Top herd announced

For the third year in a row, a Taranaki couple have produced the top performing ayrshire dairy herd in New Zealand.

Gordon and Shona Glentworth’s Sanrosa herd produced an average of 579kg milksolids (MS) per cow, slightly down on the 585kg/MS produced the previous season but still enough to take the Mayfield Trophy for top herd in the country.

The Kaponga farmers also won the Smith Family Trophy for top producing ayrshire cow, in Sanrosa Royal 0714, with 884kg/ MS, the Agrifeeds Don Hutchings Memorial Trophy with five daughters by Ojaniityn Rumba and the Dalemere Farms Trophy, for 10 daughters by Asmo Tosikko.

They were also runner-up with their homebred Sanrosa Royal Phillip.

Other Taranaki winners included: Albie and Hilary Jane, who won the CEC Webb Memorial Trophy for breeder of highest breeding worth (BW) bull (NZ bred), with Southwind Inkkari; Peter and Lisa Megaw of Fernview Ayrshires, who won the Dairycare Somatic Cell Count Competition in Ward 5, and Dennis and Audrey Jacobsen (Skyline Ayrshires) who picked up the top BW herd award for Ward 5.

Robyn Gordon of, Kenmure Ayrshires, was awarded the Fredrickson Trophy for North Island Senior Young Handlers and was placed second in the Ayrshire Youth Achiever Competition.

Hilary Jane received the Graeme Knight Memorial Trophy, awarded for a published article promoting the breed.