HERD-TESTING

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 308, 17 September 1918, Page 8

HERD-TESTING

ITS PRACTICAL VALUE PROVED INCREASED PRODUCfION . v A RESULT ; The following' report prepared by Jin S. M'Kenzie, dairy instructor, Manaia, was.presented to'the shareholders of the Kaupokonui Dairy 'Company at a meeting'held recently:--ifiWith-the-close of. the. 1917-18 milking . season, Kaupokonui has witnessed an outstanding example of' the practical raluo ,of cow-t/sting.. At no time in .the history of dairying has increased : . production been more necessary. In the early days of cheap land and labour any . kind of cow could pay her way; even at the low. prices paid for., butter, and -',cheese. The situation'is now quite different; prices for dairy products nave advanced, but they have not kept pace fvwith the advancing cost of labour and • land. It now takes a decent'sort of cow kfo go through the year and show a pro-s'fit-prer. her keep. If she fails she is a if cull, and farmers ivho test their rows ■r dislike culls of . any kind. The old sayit ing, "a, cow is-a cow," may ,he true, !;.but it is unsafe to follow these days. S tow, is a cow, but some cows are more \-cow than others. It is the difference ,'in capacity and quality that makes the difference between profit and loss; these j* differences are so'great that it is not - safe to guess a cow's production. In !~ several, ways cow-testing makes dairy The greater majority of "Kaupokonui dairymen have grade cows •(.'or,Vows of mixed breeding; their chief ; interest is to. produce an article at as low cost as possible, ,so they test to find - which cows yield most butter-fat, or' show the widest margin of return over ' -the cost of' keep.-. Difficulty has been experienced in replacing "the cult cows, with bettor ones, and this is where cow-' /testing, plays a very important} pal't. ■'Animals can be purchased on a basis of their records, or lif one depends upon ■ the- increase of his own. herd he can j select heifers from dam^'having the best (records. Disappointments have happened from both methods, because jome , cows-that do well in one herd may not -in another, owing no doubt to careless !•'management, feeding, etc. It is also a :'fact that-heifers do not 1 always inherit the,, good qualities of their dams, but ' even so the use of records is the surest ' t yv*ay.toikeep up the quality .of a,herd. i-'A; striking example of what .has' beem J oUained by testing, breeding, and rearling "one's own dairy cows has' come • under our notice. One Kaupokonui has : becn testing his herd of ' cows for the past eight 'years: { During the past season he milked twenty-four of; his 'own breeding'; ( eighteen claim the same sire, and seven . are first calms. - ■ The .following' shows the records of ',cpws.:pf..own, breeding No. I—Lbs. butter-fat -(49:87, age 6yrs.; No. 2— 424.59,, oyrs.; No. 3 —316.72, 3yrs.; Ntf, -4— 257.78, 2yrs.; No. 5—315.38, ■ 3yrs.; No. 6—369.61, oyrs.; •' No. 7— i 1274.41, 2vrs. ;• "No. • 8—274.35, 3yrs.; ,; N059—297.63,- 3vrs.; '-No, 10-345.58, s\rs.; No. 11-293.10, 6yrs.;..No. 12 '-243.92, 3vn.; No. 13-315.82, 6yrs.; $£>14-298.94', 3yrs.; No. -15-254.78, i'2yrs.:; No; 16—202.69, 2yrs.; No. 17— ;,195.43, 3yrs.: No. 18—137.65, 2yrs. (all sired by Bright Astor); No. 19— -27;l;ll;-, : 2yrs. (sired -by. Holly.. Bank 5-Prirce); No. 20—264.16, 2yrs. (sired by Holly Bank Prince); No. 21—293.93, ,6yrs. '<• .(Avenue's Pride); . No. 22--- , 539.27j- 4vrs. isired by Bell Billberry's ■liast) ;-. No,-- 23—265.66,.. 3yrs. (sired 'by. Bell -Billberry's .Last);' No.. 24— ■2/9.27, 4yrs.(sired by/Bell Billberry's Last); ~ i^-Ayerage—Lbs.. L gutter-fat, 290.90. - " The first four'claim, tiie same dam, ■Jtottejciip i(g'i;fi~de 'Jersey),'''.and l her record, for. the season is 305;421b. fat, and is -now',-eleven years old.- No. 18 calved when fourteen months old. , -. ■Bight years ago this farmer's herd averaged 1701b.. £fit per cow. - ■ ■®ie:;'ayerage/for 1917-18 was 304.43 :lb';fVri 'increase o'i 134.431b. Jier cow. ; A.-n&ghbouring' farmer .commenced Itesting-the same year. Ho has ' in-, iorjiaseti-liis.average from: 1831b. fat to, 2961b;..per;.cpw,;!and has during-; the. pajt'-iyear' milked five heifers of own ■Weeding,' with an average of 2581b. fat I per'heifer. / j -Many instances can be mentioned '.where cows are producing less than 160 ; lb. fat. Kaupokonui needs more cows, ■hut not cows of 16'Olb. standard. AVith |:heef jit high prices the time is ripe for silcLcows to go to the block. / per cow for the association','l'during the past eight:years has teeti most remarkable, and the many rnemb|rs'are to be congratulated, on ,their-gobd progress. : For the season 1910-11. the- average cow gave 222.021b., fat-.'■-The yields have so increased that. Sn£l9lr;lß;the average is 296.261b.,-re-' increase- pf 74,241b. fat , we'find:'the. has been the ..chief means Gftf' increasing. .the compaiiv's output ilrom' 1,947',9061b. fat in .1910-11, to [2,275,1291b. ir, 1917-18 (for' the comipany's average: production per cow.for il9lo-llWas 1931b. It'at against 2171b. tfori 1917-18). : [! The '10,500 cows of 1917-18 sen-m ferpduced 252,0001b. of fat more than' fwpu]d,have,.been, obtained on the aver-j?f^i-yieH.'of: the; 1910-i:f-cow; ■ The [value of -tjijs increase with butter-fat jt- one 'shilling per : pound is efiuall ito-,v12,600, which surely, has more, than compensated for cost of testing and lajboiir, involved. f-;.The,.'writer looks for these increases to continue and to be possibly greatly, .developed in the fujaire.; The time is .approaching ' when dairy farmers ■ w : ll realise their responsibilities niore fullv ,ai?id endeavour to uroducp. improved to obtain this they must remember that cow-testing is'one key to dajry knowledge, and there can be no progress without knowledge.