RABDF Gold Cup Open Day: Metcalfe Farms
As Summer show season kicks off, over the last month our team have been out and about at events on farms, locally and further afield! For our Sales Team, who work from our Head Office in Wrexham, the opportunity to experience first hand a dairy farm is always an enjoyable and informative day out the office- meeting customers in person – and understanding how our farmers operate their businesses.
Last month saw Emily and Nadia headed up to Leyburn, North Yorkshire, for the annual RABDF Gold Cup Open Day.
As usual, the event was hosted by the most recent winners, Metcalfe Farms, of Washfold Farm, Leyburn, who run manage an impressive 1300 cow dairy unit, as well as a handful of additional enterprises- including farm contracting, haulage, and HGV services. The Gold Cup Award is the ‘Premier National Dairy Herds Competition’ which recognises efficiencies in commercial milk production (RABDF). Metcalfe Farms is run by Philip Metcalfe, along with his two brothers Brian and David.
Not only was the event, organised by the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers, a positive day for networking with new and existing customers alike – but was a valuable insight for our team to experience the vast scale of such a large dairy farm.
Emily Doyle (Telesales) talks about her first experience of such an event below:
“When the opportunity to attend an event on such a large and high-profile farm like Metcalfe Farms came about, I jumped at the chance! As a member of the Platts Telesales Team, my day-to-day job involves calling our customers and following up new leads, so the opportunity to get out on farm and meet some of those who I speak with on a regular basis was great. It was lovely to put some ‘names to faces’ and be able to chat with some of my customers about some of the wider issues affecting their businesses and farms, without the pressures or distractions which so often occur over the phone!
Although my background is in Equine Management, I’d never attended a work event on a dairy farm before, so a highlight was looking around the modern facilities, cow sheds- seeing first hand the ‘green bedding’ which was new for me. The large and modern calf unit was nice to visit too.”
Sales & Marketing Manager Nadia describes the day as “one of the best events for progressive dairy farmers this year. The scale of the business was impressive- and I was inspired by the insights into how the Metcalfe’s have overcome some of their staffing challenges.
It was really valuable for us as exhibitors, networking with customers and other suppliers to the dairy industry too- and we’re looking forward to seeing who may be the winner and host next year!”
If you didn’t catch our team at the Gold Cup Open Day last month, but would like more information on how Platts bedding can help you improve cow comfort and increase milk yields, speak with our team on Livechat – or Contact us here.
