The Feizor herd from the Yorkshire–Lancashire border has been crowned the nation’s finest, winning the 2025 Holstein UK Premier Herd Competition at UK Dairy Day.
Farming on the Yorkshire–Lancashire border near Settle, the Feizor herd secured the national award after first winning the Northern regional title in August. They then competed against six other leading herds from across the country to claim the coveted crown.
This year’s judge was Brian Miller of the Moorshard herd in Somerset, who won the competition in 2024. Reflecting on the task, he said he was “extremely honoured to judge the Premier Herd competition and had been looking forward to this opportunity all year.”
“I was looking for a herd with cows that had good dairy strength, power, good rumps and cows that walked on a sound set of legs and feet with great mammary systems,” Brian told the audience at UK Dairy Day.
“I wasn’t disappointed, all seven herds fitted this with uniformity throughout. Seeing the different families in each herd, but also the different sires used was interesting, I was impressed with the Lambda and Chief daughters that were on display across the herds.”
He added: “The placings were close throughout, especially for third place, with many of the herds that could have been in the top three.”
The Feizor herd consists of around 120 milkers plus 190 followers, with an annual average of 12,500kg. The herd is housed indoors all year round, while youngstock and dry cows graze on the farm’s 270 acres of grass and permanent pasture. The herd was completely restocked in 2001 following the Foot and Mouth outbreak.
Run as a family enterprise, the herd is managed by David and Pamela Booth, alongside their son William and his wife Joanne. David’s parents, David and Elizabeth, remain actively involved, together with William’s sister, Hannah.
The herd includes long-established families such as Delia, Dandy, Flo, Joy, Melody and Neoma, as well as newer lines including Bellamy, Blexy and Kandie.
The Feizor herd previously claimed the Premier Herd title in 2012 and achieved Master Breeder status in 2015. Notably, this is only the second time a herd has won the award more than once since the competition was launched in 2002.
In Reserve was the Boclair herd, managed by David and John Brewster in Lanarkshire. Established in the 1950s by the late Jack Brewster, the Boclair herd currently milks 210 cows through robots and averages 13,543kg.
With prominent cow families including Hope, Joan, Elegance and Apple, the herd previously won the title in 2017 and were finalists in 2024.
Taking Honourable Mention was the Corringham herd of RV Winter & Sons from Lincolnshire, representing the Eastern region. Winners back in 2008, the herd has since been a finalist on five occasions.
They milk 210 cows on a mixed dairy and arable farm, producing an average of 10,400kg. Their most notable families include the Beths and the Crimsons.
