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The girls are still involved in the farm, particularly Larissa who is Andrew's reserve ‘scraper man’ and also instigates any showing, as well as some lengthy discussions with her dad on breeding. The 100 head of milkers are averaging 9800 litres sold at 3.99%bf and 3.27%p on twice a day milking, with 22 EX and 46 VG in the herd, which includes 40% of the heifers scored VG. Cows are fed a TMR and topped up in the parlour to allow flexibility during summer months when the herd is run in one group. The TMR is made up of grass silage, maize silage, soya, rape, sugar beet and caustic wheat. They are grazed from the end of April until the end of September with buffer feeding increasing as the summer goes on. Heifers have been calved at two years old for the past 20 years, calving in from 23 months. Initiative is used when serving with about 10% given an extra couple of months to grow. They are housed until they are in-calf and reared on wheat straw and a sugar beet home mix.
“I’ve found that the heifer ration grows heifers well without them becoming too fit. I firmly believe that how cattle are reared as heifers affects their condition and production in later life, when they get good nutrition as milkers I hope they convert it in to milk rather than putting it on their backs,” explains Andrew.
Routine scanning is carried out every six weeks by an independent scanner and the fertility vet visits are a rarity. Andrew uses heat time religiously and believes it is a fantastic tool to assist with identifying heats. Cows are foot bathed daily for dermatitis and Dave trims feet at drying off. In the parlour, milking is shared between Andrew and Dave, protocols are very particular with cows pre-dipped, teats wiped with a medicated wipe and then post dipper with Genus Valiant dip. The aim is always to run in the premium bands for cell count and bactoscan so parlour practice is stringent. Andrew and Jenny have always enjoyed pedigree cows and through that common interest benefitted from lots of opportunities to meet people and socialise. “Despite striving to achieve a premium price for our milk, you can’t put a price on the people we’ve met and experiences enjoyed through pedigree cows.”
All heifers are housed until they are in-calf.
Müller test young stock twice a year and oversee the tagging of positive cattle with the blue A2 tags.
Rackery Farm is home to Andrew and Jenny Jones’ 110-head A2 producing Rossett herd.
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