Bringing colour to the pastures of Northern Ireland

Using a specialist dealer, he sourced the first load of 35 in-calf heifers in 2015, and they were added to the existing black and whites in the herd. “We could tell as they came off the lorry, they were good cattle – they all looked the same type, an identical size and just the medium sort of cow we wanted,” he says.

Due to calve within six weeks of arrival, in August and September 2015, the Danish heifers were only halfway through calving when the family decided they wanted more. “It took no time for us to see they would suit us – the heifers bagged up really nicely, calved down easily with nice, even calves and were milking as well as any of our black and whites at around 30 litres a day,” he says.

Mr Longwell and his father took the decision to visit Denmark themselves to source the next batch of stock and describe the trip as ‘probably the best thing we ever did’. “We wanted to see how the Danish farmers were feeding and managing them and learn from their experience,” he says. “Seeing VikingRed herds producing 12-13,000 litres gave us great confidence in their production potential, although we are not aspiring to be a high yielding herd.

“The farmers also advised us on how to breed our stock, with most recommending that we kept them pure and retained their pedigree status, which should help us market any surplus females we may have to sell.” Back in Northern Ireland, two further shipments arrived on the farm, taking red and white numbers up to about 50% of the herd.

“We’ve found the pure VikingGenetics bull calves command a slight premium over the Holstein, fetching around £140 at 4-6 weeks compared with £80 for the Holstein at a similar age,” he adds. “However, once we think we’ve bred enough heifers we now switch to a Belgian Blue which would sell for around £300 at about six weeks. We’ve noticed the VikingReds calve a bigger calf more easily which is probably because of their stronger frame,” he says.

Feet and legs are also said to be ‘the best we have had’, although always with the need to ‘keep on top of foot trimming’. However, perhaps the biggest surprise came in milk quality which is said to have increased the farm’s milk price by 2.5-3p/litre.

“The extra milk quality has come without any reduction in volume or any increase in feed,” says Mr Longwell. “This has made a big difference to profitability, which has really helped over the past few months while the milk price has been low.”

Today the herd’s production stands at 9,000 litres at 4.5% fat and 3.6% protein, with milk solids said to be ‘rising as more Vikings come into the herd’. By the end of 2020 they’ll represent 90% of the 200 head, rising to 100% by the end of next year.

The production is achieved on a simple system using self-feeding gates and blocks of cut silage plus a 20% protein blend fed through out-of-parlour feeders. Milking is through a 22-point swingover ATL parlour. “Longevity is another feature we’ve noticed and, despite the loss of a few TB reactors, we still have 70 of the original 80 brought to the farm five years ago,” he says. “All will be fifth calvers this August and September and they look like they will go on for another five years.”