STANDARD HERD-TESTS

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 101, 20 July 1927, Page 13

STANDARD HERD-TESTS

DAIRYMEN MEET CONFERENCE AT WHANGAREI (From Our Own Correspondent.) WHANGAREI, To-day. Dairymen from alt parts of North Auckland met in Whangarei yesterday to discuss methods of standardising herd-testing. Mr. W. Grounds, chairman of the Dairy Control Board, presided and the directors and managers of most factories in the peninsula present, including Mr. Dynes Pulton, chairman of the Dominion Co-operative Herd-Testing Association. The objects of the conference, said fr. Grounds, were to stimulate interst in herd-testing and the standardsation of methods, and to stress the mportance of calf-marking. , Speaking of the advantages of lerd-testing. Mr. W. M. Hulme, man|ger of the federation, said at a recent air in the Waikato the highest pen °1 six-months calves that made £ 9 4s was marked, whereas calves of a simiar age without a brand record, were disposed of for £2 each. This was conclusive proof of the value of herdto breeders. In the district Helensville to the North Cape t * le speaker estimated on h. butter-fat tonnage basis, and allowing 1801 b of tat per cow, that there were 80,000 cows in the area. Assuming there would be 40,000 heifer calves, and al--owing for wastage and a reasonable Percentage of inferior males, it might safely be argued that lfr.ooo first-class heifers were wanted annually to maintain the complement. He advocated dairy companies appointing testing committees in each district to keep in touch with the farmers and watch the selection of the best calves for future dairy purposes, and to recommend the destruction of inferior sorts. In his first year pf herd-testing the farmer would be ad>l* to discover the low producers. These he could allow to freshen for the next season, milk them over the flush and then dispose of them as “fats.**

The speaker considered a group of 12,000 cows, comprising 27 herds, a reasonable number to handle, the cost °n this basis being about ss. In some districts it might be advisable to curtail the season and test over eight months instead of nine to deal with small herds. He advocated an alternative system.