IT had been a long day for the judges picking the silage competition winners.

And none longer than for Andrew Gurney, who farms near Leominster, who had started milking his cows at 3.30am, before joining Chris Savery in picking the winners from those short-listed in the grass silage competition for the John Walker Cup.

Equally strongly contested was the maize silage section, for the Geoff Budd Rosebowl, judged by Steve Fennel, senior nutritionist of IKL and Edward Newton, who farms near Malvern.

Grass silage winner for the John Walker Cup was Mike Tarver, of Spetchley, with John Few, of Hanbury, second and David Goodwin of Upton-upon-Severn third.

Maize silage winner for the Geoff Budd Rosebowl was John Few of Hanbury, with Mark Andrews of Wichenford runner-up and Mike Tarver third.

Chairman John Few thanked John Crisp for analysing the silage samples and Angus Golightly for organising the competition.

There was a keen attendance at The Berkeley Arms, Spetchley, where Steve Fennel spoke on "Assessing forage quality from the cow's perspective". Steve joined IKL six years ago after managing a 2,000 cow herd in Saudi Arabia and previously ran a very high yielding herd for Velcourt, in Dorset.

"Size matters for cows," he said.

"They are not interested in the chemical analysis of what they are eating."