The Farmers Mart Feb-Mar 2019 - Issue 61 | Page 50

50 FAR WORTSHILL FARM
FEB/MAR 2019 • farmers-mart.co.uk
CREAM ALWAYS RISES TO
THE TOP… OF THE HILL
Chris Berry talks dairying above Slaithwaite with Neil Brigg.
DAIRY farming at 1300ft isn’t to everyone’s
taste but for Neil Brigg it has been second
nature since moving to Far Wortshill Farm
on Pole Hill just a mile and a half out of
Slaithwaite with his parents Arthur and
Mary when he was 16. They made the move
from a much smaller farm in Lancashire to
the 140-acre farm in 1976.
‘It was the best move we could have
made as we had only 60 acres previously
in an area that wasn’t cut out for dairying,’
says Neil who farms with his wife Jacqui
and son Sam (22). ‘Sam will be the fifth
generation of dairy farmer since my great
grandfather Samuel started Samuel Brigg &
Sons in 1912 when he got his first farm after
being manager on an estate farm. I took
over from dad rather prematurely when he
died of a heart attack when I was 26.’
Neil and Jacqui have built up an excellent
reputation as producer/processors retailing
their milk and cream from their own on-site
dairy and are currently seeing doorstep
delivery sales reaching new highs after its
near disappearance in the UK since the
1970s and fabulous sales of cream to local
businesses.
They have expanded the herd, renewed
and reinvested in buildings and equipment
and look in great shape with Sam coming
back to the farm being the major spur.
‘My focus at the moment is succession,’
says Neil. ‘I know what it’s like to be thrown
in at the deep end so I’ve tried to make sure
Sam hasn’t had to go through exactly what
I had to deal with. He has already milked
cows elsewhere at Chris Hall’s 700-cow
dairy herd at Shelley and has spent 12
months working in New Zealand to experi-
ence a different farming style. He’s had to
prove himself by jumping through hoops
I’ve set along the way, but he’s certainly
proved he wants this life.’
‘ Yorkshire people are
very passionate about
supporting local people
’
‘We have increased our Holstein Friesian
milking herd from 80 to 100, changed our
grazing pattern to a hybrid paddock system
for four cuts of silage, increased fertility
through using better genetics from Genus
and have invested massively in doubling
the feed shed, adding rubber mattresses
for 120 cows, introducing LED lighting on a
timer allowing better sleep for the cows
that also helps milk yield and have put in a
state of the art 20/20 Fullwood QS parlour.
Grant funding from LEADER wasn’t massive
but at least enabled us to do some of the
things we might not have been able to.
With our improved slurry storage and dairy
bottling facilities we are now where we
want to be.’
‘Our cows average around 7500-8000
litres and Genus RMS has been very
successful serving the heifers with sexed
semen. We won an award at Christmas
for our Preg rate which is now in the top
10 per cent in the country. Brian Shaw in
Slaithwaite rears all our heifers enabling us
to milk more cows. He also buys all the bull
calves that he rears to stores.’
‘We have the cows grazing as soon as
conditions on the ground are right. We’ve
had them out around March 27 some
years, quickly followed by six inches of
snow when they’ve had to be brought
back in. We are one of the few places you
can get sunburned and snowed in every
April. They are normally all in by the be-
ginning of October but last year they were
out until November 8. I know most farmers
won’t say the same but give me a drought
every year as last year proved perfect for
us.’
The dairy trade, selling to doorsteps and
to local businesses is going well.
‘Moving away from plastic to glass as a
result of TV programmes about plastic in
the oceans is fairly important in customers’
minds but more important for us is the local
angle. Yorkshire people are very passionate
about supporting local people. Thirty years
ago there would be 50 dairy farmers within
10-15 miles of here bottling and delivering.
We are the last of them and I don’t think
people want to lose that – and I think there
is a move back to the doorstep. It’s certain-
ly what’s happening with us.’
Call 01772 682159 or visit wareingbuildings.co.uk
J Wareing & Son (Wrea Green) Ltd Blackpool Rd, Kirkham, Preston, PR4 2RJ
LEADING SUPPLIERS OF
STEEL FRAMED BUILDINGS
Agricultural and Industrial Buildings
2273 - CPR - 0168 - WC
Fifth generation family business
PROUD SUPPLIERS TO THE BRIGGS, WISHING THEM CONTINUED SUCCESS