Agriculture

After a recent investment in a 40-unit DeLaval milking parlour, Robert Horton explains how four generations of his family have built up ‘Hinton Holsteins’...
In 1906, Robert Horton’s grandfather,
R W Horton, came to Manor Farm. Cockroost Farm was added to the holding in 1922, at which time there were seven small shorthorn dairies on the farms. Robert’s father, R D Horton, joined the business in 1945 and began to use black and white semen in the breeding programme. During the 1950s the small dairies were consolidated to form two herds, one at each farm. The pedigree herd was established in 1967 when Robert imported ten heifers and two bulls from Canada. Robert’s sons, Tom and James, have recently joined the business and are carrying the milking tradition into the fourth generation. Hinton Holsteins, as the herd is now known, has had most success with its home-bred ‘Shirley family’ Hinton Inspiration EX95 Royal Show 1997 Champion.
Changes and investment

A decision was taken in 2003 to concentrate the effort into one larger herd of cows and use just one parlour at Manor Farm. The cows farmed at Cockroost Farm were dispersed and the young stock was used to expand the herd at Manor Farm. Robert Horton and his sons took time to look at many types of milking parlours. In particular, they looked at the size of parlour best suited to their needs and the ease of use.
They decided on a DeLaval 50-degree herringbone HD Eurostall parlour with 40 cow standings and 40 low level milking units. October 2004 saw the first cows milked and they adapted extremely well to the new parlour. There are 305 cows currently milking with an average yield of 9,400 litres at 4 per cent butterfat. It is planned to increase the cows in milk to 400.
Attention to detail in the milking routine and parlour hygiene by the herdsmen Colin and Martin Peach have helped to achieve the impressive results of somatic cell count below 100 and bactoscan level of 10.
The most recent investment has been in a DeLaval 32,000 litre milk storage and cooling tank. This is suitable for collection every other day and provides a little room for expansion in yields and cow numbers.
Nigel Ellis from T H White Dairy Sales, who has helped the Hortons in selecting the best equipment, said “Mr Horton is very pleased with the investment he has made with T H White and they are seeing the results beginning to pay back.”
For information or help with parlour planning and design call Adrian Moore or Nigel Ellis on 01373 465941.
Four generations of breeding success