About Us

The Sandisfarne Herd, the original home of ‘Long Lived Cows’

Andrew and Sue Sanders, along with sons Matthew and Julian (Sanders Farms) own the Sandisfarne Herd on the Isle of Man. Here are some of the achievements of the herd:

Winning the Gold Cup

  • No 1 in UK, as cited by HUK’s Holstein ‘Journal’ Feb 2012 for the highest number of long lived cows, the closed herd having over 3% of the national number of LP100 tonne cows!
  • RABDF / NMR Gold Cup Winners 2003
  • No. 1 NMR Production Herd in the UK 2003, 2004
  • Farmers Weekly Dairy Farmer of the Year 1994
  • ‘Tomorrow’s Farmer’ 2011 Sanders Family, Isle of Man Dept of Agriculture
  • Ayrshire ‘Sandersfarms’ portion of the herd, no 2 in national genetic Dairy Co listings
  • New April 2012 indexes included in on-line herd brochure
  • NEW CLASSIFICATION VISIT RESULTS APRIL 2012 – 30 NEW EX, 26 MULTIPLE EX, 63 VG’S !!!!!!!

More details about the herd include:

HUKI June 2008 Journal Cover

  • 450 pedigree Holsteins including 93 classified Excellent, 173 VGs, 130 GP, 20 G
  • Herd CLOSED for the previous 36 years. No special treatment for ANY cow
  • Mainly British, European and US sires, including Leif, Garner, Garrett, Hss Oman Megabuck, McCormick, Deangate Quentin.SW/Red Sires:- A Linne,  St Hallebo, Gunnerstorp, Ayrshire sires include Tryst, Napier, Montbelliard – Urbaniste, Redon, Urocher, Unchoix.
  • Over 78 cows achieved LP100 in the last 8 yrs
  • Four families have achieved three generations of LP100 on the farm, living at the same time

Young cows and freshly calved heifers and bulls are for sale privately.