Be the best possible to survive

THE BEST producers will survive, come what may, so everyone who wanted to carry on milking had to strive to be the best they could.

Mick Gould, who runs the Woodmarsh Holstein herd at Grange Farm, Shrewsbury, said it really was that simple. “Our family farm has built for the future.”

After years as a tenant farmer, starting off with a 1ha (2-acre) smallholding, Mr Gould’s father bought Grange Farm. “We now have 134ha (330 acres) of owned land, with another 40ha (100 acres) of summer grazing, and a milk quota of 2m litres,” said Mr Gould.

The 185 milking cows are milked three times daily averaging 12,215 litres at 3.83% fat and 3.13% protein.