ABOVE LEFT Northleaze Augusta Daphne 957, a third calver
projected to give 16,248kg with a daily average of 62kg for the first 134 days this lactation.
ABOVE RIGHT Northleaze
Tennyson Beatrice 967 is a fourth calver with a PLI of £139 and is giving 57kg a day.
BELOW RIGHT 700m of tracks have been installed to allow cows to get to grazing easily.
BELOW The Northleaze herd was graded up in 2008 to add security for TB purposes.
and so it comes naturally to them when they join the milking herd to be efficient converters.”
Over the past two years only genomic bulls have been used on the herd with the first group of heifers due to calve this autumn. “I think genomics enable genetics to jump forward generations, there is a clearer picture of what the bull has to offer at a young age without any breeder influence. By selecting genomic bulls I can specify more than 500 PLI, more than 500 milk and +0.5 lifespan. Gaining an extra half lactation through selecting for lifespan is a massive financial benefit. This generation should be better than daughters of Oman or Shottle and all for about £15 a straw. I will buy semen from any company although I do use Alta predominantly. Bulls used this year average +636 milk, +562 PLI and +5 lifespan,” he explains.
“One of the best bulls I remember was Jydens Willow, a Danish bull that in one generation produced bigger cows with better udders in our herd in the 70s when we still had a British Friesian herd. Latterly Lucente and Baxter have left good cows in the herd, with good younger cows by Augusta, Spooky and Azure.
“The herd has been bred for production but is consistent and we have found they all react the same to management decisions. We are pleased with how they have continued to maintain production, while being grazed, particularly during the current milk price volatility and it has backed up our decision to cut out costs in the
MILKING THREE TIMES A DAY
during summer they are turned out after morning and evening milking and are housed in the afternoon and buffer fed, while low yielders are out day and night between milkings. “The buffer fed to high yielders in the afternoon is the same as the winter ration, being made up mainly of whole-crop peas and barley, maize and grass silage. “Heifers have been calved at two years old for more than 30 years, as they are all autumn born the heifers run as two age groups with calves having a high priority for quality grazing. Grazing young stock without supplementary feeding teaches them from a young age to graze
THE JOURNAL JUNE 2015 31
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