HERD TESTING.

Putaruru Press, Volume II, Issue 58, 4 December 1924, Page 4

HERD TESTING.

MORRINSVILLE FIGURES, j I Grade Jersey’s Big Yield, With herd testing farmers are continually finding that they possess a cow which is capable of giving a particularly good yield, and incidentally giving the proud owner a very pleasant surprise. A Mangateparu farmer was recently very surprised to learn that a grade Jersey cow, under test by the Morrinsville Dairy Company, had been credited with 100.691 b of butterfat for the month of October. This cow had calved late in September. At the farmer’s request the company has asked a Government in-| spector to take a sample of this "cow’si milk and make a test, but so far this* has not been done. In the same Mangateparu herd is the worst cow tested by the Morrinsville Company, this animal having- given* only 91b of butterfat for the month of October.

From the Morrinsville Company’s figures it is found that the amount of butterfat has been less for October than for the previous month, this being attributable to the sudden change in the weather. The milk yields, it is asserted, have been slightly lower and the tests have not risen accordingly. During the present month, however, the supplies have come along well and are considered to be at the peak at the present time.

Some very consistent herd averages are reported by the Morrinsville Company, the averages of one herd being:—August, 34.361 b fat; September, 34.071 b; October, 35.231 b. Another herd was as follows:—August, 35.571 b; September, 47.771 b; October, 47.141 b.

The detailed herd-testing figures supplied by the Morrinsville Company are:—

Best Herd Average (herd of 31 cows). —Milk, 1097.61 b; test, 4.41; butterfat, 47.771 b.

Lowest Herd Average (herd of 14 cows). —Milk, 470.41 b; test, 3.87; butterfat, 18.071 b. Best Individual Yield.—Milk, 20551 b; test, 4.9; butterfat, 100.691 b. Lowest Individual Yield. Milk, 3001 b; test, 3; butterfat, 91b. Association Average from 16 Herds. —35.81 b of butterfat.

In the Morrinsville group of the New Zealand Co-operative Herdtesting Association the best cow for October, a Jersey, gave 861 b of butterfat. A very consistent producer was encountered in a Shorthorn cow which has been credited with the following:—August, 721 b of butterfat; September, 721 b; October, 771 b; November, 751 b. The highest .test given so far this season by this cow is 6.1.