Sanders Farms won the Overall Silage Master award at this year’s Manx Grassland Society’s annual dinner and prize presentation evening.

This year’s judge Alan Webster, formerly of Massey Feeds, said that he had never seen anybody make that many bales for that many cows before!

But it is a system that, against the odds, the team at Sanders have perfected and made it work for them and for the second time in a row have been awarded the top award for the night.

This year’s judges, sponsored by Massey Feeds and McKeown Haulage, were Will McNeice and Alan Webster.

In total they visited seven different selected farms over the two-day period with chairman Will Cain.

The farms were a mixture of dairy, beef and sheep, baled and clamp silage.

By judging each individual farm’s methodology and analysis of the silage, animal health, farm efficacy, sustainability and overall performance they were able to narrow it down to the award winners.

On the evening between visiting days judge Will McNeice gave a slideshow presentation about his family’s dairy farm in North Wales.

Milking 600 cross-bred cows on a grazing system there were lots of similarities in the challenges the farm faces with the Isle of Man’s.

However, he explained how the milk processors rules had recently changed and how they are now changing the calving pattern to maximise the contracts potential and enable to farm to remain sustainable for future times.

This year’s dinner was held at the Palace Hotel in Douglas and, with 120 guests, it was the largest to society has seen for a long time.

Aside form the silage competition the other main awards are judged by local farmer judges who gave a round up of the entries before announcing the winner in each category.

The society thanked all the sponsors for the prizes, each entrant and judge for each competition and the support that the Manx farming community show to the society.

Prize Winners 2024

Dairy grassland management – Jacob Duggan

Beef & sheep grassland management – Donna Grant

Overall grassland management – Jacob Duggan

Best forage crop – David and Rob Cooil

Best hay – Chris Martin

Best reseeds – Jim Caley

Best haylage – Alan Radcliffe

Big bale silage – Sanders Farms

Best whole crop – Harry Best

Best big bale analysis – Sanders Farms

Best clamp analysis – Glendown Farm

Best contractor – Kenny Coole Ltd

John Harris Award – David & Sarah Quayle

Best silage utilisation – Jack Garrett

Best kept pit – Will Duggan

Best set up – Seamus Doolan

First place silage competition – Glendown Farm Ltd

Overall Silage Master – Sanders Farms Ltd