THREE Yorkshire dairy farmers have won awards for good management of their cows through the transition period.

The awards were based on the results of monthly recordings of cow health and performance, taken using Premier Nutrition’s on-farm Transition Management System (TMS) service.

David Berry, of Rectory Farm, near Skipton, was the winner for herds yielding up to 8,000 litres/cow and Andrew Holgate from Hard Head Farm, near Settle, won the award for the higher yielding herds.

Both farmers receive nutritional advice and support from Stephen Caldwell of SC Nutrition.

A new category to the awards this year was the Formula 24 award, for which judges looked for farms with a very low cull rate during the first 100 days of lactation, excellent scores for dry cow foot health and that rarely had problems with metabolic disease.

It was won by Neil Bellerby, of Oxclose Farm, near Northallerton, whose nutritionist is Chris Lyth of Thompsons of York.

Andrew Pine, Premier Nutrition’s ruminant director, said: "The transition period is critical and sets the path for the rest of the cow’s life – her health, fertility and performance.

"Monitoring and managing transition is crucial not only for the cow herself, but for overall farm profitability, especially in such challenging times.

"The TMS gives farmers and their nutritionists a very accurate picture of how successfully cows are managed through the transition period and enables quick and decisive action to be taken to ensure health and performance stay on track."

The awards were presented by former England cricketer Phil Tufnell at a dinner hosted by Sky sports presenter Ed Chamberlin.