Busy Autumn

As usual I have left it FAR too long to post an update as to what has been happening here. 3 months nearly. The only excuse I have is that it has been busy, busy, busy !
The main work has been in getting the straw all baled and led in , getting more silage bales made , to make best use of the large quantities of grass we have had , and keeping a close eye on milk production.
Silage stocks seem to be a bit on the lean side this year , and that's a bit of a worry . You never know just what the British winter is going to throw at you , and the silage shortfall could really come and bite us in the Spring .We are now going to start and incorporate big bale silage into the ration in an attempt to slow down the rate of usage in the main silage clamp. hopefully this won't have too much of an impact in yields.
The cows have really eaten large quantities of buffer feeding throughout the summer, but this has, I think, paid for itself in better condition scores and generally healthier cattle . I can honestly say that on the whole I have never seen the cows looking as good.Fingers crossed they can make the transition to winter housing with little upset. The cows have actually been in at night for the last 2 weeks and I'm sure they have appreciated it just as much as I have . It's no fun walking the dark fields at 3.30 in the morning trying to find cows.

One of our main "projects" for the summer was to put cubicle mattresses down. These have been a great success with the cows taking to them instantly. They always had rubber mats before , but they had a tendency to move about a bit, so these are far better.




I too have found the mattresses to be so much easier to work with , no more pushing and shoving mats back on the concrete twice a day , so it's a win win situation .

Last month we also upgraded the pulsation in the milking parlour. This was a job that was well overdue , in fact should probably have been done about 10 years ago when we last did a bit of work in the parlour. We have taken out the old Fullwood pulsation with the old master relays and now each unit has it's own pulsation , which only works when the cow is actually getting milked . it takes a little getting used to a first , when all the units are off and there is no sound of the thump thump thump of the old pulsators. The benefits to the cow are that that we should have eliminated any variation in the vacuum levels that the old set up might have had , and indeed , so far , the vacuum level gauge never moves at all during milking. The other benefit that all milkers are noticing is that the milkings do seem to be quicker, so that's got to be a good thing for both animal and operator .

Chloanne Lowick finally went on sale from Cogent breeding last month .He is available as a young sire at the moment.



It's always great to see a bull that you've bred go on to be used in other breeders herds. I'm sure he will do some good in their herds.

Soon it will be time for all the youngstock to come inside and then it truly will feel like winter. Surely we can't have as bad a time as we have had the last couple of years. It would be nice just to have as good a winter as we have had autumn. Fingers crossed !

Who's The Daddy ?

I have had a few recent discussions on Twitter about bulls, good ones , bad ones, why I use particular ones, what I'm looking for in a bull, which bull has done good , and which ones have done harm . It did kind of get me thinking as to some of the answers to these points.
In these days of maximising profit, longevity has to be the key to any breeding policy . Replacing animals has to be one of the most costly things you can do , so the less often you have to do this the better. So a bull that has a positive lifespan score is always going to be a step in the right direction.
But this has not always been the case. I remember many years ago when the main objective was to get as much milk from the cows and therefore keep using bulls with high milk figures and you were onto a sure fire winner. Problem was these cows just didn't last , they were literally being milked to death. Over the years , breeders have come to realise that whilst milk production figures are important in a bulls figures , so too is the need for the milking daughters to last as long as possible in order to contribute to the farms profit for as long as possible.

Looking back over the last 14 years to the bulls we have used in the herd , it is a real who's who of the Holstein breed , with many popular names and also a few names that have come and gone , never to be heard of again.

Singingbrook NB Mascot was a bull that came onto the scene in a big way , he was THE bull to be seen using and we in turn used him , looking back at how his daughters milked , they milked fine , but their mammary systems left much to be desired .
Pirocco Magnitude I can remember as being an easy calving bull and we used him our heifers. He left some cracking daughters that had some fairly tidy udders on them .
One bull that really did leave his mark on the herd was Hairybriez, he was a Mascot son. We had many daughters by him , each one instantly recognisable by the distinctive "dotty" markings .I don't think we had a really bad daughter by him and his influence is probably still felt in the herd today . Certainly the markings are still here.
Young bulls have always been used here , as mentioned in other posts here on the blog. Many from Cogent and many from Genus alike . In all , I would say that they have not done us much harm at all . In the early years of using young bulls , it was the young bulls that had the highest index figures , and often it would be daughters of those bulls that went on to be our highest index cows.
Etazon Lord Lily and Eastview Meadowlord have easily given me some of the nicest cattle I've milked. We still have 6 Meadowlords around now.They are tall, graceful and very black cattle , they certainly stood out from the herd.
Urnieta Zelati was an interesting bull when I first used him , and I always wish I'd used him more heavily .Looking back we were using him in July 2003 , so that was quite early for him . His daughters were milk machines and we still have 5 milking in the herd today.
Two bulls which I acquired were Conant Acres Alonzo and Silvershade Saunders. We has many many daughters of these bulls and on the whole they have done us no harm at all . We still have 5 Saunders milking and 3 Alonzo's.
Another bull worthy of a mention has been Hanno, a very under rated bull in my opinion. With 6 daughters still on the go , they just keep going , and never really show themselves to you for anything untoward. They're the best kind of cow .
For more up to date bulls , we have youngstock on the ground from bulls such as Alpag Iron Active , Cogent Loader, Chloanne Gallagher, Wa-Del Hayden, Dalbytop Phil, Cogent Desmond, Chloanne Hannover ,Go Farm Pitbull and Bangaro Red to name a few.

Current service sires for the herd are Ralma Gold Crown and Bomaz Marion Emerald.
Current service sires for some of the Chloanne girls have included End Road Oman Bronco , Cogent Twist and Coppertop Doberman.

Today we are looking for the bull which will leave a truly "Long Life cow" .
They must be capable of passing on sound feet and legs , a mammary system that is both functional and can handle the quantities of milk expected from a modern Holstein. Calving ease and somatic cell counts are now even more important in a bulls proof as these traits should hopefully contribute to a cows profitability.

There is no one bull that will deliver all things to all herds in one generation, no matter how good his figures look in the catalogue!
It's a simple matter of keeping on breeding the best cattle you can and as long as you see some progress in either the classification results, the herd averages in milk production or the average number of completed lactations in the herd , these are steps in the right direction

Marley and Me

As quick as one bull has left the herd , another has arrived in the shape of Chloanne Marley . He is sired by End Road Oman Bronco and is out of a cracking little heifer Chloanne DP Gracious , who herself is out of Chloanne Goldwyn Gracious , the dam of the two bulls that have already gone down to Cogent Ltd. Its never an easy decision to make as to whether I keep a bull or not . Sometimes it's because of the cow family , sometimes it's because of the sire , or even just because he looks a tidy calf that will develop into a stunning bull (hopefully). I have kept this one because of his breeding , on both sides , and also because there is only one other Bronco bull registered at the moment(29/6/11) so it's nice to have an early son from a sire .
The family line has proven itself time and time again and I'm confident that Chloanne DP Gracious will out perform her herd mates to stand out as the rest have done.

Chloanne Webster Gracious is due to calve this week too , she is in calf to Morningview Legend . This will be her 7th calving and she has an impressive lifetime yield so far of 88,374 ltrs. A nice easy calving will see her well on her road to getting near being a 100t cow.

Another exciting pregnancy is Chloanne Goldwyn Gracious 2, who is now safely in calf to Coppertop Doberman. This is a mating that was suggested to me by ABS Genus, and it would be nice to get a heifer calf off her for me , but also if it were a bull then if Genus were at all interested then that would be ideal too . It's left with them that I will keep them informed as to how she is doing . At the moment she has a lactation yield of 10,865 ltrs in 201 days and she's still milking around the 38 ltrs mark every day.

Some of the girls will be getting classified at the end of next week so with any luck they will move up a point or two.

Chloanne Lowick

At the end of last week , our young Holstein bull , Chloanne Lowick , was finally picked up by Cogent Breeding to be taken down to their premises to begin being tested as a young sire for them! He is by the sire Morningview Legend and is out of the truly great cow Chloanne Goldwyn Gracious.

This is the second bull to be tested from the dam , who is sadly not with us due to complications after calving last year .
It's an amazing feeling when a company is interested in some of the animals and genetics that you are working with , topped only by the news that they will indeed take an animal .
If all goes according to plan , then semen should be ready from him later in the year, with the first offspring being born late summer next year .It really is a waiting game to see just how well the farmers and breeders who used the bulls liked them , or indeed didn't like them. It is the information supplied by them to the AI company that will determine whether the young bull will go on to bigger and better things , or simply not be good enough for their exacting standards.
The first bull , Chloanne Gallagher, now has 61 registered daughters in around 30 herds. I don't have figures of how many daughters could be in commercial herds but do still milk record.Our first daughters are now at the age to be running with the bull , and hopefully over the next few weeks and months more daughters will get in calve.
It is once these daughters start to calve down themselves that their figures will contribute to a young bulls proof. Getting a bull to the point of him having a proof takes a very long time and bucket loads of frustration.
We use plenty of young bull semen throughout the herd as well as using proven bulls . I feel very strongly that more farmers should use some young bull semen , even if it was only 10 or 20 straws.The genetics available now from all studs are the best on offer from around the world, and by using young sires it is a chance to get the very best from the best cow families available . With young bull semen being available from some companies for as little as £3 or £4 a straw, it really is an ideal chance to better your herd for little cost. All proven bulls have started off life as a young bull , and farmers who refuse to use young bull semen on grounds of low reliability etc should think to themselves that if we all took that attitude then no bull would get a fair chance at all .

Perfect Grazing . . . . . .So Far !

With us now into mid-June , silage is now a distant memory , and we are now watching the grass growing (all be it slowly)ready for 2nd cut . The ground is very dry and we have really only had one day of any real rain . On the grazing side of things the cows are keeping on top of all the grazing strips this year . I have never seen them eat the grass the way they have this year , no waste at all so far. Obviously this is a great sign , it means they are utilising the grass very well , but it also means that I have not had any strips to cut and bale , and this in turn will have an effect as to how much extra grass we will need to find to bale later on .We had a bountiful supply of bales just before turnout , but these were sold . . . . . a decision that could very well come back to haunt us .It is now looking like we may have to open up our silage pit quite soon , to ensure that we can continue to buffer feed the cows through the summer.
With all this food that the cows are eating , it is pleasing to see positive results, not just in the bulk tank, but also in the condition of the cows and also in the fertility of the herd , which has remained fairly high. Also our nutrition advice is spot on at the moment , and we are achieving FCE figures of 1.5 , which at this time of year and for a herd grazing outside , isn't too shabby.
We are focusing more and more on the state of grazing grass , and trying to tackle any weed issues we have . These tend to be field specific , and we are trying to get rid of the dreaded Chickweed , easy to kill but at the expense of the clover in the sward. Some of our fields will have been in the same grass for quite a number of years now , and that is something we may have to address, obviously newer and better varieties come along , and it is unrealistic to expect a 4 or 5 year ley to last 6 or 7 years without some form of drop in quality and performance.
Overall the cows have had the best Spring/Summer that I can remember , nice and dry , no mud to have to contend with , and I really think this has all had a knock on effect to the cows health . Somatic cell counts continue to be the lowest we have had , and that too is a general indication of the status of the herd health. Long may it continue . Rain at night , heat in the day , surely not too much to ask for ?

Well the cows will soon have completed their first circuit of the grazing paddocks available to them . It really has been the best Spring that the cows have had for years , and it makes such a difference to the way they eat the grass .We always try to get them out as quick as possible in the year , and this year we were ahead of last year , both for day grazing , and also for nights. With the grass growth good , and also the cows getting buffer fed at milking times , they have milked well , and above all they are holding their condition.
It is very often a challenge to regulate the grass , making sure that they have sufficient clean grass ahead of them and also keeping an eye that they are cleaning up what they are given , both in the trough and in the field . If they waste the grass , especially on the first time round in the grazing cycle then the next growth is never as good as it should be. The pictured grass is what they are currently grazing , and it really is too long for them ,. however they have been making a fantastic job of it . The next strips to graze have all had their fertiliser and now that ewe have had rain , should easily start to catch up , hopefully in time for the cows next time. Over the summer we are going to be looking into the idea of NOT feeding concentrates in the milking parlour in future. I am in favour of cutting it out, feeling that the cows could better utilise other products mixed in with their TMR. The only down side would probably be that some of the more pampered girls might be a little "shy" to come into the parlour without their usual bribe of cake. It's certainly an experiment worth trying though , as parlour concentrate is in excess of £220/t at the moment and little chance of it coming down in price. We are keeping a close eye on the cost of feeding the cows , it's amazing the number of farmers who haven't got a clue just how much it cows to fed their herd. At the moment it is costing us £1.81 per cow ration that goes through the mixer wagon . We are milking 127 cows at present and I am feeding them for 100 rations , so really we are spending £1.42 /cow on the buffer ration . We feel this is money well spent though , even when out at grass. The benefits of the buffer system clearly out weigh the small cost of the food.
The weather has finally broken , and the rain is very welcome , for both grass growth and also for just giving the land that little bit of "give", the ground was getting really quite hard and not such a good surface for the cows to walk on .Once again , I can't remember a year when I've been so glad to see heavy rain fall , even if it has meant me getting wet from time to time !

Spring Turnout for Milkers

This last week has seen the cows finally get a taste of fresh grass again after the long winter. It's always a time that is looked forward to , by both us and the cows . The mood generally lifts on the farm and the cows do genuinely get a spring in their step as they walk to the fields.They have been out during the days for the last week , and tonight they will be kept out at night too , with them now only getting buffer fed during milking times.
As much as it is lovely to see the cows outside , it does bring its own series of problems and issues that must be addressed as the season folds out. During the winter , i have had complete control over all aspects of the cows day, eg, water, food, environment, climate etc. Now, with them going outside , I have generally lost that control. How much are they eating? How much dry matter is in the diet ? Is the walk to the fields affecting their feet ? Will fertility improve now that they are out in their "natural" surroundings? Will body condition suffer as a result of different nutrition and improved milk yields.
Hopefully over the next couple of days , they will get onto a balanced buffer ration and yields will lift.
This year, Keenan are launching their "Pace At Grass" programme for their Pace box on the Keenan mixer wagons. This should give me more of a handle on just what the cows are getting out of the grass/buffer, and I should be able to regulate the amount of buffer needed to compensate for field differences , sward variation , weather etc.
The cows are all given a magnesium bolus when they go outside , just as a precaution against grass staggers. They are also fed high mag minerals for about the first week of grazing too .
Grass growth has been fairly good lately , with the weather being kind to both the land and the cows . Long may it continue , and then up will go the shout that we are looking for rain . We really are never satisfied with our lot when it comes to the good old British weather.
Silage fields are looking good ,although they are probably the fields that really could do with a good shower or two of rain. As with other years we will be looking to do silage first cut around the 18th - 20th May.
All youngstock are still inside , probably until the end of the month.

Northumbria Holstein Breeders Herd Competition

In January the results were announced for the Northumbria Holstein Breeders Club annual herds competition , which is always judged in the previous August.
This year we were pleased with our successes.
As a farm we managed to lift the titles of Best Large Herd , Top herd on Production and also Top Herd on Inspection . It's always pleasing when a judge appreciates what we are trying to do . On the individual classes , Chloanne Webster Gracious was named Super Cow , and Ellenneff Duce Cavaliero was placed first in the Heifer on Production class. Chloanne Goldwyn Gracious 2 came third in her class for Cow on Inspection.
As I've no doubt said before ,It is always a pleasure to have a judge , or indeed anyone come along and look at your herd , they will always see things that you have taken for granted, and maybe offer you that one missing nugget of advice that spurs you on .Sometimes things are staring you straight in the face and you fail to realise it . In my case , this year I didn't enter the Progeny group , It's not a class I find easy to find entries for . Well on the day of judging , I slowly found myself admiring daughters of a bull called Kings-Ransom Duce . Slightly on the smaller side than what we are used to , these animals are quite black , but the most amazing aspect of these heifers is the shape of their udders , a real joy to see when they come in the parlour to be milked. So why didn't I put in a few of these for the progeny group ? I haven't a clue , but I will be following these girls closely over the coming months and if at all possible , I will try the class this year .

Frankham Sept Storm Ethel has had a calf , and this time , a cracking heifer calf. The sire is Ked Outside Jeeves , and is again , another welcomed member to the Ethel family.
As I've had a few of the girls calf , my thoughts are now turning to getting them back in calve again. I have bought some Cogent Twist semen this year . He seems a fairly handy bull , so fingers crossed for some heifer calves later on .
I am also considering implanting some embryo's in the near future . I have a couple of heifers that would lend themselves quite well to this , and if I can rake up a couple more , It would certainly sweeten the job with regard to price etc. .

The main herd is down in numbers at the moment , which means that the dry cow pens are positively bulging . This will reverse itself in the coming weeks as they all start to calve down and join the ranks of the milkers again. Until then though , I am making the most of the slightly easier milkings , knowing that once the numbers rise again , so does the time taken to milk them !

Jess

This week I had to say a final "goodbye" to my Border Collie , Jess. Old age finally got the better of her , she was 15 and a half , which by any stretch of the imagination has been one hell of an innings for a dog . As much as you know these moments are going to come , and her health was failing all the time , it's still one of the hardest moments . Jess was just one of life's constants , she was always there, usually under your feet or lying in the way . Behind a door was always a favourite so that when you got up in the morning the door would push her too !
I "bought" Jess as a pup , and she was from amazing working parents , but I have never used her as a working dog . The instict was definately there, and she did have a general idea how to move a herd of cows along . I say "bought" , because i actually traded in a washing machine for her . Best trade ever !
A better natured dog you'll never meet . She would bark at strange cars and the postman , but would be wagging behind . Wagging the tail that would touch more electric fences than she would have liked , latterly she learned to keep the tail down ! She could "header" a football better than any dog I've ever seen on the TV do , she would chase football and the kids all the time . Her skills never quite developed on the retrieval side of things . She could run after a stick , then just lie down beside it , or bring it half way and then make you go and get the damn thing yourself .
When the kids were young , Jess develped a habit of hovering around their high-chairs , just waiting on the spillages to land on the floor from the trays above . Always amazing with the kids , she always looked as if she was protecting them at all times .
I got a black Labrador about 3 years ago , not sure how Jess would react . It was the best desicion I ever made as I'm quite sure it gave Jess an extra couple of years . It seemed to give her an extra bit of zest , and above all a play mate .
As much as she was a faily quiet dog in the last few months , it's is a strange feeling in the house at the moment , and I know that Max, the Lab is kind of at a lose end , knowing something isn't quite right .
I know that I'll never replace Jess , you can't achieve the impossible .
Just a pet in a million . She is missed by us all .

Our Dairy Farm Assurance Audit

Yesterday it was our Dairy Farm Assurance Audit, an on farm inspection covering many aspects deemed to be important in the safe, clean , responsible production of food , in our case milk . This audit used to be carried out by the milk buyers themselves , who for us is Arla , but for the last 3 audits it has been an independent company carrying it out on behalf of the industry.
When these audits get mentioned there is usually a sigh from folk and the look of dread . On the whole I have always tried to approach them with a positive attitude, and would like to think that by us being quality assured that it will bring us a premium for our product . Sadly that never seems to be the case, with it being a compulsory audit anyway. Any non-compliance's must be rectified with-in 28 days. Happily , we were passed with flying colours, so big sighs of relief all round .
So what all was checked ? Well on arrival the milking parlour was checked for cleanliness ans my milking routine was discussed to make sure that no short cuts are taken during milking . In the dairy , the doors walls and lights were given the once over to check for cracks , defects and in general to ensure that the room was vermin and bird proof . We checked the cows housing , which was fine as the cubicles were all new just last year . All pens of stock were checked to see that all animals had adequate room and that they all could have contact with other animals etc . As you can start to see , all these checks are pretty common sense things which all farmers/stockmen around the country are ensuring high standards of anyway.
In the office is where the real fun and games starts with these inspections . Piles and piles of paperwork , layed out , just in case he needed to see relevant evidence of this and that .
So , medicine records , movement records, staff training records , animal transport records , chemical safety data sheets , milk quality facts , herd health plan , vet visits , feed delivery records to name but a few , were all checked , just to ensure that we operate a safe and clean operation .
Traceability is a vital element of food production and that is a major part of producers paperwork . All inputs must be traceable back to source and all sources must be "this'n'that" registered . it's a real mine field.
Well , the bottom line of all this is that we ticked all the right boxes and we live to fight another day , with a certificate on the wall to prove such a fact. It would be nice to be receiving a premium for a quality product, produced to the exacting standards that the industry sets . Maybe one day !