A CLEVELAND farming family is through to the finals of the dairy industry's most highly- prized award.

Paul, Molly and Mark Day, from Ingleby Greenhow, will find out next week if they have won the coveted National Milk Records/Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers Gold Cup.

The family farm is one of six finalists from across Britain who will be judged on factors such as physical and management performance, environmental schemes and their plans for the dairy business.

The performance of their 180-cow pedigree Bickleygate Holstein herd at New Sheepfold Farm certainly makes the dairy business, which also runs 170-head of young stock, worthy of a place in the final line up.

Cows averaged 10,139kg of milk at 3.91pc butterfat and 3.17pc protein, with an SCC of 134,000 cells/ml. More than 4,500kg came from forage - grass and grass silage, kale and, for the first time this year, whole crop.

"We grow three hectares of kale for grazing towards the end of the summer when grass stocks can run a bit short," said Paul Day.

Maintaining dry matter intakes throughout the year is vital because the herd's calving pattern is spread to produce a level supply of milk.

"We're also aware that the biggest threat to our business is low milk prices, brought about by market forces," said Mr Day, "so we are keen to ensure we make efficient use of home-grown forage. We're working towards producing at least 50pc of milk from forage in the not-too-distant future."

Mr Day said that running a simple system was key to the success of the business. His winter-feeding regime embodies that philosophy.

An ad-lib forage ration provides maintenance plus 15 litres, depending on the quality of the forage, with higher yielding cows topped up with concentrate - 20pc CP in winter and 18pc CP in the summer - both in the parlour and through out-of-parlour feeders.

The herd breeding policy focuses on improving longevity through better feet, legs and udders.

"We also like to see dairy strength and good rumps and a production minimum of 30kg of fat and protein," said Mr Day. "We have bred cows that suit our system and we certainly don't have any problems getting them to milk.

"We're working on increasing longevity and ensuring that we continue to breed cows that can milk and are capable of performing well on our system."

A mixture of UK, Canadian and Dutch genetics is proving to be the ideal. There are several Etazon Addison daughters in the herd that have milked well as heifers, while at the same time maintaining body condition.

"In fact, we have quite a few heifers that have produced 11,000 litres and they achieved that quite happily," said Mr Day. "We are using quite a lot of Comestar Outside and Aquila Patron Lucente semen at the moment and we are confident that these two bulls will help us to fulfil our breeding goals."

The herd is milked through a 16:16 herringbone Alfa Laval parlour and somatic cell counts are at a respectable 120,000 cells/ml.

"Our secret is to keep the cow clean at all times. We dry wipe and use a post-milking teat dip. We also disinfect clusters after milking any cows with slightly higher SCC scores, to prevent cross infection," said Mr Day.

Similar attention to detail is paid to the more general farm environment and not just that of the individual cows.

The unit is set in the heart of a national park and the Days work hard to ensure that their business has no impact on the surrounding environment.

"We don't farm every single part of the unit," said Mr Day. "There are areas of wetland and woodland that have been fenced off and these provide excellent habitats for nesting birds, wildlife and plants. We have deer, lapwings, snipe and many different wild flowers.

"It's important to us to feel that we are putting something back and we take great satisfaction from seeing a thriving population of birds and wildlife on the farm. After all, we don't just work in this environment, we also live here."

The gold cup winner will be announced at the Dairy Event at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, on Wednesday.

The competition is open to all herds with official milk records and meeting the criteria of more than 50 cows, an annual average cell count of 175,000/ml or less, and a PIN of at least £20. Entrants have to complete a detailed questionnaire which a team of judges used to select six finalists whom they then visit.

This years panel is Andrew Chadwick, RABDF council member; Caroline Drummond from LEAF; David Tomlinson, dairy farmer from Lancashire; and Dick Sibley, NMR board member, veterinary surgeon and winner of the Princess Royal Award.

Other finalists are: Mark Roach of the 300-cow Hatton Heath herd, Aldford, Cheshire; Roger and Wendy Taylor of the 300-cow Blodwell Jersey herd, Shropshire; James and Jon-athon Pickford of the 320-cow pedigree Picston herd, Staffordshire; John Round of the 250-cow Roundelm Herd, Gloucester; and Richard and David Butler, with 180 Holstein cows, Marlborough, Wiltshire.