Clandeboye Estate Co. Ltd

Meet the Member

FAMILY AND / OR BUSINESS NAME
Clandeboye Estate Co. Ltd.

HERD PREFIX
Clandeboye.

WE MILK…
30 Jerseys and 70 Holsteins.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU HAD PEDIGREE JERSEYS?
The first Jerseys were bought in 2000.

LOCATION
Clandeboye Estate, Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland, BT19 1RN.

SUPPLIES / PRODUCES
Almost all of our milk is processed into yoghurt which we sell under the Clandeboye Estate Yoghurt brand. We have contracts with all the major supermarkets in NI as well as Aldi in Southern Ireland. Along side this we supply small local retailers and also produce some own brand products for Spar and Starbucks Ireland. The remainder of our milk goes to Dale Farm.

WHAT WAS YOUR REASON FOR CHOOSING TO MILK PEDIGREE JERSEY CATTLE?
The first jerseys were bought simply because I have always liked a Jersey cow and thought it would be fun to have 5 really good ones to take out to local shows. The numbers quickly grew and by 2007 when we began to look at making yoghurt we were milking 30 jerseys. We quickly discovered that the blend of Jersey/Holstein milk we had in the tank made a great quality product. You could say that something that began almost as a hobby became an integral and important part of our dairy business.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE JERSEY BREED AND IN PARTICULAR YOUR HERD?
Inquisitive, friendly, determined and on occasion downright cantankerous but mostly they are a pleasure to work with and have given the team at Clandeboye many memorable moments. In comparison to our Holstein cows they currently have a 20-day advantage in calving index and would tend to have less foot problems. Somatic cell counts and longevity would be very similar.