Major dairy sale to offer some of UK’s top organic Brown Swiss genetics

Dairy farmers are being offered the rare opportunity to buy some of the very best organic Brown Swiss genetics in the UK at a major on-farm sale.

The top-rated Kedar herd in Dumfries which last year scooped the 2014 Borderway UK Dairy Expo Brown Swiss Champion, with Kedar TD Reia will be holding its first reduction sale since 2008. Going under the hammer on Thursday April 16 are 60 high-quality organic Brown Swiss cattle. The sale, is the biggest organic Brown Swiss Sale of the year and will include 40 freshly-calved cows and heifers, in-calf heifers, show calves, breeding bulls and heifer calves.

Among the stand-out names being auctioned in this Harrison & Hetherington-organised sale at Beyond the Burn Farm, Mouswald :-

· Kedar Archie Reia, a fresh Archie daughter from the same family as the 2014 Expo Champion Kedar TD Reia EX93.

· Choice of fresh daughters from Kedar TD Christina 3 EX91, the 2012 Reserve Grand Champion at Expo. The daughters are by Goldwyn and Dally.

· Bulling age Jongleur heifer from Old Mill Jetway Shiloh VG87, Grand dam is Old Mill E Snickerdoodle 5EX94 5EX97mam. Snickerdoodle was 6 times Grand Champion at World Dairy Expo and once Supreme Campion!

· Fresh 2 year old Archie daughter from Theale Bridget EX95 9E Lifetime production over 85 Tons and still going!

· Bulling age Jongleur daughter of Kedar KSD Felicia VG89. Felicia was the 1st heifer in milk at the 2012 Dairy Event.

· Jongleur daughter from Kedar Vigor Heike VG88, 2013 Reserve All Britain heifer in milk, sells either fresh or in calf to Kedar Super Nova.

The Kedar herd established in 2002, and today with 160 milkers, it the UK’s largest herd of organic Brown Swiss. Farmer Jonny Lochhead, who runs the enterprise with his wife Katie and parents Gavin and Jane, originally founded the herd with Brown Swiss cattle imported from Germany.

The herd is home to Kedar Seattle Glenda, a ninth-calver who has a score of EX96, the highest of any Brown Swiss cow in the UK. The herd averages 7,120kg, 4.03 per cent butterfat, and 3.6 per cent protein off an organic grass diet.

The Lochheads used sexed semen on the best heifers and the rest are covered by homebred bulls, including a grandson of the famous six-time World Dairy Expo breed winner Old Mill E Snickerdoodle.

The Kedar herd, whose milk is also used to produce organic cheese, is milked via a high-tech robotic milking system.

Jonny Lochhead said: “This is our second reduction sale since the herd was established and we have included a range of highly productive breeding stock, some which will have showing potential.”

“We will be entering 10 cattle at this year’s Borderway UK Dairy Expo at Carlisle, where we won Brown Swiss champion last year. Five of these animals will be available for purchase at the reduction sale. Anyone who would like to view the herd ahead of the sale is most welcome to visit the farm beforehand.”

Harrison and Hetherington auctioneer Glyn Lucas said: “The Lochheads are of the country’s top Brown Swiss breeders and the herd is home to some of the finest Brown Swiss cattle and genetics in the country. So this sale really does provide is a tremendous opportunity for people to purchase world class breeding lines to add to their herd or to establish a herd.”

“It’s very rare for this number of high-quality cattle to be coming on to the market and we anticipate keen demand from breeders from across the UK and further afield.”