A FARMER who manages a herd of high-tech dairy cows in Neston has been named as the county’s only winner at the British Farming Awards.

Paul Redmore of Neston Home Farm received the silver award for the Dairy Innovator of the Year, sponsored by afimilk, at the awards in Birmingham on Thursday.

The 54-year-old, who has worked at the farm for the last four years with three others, was delighted to be honoured on the night in front of 700 other farmers.

“I am very happy because it is a UK-wide competition, so it’s a pretty big pond to be picked from,” he said.

“We currently manage 320 Jersey cows and we use really new technology, which is really coming into the fore, on our herd.

“The cows have sensors in their stomachs, which tell us their temperatures and how active they are, and all that information comes to our phones and our computers so that we can increase our productivity and keep an eye on their welfare.

“The sensors also tell us when they are due to calf within 24 hours and we can detect illnesses much quicker and reduce our use of antibiotics too.

“I always keep my eye out in the agricultural press and online for new technology as I am a firm believer that this is something we can use to improve animal welfare and our productivity.”

Neston Home Farm, which currently distributes its milk locally, to London coffee shops and to big names such as Fortnum and Masons and Harrods, is also looking to expand into other markets such as ice cream and cheese.

“We had such a good time at the awards ceremony and it was the first time we had received an award.

“We are now focusing on building up our ice cream business, which has been named Luscious, and that will still appearing in farm shops and supermarkets in the future.”

The top award in the innovation category went to wo farmers from Lune Valley Dairy in Lancashire were presented with the gold award in the innovation category on the night, which honoured farmers’ contribution to the industry.

Emma Penny, group head of content for Briefing Media, said: “The 14 awards recognise the innovation and determination that is present in today’s ever changing and challenging farming industry.

“I would like to thank everyone who entered and congratulate all the finalists in what has been a fantastic and inspiring eight-month campaign to find our 2017 winners.”