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VikingNews AU 2019-1
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?t his scenario equates to a very profitable
cow
, low- er input, higher output, i don?t see the sense in feeding a big
cow
when i?m trying to keep my feed costs to a minimum? says
dennis
lo- max. his conclusion comes from the facts: the bulk of the
cow
s? diet is grass from the paddock and topped up with 1.5 tonne of grain (5 kg per day) per
cow
.
dennis
and
erin
have just had their first child, millie, and are share farming on roger peters? farm in the lower reaches of the mitta valley. roger is an aussie red enthusiast and
erin
has come in with some of her own holstein
cow
s. currently the partnership is milk- ing 595
cow
s through a fifty stand rotary. the herd is close to 50% jer- sey
cow
s and 50% reds and a small number of
erin
?s holsteins. the milking area is 190 hectares with 70 hectares of those under irrigation. they have another 70 hectares as a run off block and lease another 60 hectares. all silage is cut on farm and 200 tonne of cereal hay is pur- chased yearly. the lomax?s have 320 yearlings and 250 rising 2-year old heifers. the reason for the large young stock num- bers is that
dennis
and
erin
are plan- ning to stay with the jersey
cow
when they move to their own farm as they like this
cow
that gives them high component with lower input. currently with the mix of breeds, the production is 6,500 litres 4.5% fat and 3.6% protein. interested in an efficient breeding plan
dennis
and
erin
are very interested in breeding. they discuss their breed- ing goals with vikinggenetics? sales representative each year to stay fo- cussed on the
cow
they need. in the early years, improvement was needed in udders, feet & legs and
cow
fertility. all of these areas have had substantial improvement over the last 10 years as very few
cow
s are now leaving the herd with these re- gards. ?the most pleasing thing is that now we are achieving a 15% empty rate after seven weeks of arti- ficial insemination and we are more than happy with that? says
dennis
.
dennis
and
erin
believe viking is providing the type of low cost
cow
they are looking for and they appreci- ate the great health profile of viking sires. selecting from healthy sires has given the lomax?s a better quality of life through calving ease,
cow
fer- tility and a very hassle-free
cow
. ?our jerseys walk home, get milked and re- turn to the paddock to do it all again and again, with very little fuss?, he states. the sire selection process is still similar each year with emphasis on udders, teat length (longer), feet, pro- duction, temperament and overall health traits. challenges on the farm itself are winter pugging (
cow
s hooves sinking into the wet soil and causing damage to the pasture) which goes in hand with the expanding numbers of
cow
s on farm over the years.
dennis
and
erin
are set to take their jerseys well into the future and they see the vikingjersey play- ing a major role in building their business.
dennis
and
erin
lomax believe the jersey
cow
is the perfect choice when it comes to kilograms of milk solids to kilograms of
cow
bodyweight. the lomax?s are achieving an average of 525 kg milk solids from a 475 average body weight
cow
. the relation between kg solids to bodyweight makes jersey the perfect choice by erik thompson, vikinggenetics australia 19 march 2019 | vikingnews
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