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Well, a bit of bad planning in the Winter household means we have put ourselves in a similar position for 2023.

We still do some embryo transfer work, although less than we used to, mainly because sexed semen has made it easier to breed replacements from our best cows. But, we find buying embryos is a handy way to get into new cow families and we genuinely feel investing in high-quality genetics makes a real difference to improving our herd and our profitability.

For me, it is also an interest and it means there is always something to look forward to even in the middle of winter and when times are tough.

Milk price

Like many, our milk price has fallen about 40% during 2023, and with some costs still rising we are starting to feel the pinch.

High interest rates are particularly significant for us, having purchased our home farm in 2015 and another block of land in 2021.

We have a flat farm with heavy clay soil, and an incredibly wet autumn means we only completed about half of our winter cereal drilling - some of the seed we managed to drill looks as though it would have been happier left in the bag.

Long winter

All our youngstock have been inside for some time, and it looks like it's going to be a long winter. But, fortunately, we have good stocks of forage this year, so hopefully that should not be too much of an issue.  

As I have not written since UK Dairy Day, it would be remiss of me not to mention it. There were over 8,000 visitors, and the event as always was a really enjoyable day out. Much of the success was due to the hard work of Hannah Williams and the events team at Holstein UK.

UK Dairy Day

There really is a tremendous amount to see at the event and it has deservedly cemented its place as an unmissable event for the dairy industry.

The quality of cattle in the Holstein ring was the best I can remember, and we were treated to a masterclass in judging courtesy of Iwan Morgan of the Erie Herd.

To top off a great day for me, we were delighted to be the overall runner-up in the Premier Pedigree Herd competition behind worthy winners, the Wills family from Willsbro.

Calf show

The All-Breeds All-Britain calf show was back at Stoneleigh this year and was considered to be a great success.

It generates tremendous enthusiasm among the young members and is the highlight of the year for many.

There were over 300 participants from all over the UK, and it is a fantastic opportunity for them to make lifelong friends as well as being a great way to nurture budding enthusiasm for our industry.  

In addition to being educational opportunities, both events are a welcome social break from a job that can be isolating at times.