How many times a day do you milk, and what is your current herd average, butterfat and protein? We milk three times a day with a yearly rolling herd average of 33,839 pounds. Our butterfat is 4.4% and our protein is 3.1%.
Describe your housing and milking facility. Cows are housed in a 4-row freestall barn with sand bedding, fans, sprinkler systems for the summer and long-day lighting for the winter. Our double-8 parallel BouMatic parlor is in the retrofitted stanchion barn. Our calves are raised in calf barns with automatic feeders.
Who is part of your farm team, and what are their roles? I manage all aspects of the farm with the help of feeder Jeff Troester, herdsman Dan Busch and four parlor employees.
What is your herd health program? A healthy herd begins with the calves. We vaccinate the calves with Inforce 3, C&D Antitoxin and First Defense at birth. At weaning, they are given Inforce 3. At 4 months, the calves receive the Bangs vaccine for brucellosis, Bovi-Shield Gold and Ultrabac 7. At 5 months, they get Bovi-Shield Gold and Ultrabac 7. At 3.5 and 4.5 months of age, the calves get a pink eye vaccine. Heifers are given Bovi-Shield Gold and Ultrabac 7 semi-annually. When bred heifers go to pasture, they receive LongRange, an extended release injectable parasiticide. Pre-fresh heifers get ScourGuard and J-5 at 65 days before calving and ScourGuard again six weeks pre-fresh and J-5 again 21 days pre-fresh. Mature cows receive Bovi-Shield Gold semi-annually. J-5 is administered 21 days pre-fresh and at fresh check. Dry cows are given ScourGuard and Ultrabac 7 at their dry check with the veterinarian. Two weeks after the dry check, they are given Vaxxon SRP Salmonella and Vaxxon SRP Klebsiella. At dry off, 60 days pre-fresh, the mature cows are given J-5 and ScourGuard.
What does your dry cow and transition program consist of? The dry period is 60 days. They are housed in a freestall barn, and in the summer, they get access to pasture. Their ration is corn silage, rough hay and mineral. Thirty days before calving, they go to a pre-fresh pen. The pre-fresh ration is wheat straw, corn silage and a dry-cow concentrate that includes mineral. They are moved to a bedded pack one week prior to calving. Fresh cows are integrated with the rest of the herd shortly after calving.
What is the composition of your ration, and how has that changed in recent years? The milk cow ration consists of corn silage with 17 pounds of dry matter, two types of haylage that contribute 20.4 pounds of dry matter, finely ground high-moisture shell corn for 12.41 pounds of dry matter and protein that counts for 11.08 pounds of dry matter. As-fed pounds equal 123.25 with a dry matter weight of 61 pounds. We try not to make changes. We have a good base program that we make small tweaks to. Sometimes corn silage fluctuates with the seasons or inventory, but the variation is in small amounts.
Tell us about the forages you plant and detail your harvest strategies. For alfalfa, we grow HarvXtra, which is a high-quality, low lignin alfalfa. We harvest at 30 days. We have tried stretching it out, but it was not as successful as cropping monthly. We chop and store it in piles and bags. Our corn silage is a high-quality, high-yield grain corn silage. We chop around 16 inches off the ground, leaving the less desired feed in the field. Corn silage is also stored in piles and bags.
What is your average somatic cell count, and how does that affect your production? Our SCC was 113,000 at the last test. There is a direct correlation between SCC and healthy cows producing milk. We keep our cows healthy and bored because they thrive on consistency. Sand bedding provides cow comfort as well as a good source of inorganic material which helps keep our SCC low.
What change has created the biggest improvement in your herd average? Genomic testing has provided improvement. We have been testing for 13 years, the year after our veterinary clinic started offering it. Our veterinarian, Dr. Jen from Veterinary Associates in Hazel Green, Wisconsin, and our nutritionist, Roger Hoppenjan with Premier Cooperative, play major roles in feeding cows properly and getting animals bred. If you don’t get cows cleaned up and bred back, your days in milk get long. We value their advice and follow suggestions when it’s a good, sound practice.
What technology do you use to monitor your herd? We use a Dairymaster product called MooMonitor+. It is a collar system that tracks activity. We use PCDART for recordkeeping. We also have a total mixed ration tracker that is a software for tracking feed intake and inventory.
What is your breeding program, and what role does genetics play in your production level? We have a voluntary waiting period of 60 days. Animals are examined by the vet twice prior to breeding. We use shot protocols to get animals pregnant. Breeding decisions are based on genomic results. Genetics play a huge role in our breeding program. We breed 70% of our herd to Angus and 30% of the herd to sexed Holstein. Great management yields great feed quality, cow comfort and all the good things. We have a relatively progressive management style.
List three management strategies that have helped you attain your production and component level. Quality feed that is harvested and stored properly allows us to feed a TMR with zero mold and feed a consistent ration year-round. Cow comfort that includes sand bedding that is topped off every week and a sprinkler and fan system. High-quality employees from feeders to herdsman to the milkers. Our milkers have been here the longest and provide consistency to the cows. It is reflected in our production and components. Our focus on reproduction, genetics and genomic testing provides us with excellent animals. And finally, calf care, including giving 1 gallon of high-quality colostrum in a timely manner. This allows our calves to grow to their full potential.
Tell us about your farm and your plans for the dairy in the next year. I am the second generation on this farm; my dad was the first. We have 550 acres of crops and pastures. I enjoy seeing the progress of the herd and the farm. I plan to continue milking as long as my health allows.
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