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Belper dairy farmer John Hayes was awarded national winner of the Arla Foods Milk Partnership milk quality awards last week, beating 1,600 other dairy farmers to the post.
Robert Redfearn, herdsman at Pale Fence Farm, near Belper, said his top quality milk was down to 24 years of experience of milking and attention to detail. "I don't treat milking as a race, I follow the same routine everyday and set myself very high standards," he explained.
In order to qualify for the awards, producers must have a geometric mean on somatic cell count below 130,000 and a bactoscan below 30,000 for the entire 2004-2005 milk year together with no incidents on antibiotic or added water in their milk. In addition they must adhere to the National Dairy Farm Assured Scheme.
Robert has worked at Pale Fence farm for the past three years and works hard to produce such high quality milk, milking from 5.30am until sometimes 8.30pm.
Asked if he enjoys his job, Robert said: "I do and its good to receive recognition of the hard work that I put in on the farm. The job requires commitment and dedication, but it's worth it."
Richard Smith, life president of Arla Foods Milk Partnership (AFMP), presented Robert and his wife Lisa with a trophy at the AFMP AGM dinner, held in Cheltenham last week.
Pale Fence Farm, near Belper in Derbyshire has a Holstein Friesian herd of 170 milkers averaging 8,500 litres a year. John Hayes is a member of Arla Foods Milk Partnership, which is a group of 1,600 dairy farmers supplying Arla Foods UK plc direct.
Arla Foods is the UK's leading dairy company, processing over 2.2 billion litres of milk a year, supplying the major retailers with fresh milk as well as housing a strong brand portfolio including Lurpak, Anchor and Cravendale.
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