54 | nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Shelley and Pat Schnuriger: Raetea Holsteins Enduring Passion for showing cows Pat and Shelley Schnuriger winning Intermediate Champion All Breeds at the Morrinsville Show. Sue Russell Pat and Shelley Schnuriger own and operate Raetea Holsteins on a 80ha (72ha effective) farm in the Waikite Valley, 30 minutes south of Rotorua. When the couple got together 15 years ago, Shelley brought into the farming enterprise a passion for showing cattle. Holsteins are a wonderful breed to show, full of stature and presence. “They are a tremendous animal for their sheer size and overall capacity, their balance and the quality of their udders which you don’t find in smaller dairy breeds,” Shelley says. It’s been just under two years since NZ Dairy last spoke with the couple and in that time some things have changed, but not drastically. The milking herd is a little smaller, milking 101 cows, a drop of 10%. What’s interesting though is that with the fewer cows, milk production has not dropped. “We made the decision to reduce down, given the pay-out at the beginning of the season,” says Pat. The couple farm the property on their own and like it that way. It’s manageable and keeps them both gainfully busy, yet allows time for all that goes in to preparing and showing cows and young stock through the show season that begins in October. The couple also choose to carry over high producing cows through a second lactation. Pat says the benefit of this is that they then get into calf well the following season. Another choice is to use genetics imported from overseas, sourced from Canada, North America and Italy. Cows are matched to specific genetics to produce a calf with the traits the couple want to see, hence calving time is really looked forward to. “It’s always exciting to see what a cow produces and the potential the calf has.” As a result of Shelley’s interest in breeding specific conformation and traits for judging, the herd over the years has completely changed to what it was when Pat was on his own. The herd today, also includes two milking shorthorns and three pedigree Ayrshires. Shelley says she generally has a good idea which cows are going to stand up well to judges scrutiny, however breeding also focusses on production potential. “It actually starts very young with calves. I pick out a team of calves from 2-3 weeks old and take a handful out to a couple of shows as yearlings. They are trained and if they look good as older cows they are easy to take out.” She also says sometimes a ‘surprise’ cow, that hasn’t been trained up for display, proves to be a winner, catching the judges eye. One red cow, she recalls, had never had any handling and it won the three-year-old semex on-farm show. “This year we won all the age-group categories in the Bay of Plenty Ward.” And so much goes into training, beginning with the animal learning how to be led. Two weeks prior to any show, the diet is changed and the stock eat and drink from containers. This is to normalise that regime prior to being at a show, taken off grass and on to meal. The show season begins at the end of October with the Waikato A & P event, followed two weeks later by the Waihi A & P and then on to Rotorua, finishing with Morrinsville. The Dairy Event, in Feilding at the end of January is the biggest show in the season and takes about six weeks of preparation all up. Once back from showing, other things happen, including putting sunblock on to protect the animal’s skin as it has been clipped right back for showing. Judges look at generally how the cow moves, their legs, their ability to walk well around their udder, udder conformity and capacity and the overall balance of the animal. Shelley says, some years ago she received some really good advice about the whole business of showing animals. “I was told to take out the cow that I really like who displays my style of breeding that I’m happy with. If the judges don’t choose it, it isn’t a negative at all. “It is just not what the judges were looking for on the day. Fortunately I’ve been spot on with the calves this showing season.” On reflection, Shelley says she is definitely pleased with the quality of young stock the herd is producing. “I’ll be excited to see them develop. Calving time is my favourite time when I see what my young heifers look like.” Another positive is that Holstein NZ has initiated a youth showing annual camp, which has led to real growth in the interest of showing stock from the next generation. The couple say they are very happy with their situation and that of the herd, with many strong Holstein families, tracing back several generations now. “My father brought me a couple of pedigree Holstein 15 years ago and we can still trace back to those cows in our herd today.”
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