genuine and high performing stock as part of the business.

Now back up to circa 175 milking cows, the herd demographic is very young. Although more than 125 are in their first lactation, the herd was still averaging more than 28kg at the most recent recording.

The rolling herd average is 10,824kg at 4.06 per cent fat and 3.32 per cent protein, while the cell count is running at 146 and PLI on the entire farm has broken £200. The last classification visit from Holstein UK classifiers saw 11 VG heifers and 71 GP.

Dry cows at feeding time before the 2021 sale

Breeding for longevity is also still an important parameter, as demonstrated by Aytonian Justine who is 16, now in her seventh lactation, giving over 40kg per day and served again to Luster P. This Planet-

sired daughter is EX92-4E, and has already given more than 80 tonnes of milk in her lifetime. She has bred three VG daughters so far and has three 13,000kg plus lactations. She is Martin’s current favourite and comes from a bull breeding family. She’s also the fourth successive generation of home-bred EX cows.

Cow welfare is intrinsically linked to the Whitegate operation. The farm has had routine fortnightly visits from their vets at Clevevale for many years. The herd is also BVD-free and implements a ‘belt and braces’ vaccination programme covering BVD, IBR, Lepto, Huskvac, Salmonella, Tetanus, blackleg and lungworm.

On a more practical level, the farm milks through a 24/24 De Laval rapid exit parlour and is cubicle housed.

There is a relatively unique adjoining shed that holds calving pens, a close calving yard, a fresh cow straw yard and the ‘byre style area’ which is good for retaining cows awaiting treatment or temperature checks or to hold bulling cows in for a few hours until they go off heat – preventing them from causing havoc in the main herd.

This area has fitted water bowls and trough areas and was a building somewhat before its time when installed in the late 1990s.

However, as with all farms, investment in infrastructure and facilities is a must to even stand still. The next few years will see an overhaul of both the housing of the milking herd and the milking facilities at Whitegate to improve both cow comfort and welfare as well as the facilities for staff.

Running a farm of this size does not happen without a loyal and dedicated team of staff.

It routinely needs a team of six alongside Martin each day. For more than 20 and 30 years, respectively, Ian Mumford and Andy Binks have headed the dairy and arable operations, while Martin has run the business for the last few decades.

While labour on farms is considered an ongoing challenge, the Petch family as an entirety (David alongside his siblings, and Martin and his brother Rodger, sisters Ruth and Heather, and their respective families) are committed to dairying and farming continuing at Whitegate for many years to come.

This commitment by the family offers a huge opportunity for others to become involved in the coming years.

Ian is approaching retirement age, as is Martin, and therefore seeking competent, enthusiastic individuals with a similarly minded attention to detail and passion for modern-day dairy-ing is certainly on the cards for 2023 as the Aytonian herd, Whitegate Farm and the Petch family enter their second century of farming.