Challenge daughters lead Hoard Farm 2-year-olds

On Monday, March 15, American Guernsey Association executive secretary, Seth Johnson, was at the Hoard's Dairyman Farm to appraise the Hoard Guernsey herd. Scoring began at 6 a.m. and continued during the ensuing day, Johnson evaluated 64 2-year-olds that received their first-ever score. The 64 first-score cows averaged 79.03 for final score, 80.56 on udders, and 80.17 on feet and legs.

Of those 64 first score cows, there were 11 1GU418 Idle Gold E Challenge-ET daughters that were evaluated for the first time. These moderate-framed cows were 2 years, 9 months of age (on average) on appraisal day and had an 82.2 final score, 83.7 udders, and 81.4 feet and legs. When it comes to production, the 11-cow-Challenge group calved at 2 years, 1 month and have actual 305-day projections of 17,059M 5.2 880F 3.3 571P.

When looking at all cows on the farm, averages included:
• First lactation, 126 cows: 78.9 points, 79.9 udders, and 80.1 feet and legs
• Second lactation, 87 cows: 80.4 points, 79.5 udders, and 81.6 feet and legs
• Third and greater lactation (4.31 lactations), 124 cows: 83.8 points, 82.7 udders, and 83 feet and legs
• All cows, 337 cows: 81.1 points, 80.7 udders, 81.5 feet and legs.

The Hoard Farm had three new Excellent cows including:
• Rutter Bros Goliaths Ruby, EX-90, VG-88 MS, EX-90 F&L. Ruby's has 151,123 M, 8623 F, and 5,370 P of lifetime credits to date. She is due for the tenth time this September. Her dam, Ruthie EX-91 has 194,399 M, 10.130 F, and 7130 P, in her lifetime and counting.

• Lavon Farms Mountains Molly, EX-90 and EX-91 MS. Molly is completing a 8-1 record of 303 days, 20,721 M 4.2 875 F, 3.2 658 P.

• Rolling Prairie P King Pansy (shown above), EX-90, EX-90 MS, and EX-90 F&L. Pansy recently completed a 5-1 record of 365 days, 25,098 M, 4.5 1,120 F, 3.3 and 819 P. She has a Trotacre Enhancer Lewis-ET daughter that is VG-85 in the second lactation. More on Pansy at http://www.hoards.com/farm/favs/Pansy

After reviewing the data, the Hoard Farm ended up with:
• 20 Excellents (90 points or higher)
• 196 Very Goods (80 to 89 points)
• 111 Desirable (70 to 79 points)
• 10 Acceptable (60 to 69 points)

A complete list of appraisal scores can be found by downloading the file below.
Hoard_Farm_Classification.pdf

Hoard Farm 2 -year-olds shine

Just like any farm, it takes a while to get information in the system. We recently updated our files from appraisal day when the American Guernsey Association (AGA) evaluated 268 milk cows at the Hoard's Dairyman Farm earlier this month. In addition to those cows, there were 54 cows that were either dry or have been scored in their first, second, and third lactation which makes them permanent in the Guernsey breed. With those additional cows, there are 322 with appraisal scores in the herd. (Shown to the right is one of our new Excellents, Sunset Farms Hawk Daisy.)

After reviewing the data, the Hoard Farm ended up with:
• 20 Excellent (90 points and higher)
• 186 Very Good (80 to 89 points)
• 109 Desirable (70 to 79 points)
• 6 Acceptable 60 to 69 points)
• 1 Fair (Under 59 points)

The entire herd averages 81.33 points for cows that average 2.53 lactations at last calving. The oldest cow in the herd, Ruthie, is EX-91. She has calved 10 times.

There are 122 first-lactation cows. They average 78.87 points. In recent years, the AGA also has put udder and feet and legs scores on cows. This group of 2-year-olds average 79.29 on udders and 80.39 on feet and legs. Our 2-year-olds are the shining stars at the Hoard Farm as their feet and legs scores rank higher than their older herdmates, while the udder scores are almost even. What's more, our 2-year-olds ME (mature equivalent) is 21,653 pounds of milk, 4.7 percent, 1,020 pounds of fat, 3.2 percent, and 692 pounds of protein. That is nearly 1,000 pounds more milk, 36 pounds of butterfat, and 26 pounds of protein higher than the next best group which is our 3-year-olds.

A complete list of appraisal scores can be found be downloading the file below.
hoard_farm.pdf

A better way to classify?

On December 18, we classified the Hoard Farm Guernsey herd. It was a cold, blustery day outside and equally chilly in the free stall barn. The thermostat for the curtains read 13 degrees when we started at 8 a.m. and peaked at 21 about 4 p.m. We currently have 328 cows on test with about 271 in milk.

We began scoring in the 2-year-old pen. The classifier and Hoard's editor assisting with classifying moved through that pen quickly, thanks in part to 54 first-calf heifers that were classified two months earlier as part of an effort to get a group of young sire daughters in the January USDA sire summaries. Since 90 days hadn't passed, none of those cows were eligible to be rescored. Next, we moved to the fresh cow pen where most cows weren't quite in condition for classification day. Then we went to the high group where 90 percent of the cows needed to be rescored. It was quite fruitful; many cows were looking good and had about 10 hours of milk in them at the time we scored the group. By the time we were done in that pen it was 1:30, and we took a break for lunch. We were on a brisk pace thanks to the diligent work of our appraiser.

After a 30-minute break, we moved to our second-lactation-and-older group . . . by far the largest pen on the farm. We scored for about an hour, cherry picking our best cows an hour before milking. Then it was decision time. We had a pending snowstorm — should we try to finish classifying or use the time we set aside Friday to finish. That storm eventually dumped 12 inches the next day which made our decision to finish classifying the right one, in our mind. So, we scored older cows in the holding pen, then set up the electronic sort gates to capture the unscored cows. We did get all the cows scored, but we created quite a bottleneck. We had cows backed up the return lane at one point and put the overflow in the thankfully empty sick pens. We greatly disrupted the routine of our cows, and it showed up in dry matter intakes and milk production the ensuing days.

That begs the question . . . is there a better way to sort and classify cows in a free stall barn. The Hoard Farm does not have headlocks, but we do have electronic ID. As our farm team discussed this issue, one solution was a more frequent classification schedule for the entire herd. At the present, our breed association has a 10-month rotation. This is the second time we classified the entire herd, and we are still in search of a better system. What are your thoughts?