Herd Recording and Herd Movement (1959)

[Music] the dairy farms which produce Australia's milk butter and cheese are the result of years of hard work careful planning and wise use of resources have brought many of our Farms to their present [Music] level these Farms have passed through a number of stages from undeveloped country to highly improved farmland and the stock they carry have been improved in the same way many herds have been built up with graded up cattle a few Generations back many of them had animals like these in their family treat every year at shows throughout Australia you can see the pick of the dairy breeds what has been the main force behind this Improvement in stock with some Farmers it has been a natural interest in having cattle of good confirmation and type with others it has been a desire to improve yields to them show ribbons mean little it's filling the bucket that counts the art of stop breeding developed with the eye of the breeder and the judge as the main instrument for improvement to this was added production recording which tells with certainty what each cow produces Australia has nearly 3 and A2 million dairy cows of which about 7% are under record compare this proportion with those recorded in other countries the countries with the highest proportion of cows under test have the highest average production per cow the average production of recorded cows in Australia is 250 lb of butter fet per lactation all cows in Australia average only 130b why is the average production per cow nearly double in recorded herds there must be a logical explanation for this the answer is that herd recording is the basic tool for achieving greater production it allows the farmer to measure the productive capacity of each member of his herd under the conditions of his own Farm above all he can decide whether his sire is a herb Builder or not there is scope for increased production on most dairy farms provided the necessary resources are available this farmer was determined to make the most of his land so he called in his Dairy officer who with the agronomist worked out a plan for improving his farm it needed developing and the herd was a mixed lot so the plan was based on herd recording feeding through postures and breeding management by this method as the herd improved fullest Advantage would be taken of the improvements made on the property there was plenty of hard work to be done a big block of scrub was cleared for sewing to improved pasture the farmer obtained a post hole digging attachment for the tractor and a series of subdivision fenses was erected in the bigger pcks to make the control of grazing more effective [Music] all the old grass paddocks were renovated in turn then sewn with suitable grasses regular top dressing was [Music] adopted it was a red letter day when the herd recorder paid his first monthly visit to the farm with the start of her recording the farmer had for the first time a reliable means of assessing the production of each member of his herd now each cow would be treated as an individual producer the farmer could tell which cows were high producers and which were bringing down the production average by weighing the milk from each cow taking a sample and testing it for butterfat Content the farmer could keep a record of each animal in his herd the butterfat content of the milk is measured by means of the Babcock test sulfuric acid is put into the test flask with the sample of milk and the acid dissolves all milk solids except the butter [Music] pan before it can be measured the butter fat must be brought to the top of the flask and this is done by the addition of water and the use of a centrifuge which revolves the flasks at high speed the butter pet is forced into the graduated neck of the flask and is then ready for measuring now knowing the test percentage and the weight of the milk a simple calculation gives the yield of butterfat per [Music] cow as carving was on a seasonal basis it was possible to assess results at the end of the first Year's recording the farmer and the district officer planned a culling program based on the first Year's recording the conditions on the farm and the farmer's own Resources by Consulting the farmer's own records and the summary of His herd prepared for him by the department they were able to link culling with a policy of saving heers from cows which had the most satisfactory record regularity of breeding and freedom from disease the Department's summary showed the average production of cows in each age group so he could now cull cows below this average the cows C were the low producers and short lactation cows animals with bad temperament and those with history of disease some too had faulty confirmations such as dropped ERS and weak Jaws which affected production [Music] results showed that the bull was throwing a large proportion of low producers so the bull went to the abbatar with the c cars the son of a proven sire was purchased this meant that the records of his sisters and those of his Dam and her sisters had been checked and found to be well above average in the next year culling continued on the basis of cow families and the production of individual m members of those families here are Grand [Music] Dam dam and daughter Replacements paddocks continued to be sewn to improved postures and subdivided as the farmers's resources permitted to get the greatest returns from his improved past the farmer made full use of an electric fence this meant more and better feed for the cars and a chance for them to show their capabilities Improvement of the property continued the watering facilities were extended as ample quantities of good water are needed for high [Music] production a yard and shelter were built to keep the new sire separate from the herd each year the farmer aimed at sewing down a minimum of five or 6 Acres of pasture he realized that adequate feed was necessary to enable a cow to produce at her best he also knew that good cloverg grass pastures properly managed provide the cheapest [Music] feed stored Water Gave opportunities for irrigation irrigated pastures can be the basis for complete yearr round production even a small area can provide a great bulk of feed which can be rationed out by using the electric [Music] fence Surplus pasture growth was conserved as silage or hay the aim was a minimum reserve of 3 tons of silage and one tons of hay for each cow to fill in the gaps and provide year round Feed plus a reserve for dry [Music] conditions the district officer was impressed with the progress of the farm and the herd the new bull had SED his second crop of carvs they were given a good start in life and early handling improved their shed [Music] temperament in due course the first heers by the new bull came into production this was the year which would prove the bull the work of the her recording headquarters at the Departments of agriculture in the capitals would show whether or not the selection had been a good one her recording is a Cooperative effort the cost is shared between the participating Farmers the state Departments of Agriculture and the Commonwealth into the Departments come the reports from all the herds being recorded it is a lot of work keeping track of a quarter of a million Dairy cars but the use of mechanical means of analysis speeds up the process all the facts about each individual cow are recorded its age District monthly production lactation production time dry and so on this information is punched onto cards the final result is thrown up on the herd summary sheet from here the information regarding his herd's production goes back to the farmer the early emphasis in her recording was on breeding for Replacements from Top producing cows and using purebred Bulls the arrows represent the daughter's production but analysis of recording data proved that individual production always tended to come back to the breed average figures this attracted attention to the Bulls Bulls were surveyed on the basis of daughter's production the results showed that roughly onethird of the Bulls improved average production another third lowered production and about a third held production of the daughters under equal conditions of management these findings led to calf marking schemes the marking enabled daughters to be identified and when they in turn were recorded an estimate of the Bull's potential became possible Now The Limited numbers of good quality Bulls could be identified and kept for further use the departmental officers were also able to check facts over large numbers of lactations about the effect of early mating on short lactations of cows mated within 1 month of carving 50% held and so could not complete a 10mths lactation before carving again of cars m 1 to two months after carving 2/3 held to the first mating and they also could not complete a normal lactation of cows mated 2 to 3 months after carving 7 5% held and should complete a normal lactation in other words cows should not be mated until at least 64 days after carving these and other results have been made available to Farmers through the extension services the bull is 50% of of the herd and selection of a herd bull always involves some risk but artificial insemination centers are eliminating most of this risk and giving Farmers the chance to use quality s to improve their herds by using AI a quality bull can be Mater to over 1,000 cows in one year the sers at Australia's AI centers all have production backing well above average normally all would be beyond the reach of the average farmer sers like these should rapidly improve Australia's Dairy herds but the supply of suitable sers for artificial breeding will depend on her recording the more herds under record the greater the number of bulls that can be proved proving Bulls requires that Daughters of younger Bulls used for AI should be reared and recorded if Peppers SED by by younger Bulls are not reared and recorded the supply of proven Bulls could be exhausted artificial insemination has also another Advantage it allows control of diseases leading to infertility which are transmitted by the bull laboratory workers prepare and pack seen to be sent within the state interstate and overseas [Music] in deep freezing of Sean some complex techniques are used Commonwealth and state governments and many individual farmers are doing much to improve the quality of Australia's dairy cattle since the war tremendous progress has been made in individual herds her recording has proved itself to be the foundation for improving both individual and National herds this Improvement can only spread as more Farmers adopt continuous production recording of their herds it is not unique to Australia Farmers record herds in the United Kingdom the United States Denmark New Zealand and many other countries everywhere the results have been the same greatly increased production from recorded cattle her recording enables the farmer to progress in selection and breeding by proving sers through the production of their daughters by detecting unprofitable cows and by providing a guide as to which cows should be kept and bred from it increases the value of the cow herself her progeny and her related stock her recording allows the farmer to apply successful methods of feeding and management and allows him to place his Dairy on a business basis her recording and artificial insemination which depends largely on it make the dairy industry one that rewards those engaged in it and an industry of increasing value to the nation [Music] [Music]