cows-lang-grow-8.html
VikingNews AU 02 2018
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9 september 2018 | vikingnews when i first started working with the breeding decision of the
lang
farm
in 2012, werner
lang
was very hesitant to use conventional holstein semen over his maiden heifers. by erik thompson, vikinggenetics australia h e said that he had tried ?so called? calving ease sires be- fore and it had been a disaster, ?so why would viking be any better?? i explained that holstein is always bred to holstein heifers in the viking population and that thousands of calv- ings have been and are recorded for calving ease, survival and size on a sire?s calving performance. werner de- cided to try it and the result was fan- tastic - no problems with all calves that presented normally. this was an eye opener for werner and he states that vikinggenetics? data is reliable: ?when viking says easy calving, you get easy calving. we don?t have that faith in other genetics.? werner and josie
lang
started their dairy enterprise back in the goulburn valley region in 1982 at tatura, victo- ria. the original
farm
was 50 hectares where they milked 90
cows
. now 36 years later, they have two sons home, markus & phillip and milk 1800
cows
off 1250 hectares and a 250 hectare lease.
lang
farm
s operate out of two 50 unit rotaries and one 22 swing over with 11 staff in total.
lang
farm
s do not operate on a per cow produc- tion focus but margins after inputs, a total
farm
production system. so what have the notable differenc- es been since breeding with vikingge- netics? the great calving ease which has already been stated, but also wer- ner and markus believe there has been a great ?kick on? effect from this into the other health traits. ?cow gestation has been getting shorter as this is correlated to easy calving, not only has this allowed us to pick up more production but it gives us more chances to get her back in calf?, markus said. cow fertility has definitely improved and they are get- ting more ai calves, which means a surplus of replacements that they can i remember my first year on the
farm
, every night we were checking
cows
, now we don?t markus
lang
now sell, providing another income stream that was not there before. regarding mastitis, the
lang
farm
stays in premium band most of the time for milk quality. ?this is a big improve- ment as the early days were not great?, said werner. management has got bet- ter to help milk quality but the
lang
?s believe the genetics have played a great role as well. viking?s mastitis resist- ance index is 100% accurate as it is based on actual treatments where an scc index is only 65% correlated to mastitis problems. vikinggenetics? breeding goal is appreciated by
lang
farm
the
lang
?s appreciate the viking phi- losophy of breeding
cows
from the in- side out instead of outward appear- ance. if you have a cow that is produc- ing well, has healthy feet and legs and mammary and is very fertile and healthy overall, then the frame she needs will already be there and so will the longevity too, markus believes. werner says they are seeing this in their vikingholsteins; ?they just look so good and have plenty of get up and go? he says. it is a nice herd to look at, and it has happened pretty quickly over the last six years. when they look at the bull?s list, the
lang
?s don?t look at conformation traits anymore. the viking bulls have all of that anyway or they wouldn?t be on the list. the focus is on as much health as possible and keeping the milk components moving up, it is much cheaper to increase components rather than milk! werner says people are funny how they think they need to have big
cows
. ?what they need is good producing, healthy long-living
cows
, which we have found we can achieve from vi- king?s very reliable data?, he said. vi- kinggenetics breeds for the medium size cow. the
lang
?s also value the general health index and say they have far less sick
cows
and calves, lda?s, (twisted stomach) ketosis, reproduc- tive disorders etc. the
lang
?s note that they also have less lameness in their
cows
but of course in a very wet year the prob- lem is magnified. markus says he likes the fact that he can go into a vi- king sires proof and find out if a sire?s strong point in his hoof health index is white line separation and sole haemorrhage, which are the hoof is- sues on their
farm
. finally, apart from all the benefits just listed, the
lang
?s have now more time to do other things on the
farm
, as sick problematic
cows
with calving problems take up way too much of your time. markus says; ?i remember my first year on the
farm
, every night we were out checking
cows
, now we don?t. we calved down 150 heifers last calving and did not lose one or damage any.? interesting quote from mydairy- vet.com in regard to lda?s: ?dairy
cows
these days also tend to be big- ger and deeper chested allowing much more room for the abomasum to float into?.
cows-fertility-first-10.html