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The Harvey family believe the success of their herd is due to the hard work and attention to detail that they invest in the herd.
Photography by Mooandbaa
R
egularly being in the top NMR production herds for the past three years, Margaret and sons, John and Stuart’s, Killywhan herd averaged 12,789kg at 4.13%bf and 3.19%p throughout 2015 with a combined fat and protein weight of 937kg.
Over the past 13 years investment in cow comfort and health has paid dividends in management and production of the herd. “We built a new cow shed for 210 cows in 2003 with deep sand beds, this is a decision I spent a lot of time researching, but one we are sure we got right. Cows are more comfortable on sand, mastitis has reduced and
there is a big reduction in hock abrasion,” explains Stuart. Sand is sourced locally and beds are topped up twice a week using about between 1.4 and 1.5t a year per cubicle. “Another management decision that has helped massively was the move four years ago to milking three times a day, 180 high yielders and new calved cows and heifers are milked three times a day, while 140 mid and later lactation cows are milked twice a day,” says John. The Harveys all agree that they couldn’t go back to twice a day for high yielders, they have found the overall benefits to cow health, fertility and taking the pressure off cows beneficial.
This, coupled with yield increase mean the added labour is worthwhile. Mastitis is now running at 20 cases per 100 cows a year, while the average cell count is 90.
On the breeding side, when it comes to selecting sires production isn’t top priority at Killywhan. “We look for all round balanced bulls, not excessive stature, we wouldn’t buy a bull with negative teat length, although production isn’t a high priority we would select bulls with positive milk, selecting the best production bulls from suitable statured bulls. We also have to ensure we select bulls with good constituents because our milk is sold to
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