Alan and Hannah in the dairy

Bertha ( Alan ’ s Grandma ) haymaking in the 1930s

THE AREAS PREMIER FARM STORE

COARS ARE PLEASED TO SUPPLY ALAN SUTCLIFFE OF PEXTENEMENT FARM AND WISH HIM CONTINUED SUCCESS FOR THE FUTURE !

Coars Ltd . Green Lane West , Garstang , Preston , PR3 1NU www . coars . co . uk | Tel 01995 603555

HIGH above Todmorden and 900 ft above sea level there is a dairy herd of 60 MRI milking cows that are as at home on the hill at Pextenement Farm as they would be in their more traditional lowland area at the confluence of the rivers Meuse , Rhine and Issel .

‘ It ’ s really strange that the breed that comes from one of the flattest , lowest lying areas of the world seems to like our hill and climate ,’ said Alan Sutcliffe , who milks the cows and farms with his sister Sandra at Eastwood where the family has farmed for three years short of a century . ‘ They do have a bit more spirit and personality than the British Friesians that we used to have here .’

‘ We took on our first MRI bull about 15 years ago . I ’ d become disillusioned with the British Friesian because it had moved away from what was right for us and the Holstein Friesian didn ’ t suit . We looked around at other breeds to get the kind of cow we wanted and bought an MRI bull from Pilling in Lancashire . We ’ re now on our fourth MRI bull .’

‘ Our herd is now over 50 per cent MRI and the youngstock is around fifteen-sixteenths MRI . What really hit home about the breed was when Carl , Sandra ’ s partner started making what we now sell as Pextenement cheese . The MRI is a really high protein producing cow , which is great for the cheese , but generally lower yielding . Our herd average is around 5000 litres .’

Yield has never been a major push for Alan and Sandra . They went organic around the turn of the millennium .

‘ Going organic was mine and Sandra ’ s idea ,’ said Alan . ‘ We were partners in the farm with our dad Ronald and his brother , our uncle Norman . Dad had always leant towards using very little pesticides and fertilisers , but you don ’ t get a premium if you are ‘ nearly organic ’ so we took that route after taking advice . It has proved a way of sustaining our small dairy farm in the Pennines and if we hadn ’ t done it , we wouldn ’ t have been dairy farming today .’

‘ Years ago , there were over 30 dairy farms between here and Hebden Bridge , now we and one other in the Upper Calder Valley are the only two left standing .’

Alan said that even their decision to going organic very nearly backfired .

‘ Unfortunately for us everyone else , in no doubt a similar position , seemed to have decided to go organic at the same time around the year 2000 and with there being a surplus of organic milk for a while the premium almost disappeared . It took time for it to come back right .’

Today 10 per cent of the milk produced at Eastwood goes into Pextenement Cheese Company ’ s range of artisan cheeses that has won awards at the Great Yorkshire Show and elsewhere , while the other 90 per cent is sold to OMSCO ( Organic Milk Suppliers Cooperative ).

‘ We joined OMSCO after Dairy Farmers of Britain went bust and I feel they have a very positive outlook . They are constantly working on new ideas to market the milk and looking at new products and markets . Organic milk and organic produce has taken a bit of an upturn during the pandemic .’

‘ We went on to a more grass-based system around 18 years ago , partly due to the cost of organic feed in producing organic milk . We are currently very lucky to have a good supply of organic spent brewers ’ grains from Wim van der Spek

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