76 | DAIRY » Bonacord Farms A real soft spot for the Ayrshires While both breeds are great producers, Peter believes it is better to have a functional cow that does a very good average production long-term without burning out. Russell Fredric Having been associated with Ayrshires since he milked them as a boy, Peter Allison has a soft spot for the red-and-whites. Married to Raylene, the 73 year-old also speaks highly of Jerseys as an exceptional producer of milk solids. “I’ve really got a soft spot for the Ayrshires, they are very good cows, but we [also] went into the Jerseys they are a super cow too, the two breeds together really go hand-in-hand for us,” Peter says. The Allison’s 171 hectare farm at Outram on the Taieri Plain is run by son Kelly and his wife Amanda who are equity partners and lower order sharemilkers. A pedigree Jersey/Ayrshire stud is part of the business, but it is very much a commercial operation with a herd of 580 cows. These are milked through a 40-a-side herringbone shed which has an in-shed feed system. which provides meal and minerals. “The Jersey cows are smaller, we don’t have big Ayrshires anyway. Per kilogram of body weight, they are very, very efficient, the Jerseys are superefficient. If you can do 500 or 600 kilograms, she’s way over her body weight [in milk solids].” Their lighter footprint of around 400kg for the Jersey and about 440 for the Ayrshire means they are well suited to the farm’s situation on the Taieri flood plain. While both breeds are great producers, Peter believes it is better to have a functional cow that does a very good average production long-term without burning out. “What we like is not too big a cow, but a capacious cow. We want the smaller compact cow with capacity, she’s wide between the front legs and she’s got a big belly on her where the motor goes. A New Zealand type cow has got a lot more capacity than overseas ones.” There is also a strong focus on fat and protein breeding value traits in bulls, as well as on temperament. Most of the herd is wintered nearby in Middlemarch. “We lost a bit of leased land that we had, but we’re probably doing as much production as we did with the leased land and it more or less made it summer safe, parts of the farm can dry out in a dry summer, so you can increase the feed a bit if you’re running short or if you’ve got plenty you can dial back on it.” An in-shed feed system which provides mineral supplementation as well as extra feed in their 41bail herringbone milking shed has proven a good investment, not just for the cow’s condition, but also appears to have contributed to improving the in-calf rate as well as an improvement in the number of cows cycling. Although it has been a good spring this season the improvement is significant. “We only used to get 16 to 18 a day for AI five or six years ago, now we’re getting 33/34 a day, just about double a day to get a chance to get in calf.” Bonacord Farms John Eaton Agricultural Spraying John Eaton Agricultural Spraying is proud to support Bonacord Farms t 9 EwanAllanHondaMosgiel Pleased to support Bonacord Farms 119 Dukes Road North, Mosgiel 03 486 1222 | 027 250 7512
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