One of the keenest competitors exhibiting cattle at this year’s 2023 Borderway UK Dairy Expo will be 25-year-old James Wright, the winner of the first ever Rising Star Award at last year’s hugely successful event.
Inaugurated in 2012 by Harrison & Hetherington , and held annually ever since at Borderway Mart in Carlisle, UK Dairy Expo acts as a shop window for breeders and producers around the UK and is expected to attract dairy industry leaders across the world to join the livestream coverage of classes showing some of the UK’s finest dairy stock.
For James, the Rising Star Award was the highlight of his six year career in dairying, and this year’s event dates of Friday 10th and Saturday 11th are red letter days in his diary.
Although not from a farming background, he found his calling through a school programme in Dumfriesshire called Rural Skills.
“We were taken to visit local farms once a week and we were given the chance to experience all aspects of livestock care from milking cows and collecting eggs to lambing sheep. I was hooked, but it was the dairy cows that really caught my attention.”
Since leaving school, James has completed a National Certificate and an HND in Agriculture at SRUC Barony, but he has developed the skills that won him the Rising Star Award on the farm. In 2017 he started work for T A & E Jackson at Guillyhill, working with the Coppside herd near Dumfries. Leaving briefly in 2019, to gain more experience with the Busby family near St Bees in Cumbria, he then returned in 2019 to become Assistant Herdsman at Guillyhill.
Helping to look after 450 Holstein cows on one of T A & E Jacksons’ two dairy farms, milking twice a day is hard work, but this is exactly where James wants to be.
“Obviously it helps a lot to like working with animals, and I am passionate about the Holsteins, so I don’t mind the early starts. Luckily, I have quite an eye for details which is essential in the dairy industry and for cow husbandry. If you set high standards and put the work in, there is nothing like the satisfaction you get from seeing your cows in top condition, healthy, happy and producing top quality milk.”
James clearly sees his future in farming and dairying. “I love working in the industry and see my career progression hopefully to take on a more senior role as head dairyman. MY main passion will always be Holstein cows, and I have also completed an AI course through Embryonics Limited which has added another aspect to my job. I would also like to play a part in the changes the farming industry is making to reduce our carbon footprint, promote better health and welfare, and reduce antibiotic usages.”
Bitten by the showing bug very early in his career, showing his beloved Holsteins will also clearly be a key part of James’s life in farming, and the Rising Star Award is a major gold star on his CV. The award was presented to ‘An exceptional young person working behind the scenes during the UK Dairy Expo event. The judges were looking for a good all-rounder, knowledgeable and with a great skill set working with animals.’
At Dairy Expo 2022, James could be seen preparing Guillyhill cattle for showing and looking after them, and he himself showed a Holstein in the senior 3 year old class, and a Jersey in the senior cow class. This year the Rising Star will be preparing another generation of dairy cattle stars behind the scenes to show the world the very best of UK stock, but he won’t be taking any limelight himself.
“I was hugely grateful to have received the award last year, and I felt humbled to be recognised in such a way. There are many dedicated and passionate people out there in our dairy industry, and I’m just proud to be one of them.”
