Hoard Farm pregnancy rate improves by leaps and bounds

“In the summer of 2009, the Hoard Farm was on the verge of single-digit pregnancy rates,” noted Jason Yurs, Hoard’s Dairyman farm manager. Prior to the 2009 World Dairy Expo, the farm was sitting at a 10 percent pregnancy rate.

Realizing the need to improve this situation, the farm set up a consultation with Ray Nebel, a reproductive specialist, to try and troubleshoot their reproduction problems. After this meeting, the farm, with the aid of herd vet Dr. Rick Halvorson, made changes to synch protocols and breeding philosophy.

During the winter, the Hoard farm saw gradual improvements to preg rates. In January, Jason's team held a meeting with Paul Fricke, a reproductive specialist from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, to go through our records and evaluate progress. At this point, the farm also decided to change the way they code and record breedings in DairyComp to improve the efficiency record analysis.

Currently, the Guernsey herd is sitting at a 19 percent preg rate, an improvement of 9 percent in less than a year. With the Jersey herd included, the current preg rate for the farm is 21 percent. Today, 55 percent of cows are bred from visually detected heats, with the remaining 45 percent bred using synch programs. Yurs attributes part of this success to the dry cow barn that was remodled last year. The facility has reduced the incidence of retained placentas and metritis and increased transition period success for the herd.

The Hoard Farm has also just completed a Guernsey ov synch study that was funded by the U.S. Guernsey Association. This study was done to determine if significant differences exist in the ovulation time between Holsteins and Guernseys which would impact the utilization of an on-farm ov synch program.

Hoard Jerseys see the appraiser

Earlier this month, the Hoard Jersey herd which now numbers 101 cows (plus 11 heifers) was appraised by AJCA appraiser, Blake Renner. We purchased the Jerseys from three Wisconsin herds, and they are housed in our old tie stall barn that recently made a complete transformation into a free stall facility. The barn is scraped twice a day with a skid loader, and cows are fed outside with drive-by feeding. The Jerseys make their way to our three-year-old parlor three times a day to get milked.

When we were done, the American Jersey Cattle Association put scores on 50 head. The entire group averaging just shy of two lactations averaged 80.3 points which is down one-tenth of a point from our December score. That average included the 50 cows that previously were scored in the current lactation and did not change in score. When looking at the herd by lactation number, we had:
• 22 first-lactation (first-score cows) averaged 78.2 points
• All 36 first-lactation cows that averaged 78.7 points
• 41 second-lactation cows that averaged 80.8 points
• 23 third-lactation cows and greater that averaged 82 points

Overall, the second-lactation group was one point higher compared to last December. And that was with 22 more cows in the group. Our second-lactation average scores is right at breed average.

For those who follow the Hoard Farm Guernseys: Numbers are near an all-time high. We have 333 Guernsey cows and 292 Guernsey heifers, of which 95 are safe in calf, 67 are unbred yearlings, and there are 141 calves.

Hoard Guernsey herd has four new Excellent cows

In addition, to unveiling the new Foster Mothers of the Human Race painting earlier this month, the Hoard's Dairyman Farm appraised both the Hoard Guernsey and Jersey herds. Here are a few highlights from classification day:

• Sunset Farms Hawk Daisy (shown at the right) went EX-92 after calving back in just 12 months and completing a 26,000-pound record in 278 days. Daisy had a Spider daughter that went VG-82 as a 2-year-old.

• Dairyman Amen Jolene and Howerton Farms Roy Pistachio both went EX-91. Pistachio was only fresh 20 days but came through calving just fine. Jolene's information can be found at http://www.hoards.com/farm/favs/Amen

• We had a dam-and-daughter pair both go EX. Dairyman Regis Nancy and her daughter, Dairyman Royalty Nanny. Nancy is nearly 5,000 pounds over herdmates and is finishing a 4-9 record of 296 days 23,487 M, 4.7 1,115 F, 3.1 719 P, while her daughter, Nanny, made a 2-2 record of 314 days, 18,344 M, 4.3 787 F, 3.0 555 P

• Dairyman Iceman Rosebowl, a high-ranking index cow in the Guernsey breed, went EX-90 with an EX-90 MS. As a 2-year-old she made over 24,000 M. More on Rosebowl at http://www.hoards.com/farm/favs/Iceman

• Rounding out the new Excellents was Dairyman Tiller Camelia. She just finished a 5-0 record of 365 days 27,308 M, 5.3 1,449 F, 3.5 960 P.

Ten other cows went either VG-88 or VG-87. In that group was a Challenge daughter from Rutter Bros Royal Oaks Dawn, EX-92. This hard-working 2-year-old is due in August and is finishing up a record that currently stands at 2-3 304 days, 18,875 M, 5.6 1,059 F, 3.4 644 P. For more on Dawn, go to http://www.hoards.com/farm/favs/Oaks

More results from classification day will be posted in a few weeks once we get all the data entered into our computer system.

Making the corn crop wager at the Hoard Farm

Trying to guess the corn market in the months ahead was among the topics when the financial management team for the Hoard's Dairyman Farm met yesterday. The good news was that our cows just finished eating up the $4.69 per bushel corn that we had contracted for over a year ago. When corn was between $6 and $7, booking corn at $4.69 seemed like a good idea. And, of course, it might have been. Now, we are feeding some banked corn which will improve our cash flow picture by about $10,000 per month.

That still leaves us looking ahead beyond this fall to what our corn and other feed needs will be for the next five quarters. In the past few days, corn futures have been on a roller coaster. Corn futures prices for May and July at the CBOT dropped 5 to 6 cents Tuesday following Monday's crop progress report. By April 25, about half of the corn was planted in the 18 states that grow about 92 percent of the corn. The five-year average is 22 percent planted. Never before has so much corn been planted so early.

Just about the time you think it might be good to lock in some corn, the market shifts the other way. Yesterday, China confirmed a rumored corn purchase of 115,000 metric tons, and the market responded accordingly. Corn futures ended up sharply.

We didn't make any decisions on booking corn (energy) needs at our meeting. But we did work on the information we needed to have in place when it comes time to take some action.

Through the feed management software we use, we have a running inventory of supplies for our various feeds. Working with our feed man, Matt Kooiman of Vita Plus, we will make sure our inventory numbers feel right. Then we will begin to project what our hay silage and corn silage needs are for the next 15 months. Knowing our corn silage needs will give us an idea of how many of our corn acres will be going for silage and how many acres will be left to combine. Then we will have an idea about how much corn and other energy feeds we will need and can begin to look at locking in some supplies.

We also will be looking at our cost of growing and storing corn silage and hay silage on a per-ton and per-acre basis. Will have seed, fertilizer, herbicide/pesticide, and custom field cost by crop. Without knowing that, we are putting much in the dark on what purchased ingredients are worth to us.

Finally, forage is a big part of the feed supply puzzle, of course. We have an abundance of hay silage in bags because we were not able to enlarge our herd as much as we wanted, and we had a good hay year. In fact, we have been selling hay silage to a couple of dairies in the area. And, while we are behind normal for moisture so far this year, the hay looks good, and first cutting will come early . . . perhaps as soon as May 20 is our guess.

In another month or so, we will blog about what position we have taken on energy and protein feeds . . . if any.

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

Watch the cows, and use a tape measure

You may have noted that the Hoard's Dairyman Farm has benefited from having a management team that has met regularly over the past 1-1/2 years (February 10, 2010, issue, page 108) and having converted our heifer free stall barn to a bedded pack area for our close-ups (March 10, 2010, issue, page 177). We also tweaked the prefresh ration to reduce sorting.

The changes have made a difference, especially in pregnancy rates that have improved notably over the past six months. But we have been seeing more retains and metritis cases during the past few weeks.

The invaluable part of having a management team in place is that you have an established way to brainstorm what may be causing a problem and a procedure for making decisions and taking action quickly to get things back on track.

In our March 10 article, we talked about having at least 100 square feet of bedded pack and 28 inches of manger space per cow at capacity (70 close-up cows and heifers). But it is important to watch your cows and use a tape measure. Jason Yurs, our farm manager, had been observing where cows were lying and not lying. He saw that there was a 22 foot-wide strip of bedded pack down the middle of the barn that the cows were using. There were 41 cows in the barn at the time which meant 72 square feet per cow. We had tried bedding closer to the open south side of the building, but rain and snow blowing in kept the bedding in that area wet. Plus, cows avoided lying in areas around the waterers which were out in the middle of the bedded areas, it being a retrofit.

Wanting to make sure that we maintain good intakes in that prefresh group, we put sand down in the feeding area to give cows more confidence as they go the manager, with plans to do some grooving when possible. We also will try to devise a way to keep some of the further-off dry cows in another area to reduce pressure on the pack.

We're trying another tactic that will reduce pressure on the close-up barn and help heifers get off to a better start. When bringing them back from the heifer growers, they will be put either in Pen 1 (our first-calf heifers) or Pen 5 (our tail-enders), depending on where space is available, so the springing heifers will have some free stall and parlor experience before they are moved to the close-up barn just before calving.

The Hoard Farm Jerseys get their first score

This October and November we added 71 Jerseys to the Hoard Farm herd. Those cows which came from three Wisconsin herds are settling in quite well in our old tie stall barn which we are operating as a free stall barn. The 68 lactating Jerseys in the group are fed in the existing outside feed bunks and milked in our 2-year-old parlor. They are adapting quite well even with the one foot of snow we received the prior week and the subzero temperatures we are now experiencing. (To read more about the Jerseys, download the PDF with an editorial from our November issue at the bottom of this page).

On the afternoon of December 15, we appraised 68 Jerseys (did not score the dry cows). It took about 2 hours and 15 minutes to put scores on the cows as we milled around the feeding area on the very cold, but sunny, winter day that had temperatures eventually drop below zero later in the evening. The cows had about 10 to 12 hours of milk in their udders as we evaluated them just before milking time.

When we were done, the American Jersey Cattle Association put scores on 68 head. The entire group averaged 80.4 points. When looking at the herd by lactation number, we had:
• 32 first-lactation cows that averaged 80.4 points
• 19 second-lacation cows that averaged 79.9 points
• 14 third-lactation cows that averaged 79.6 points
• 3 fourth- and fifth-lactation cows that averaged 86.7 points

When looking at the three groups of cows we bought, it was quite uniform with Group A's 19 cows averaging 82.2 points (1.95 lactations); Group B's 30 cows at 79.3 points (1.6 lactations); Group C's 20 cows at 80.2 points (2.2 lactations).

Like our Guernsey 2-year-olds, our first-lactation Jerseys have taken to their new environment the best with their 305-day ME (mature equivalent) at 20,142 milk, 1,121 fat, and 773 protein. The second-lactation cows are just shy of 18,000 milk, while the third-lactation-and-greater group is just short of 17,000. By the way, the cow shown in the photo went VG-85.
hdm-2009-11-10-0-704.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

Hoard Farm appraisal day goes well

Just two days after the close of World Dairy Expo, Brian Schnebly, an appraisal specialist (classifier) with the American Guernsey Association, stopped by and evaluated the entire Hoard's Dairyman herd which included looking at 268 milk cows.

Work got underway at sunrise which takes place at 6:30 a.m. in southeast Wisconsin these days. Schnebly moved briskly through the herd, and, other than a half-hour break for lunch, the team worked steadily through the herd and wrapped up the project at about 5:30 p.m.

As shown in the photo above, nearly all the cows were evaluated in the free stall barn. A small group of 2-year-olds were looked at as they stood in the holding pen. Shown above is Brian Schnebly evaluating a cow with associate editor Corey Geiger keeping the cow in position.

We keep an Excel Spreadsheet on the entire herd. By weeks end, we should have classification, udder, and feet and leg averages for the 2-year-olds, as well as the entire herd. In the meantime, we can give you some highlights . . . we had one cow go EX-92 and four new Excellents:

• Rutter Bros Royal Oaks Dawn EX-92, EX-92 MS

• Rolling Prairie Lucky EX-91, EX-90 MS
• Howerton Farms Dee Nutmeg EX-90, EX-90 MS
• Sunset Farms Hawk Daisy EX-90, EX-90 MS
• Howerton Farms Roy Pistachio, EX-90 MS, EX-91 F&L

Those going VG-88 for the first time included:
• Dairyman Regis Dimple VG-88, EX-90 MS
• Rolling Prairie Dee Pony VG-88, VG-87 MS
• Rolling Prairie Colgate VG-88, VG-87 MS
• Dairyman Storm Bonella VG-88, VG-87 MS
• Dairyman Regis Nancy VG-88, VG-88 MS
• Dairyman Sam Britain VG-88, EX-90 MS
• Dairyman Lamar Rum VG-88, VG-88 MS
• Rolling Prairie P King Pansy VG-88, VG-88 MS

Farm interns depart at summer's end

As summer comes to an end, so does my internship. I have learned many valuable skills from the employees here at the Hoard’s Dairyman Farm, including learning to treat sick cows from Megan Lundy and learning how to scrape and milk in the tie stall barn from Brandon Schleif. Jake Agnew showed me how to run buttons for releasing cows and letting cows into the parlor, and Stephanie Ayoub showed me how to feed baby calves here at the farm. I have learned many new skills that I would like to implement on my family’s dairy.

The second half of my internship has been full of activities. I helped picture cows for advertising, mated cows, and went on a five-hour road trip to pick up semen and visit the beautiful Rolling Hills Prairie Dairy where the Walter family milks 200 Guernsey cows. I have also been involved with a research project to determine the heat stress exposure in the free stall barn. We finally started this project and placed intervaginal temperature recorders mounted on CIDRs in the cows. We will also be looking at the effects of sprinklers in the holding pen as well as exit lane sprinklers on the cow’s body temperature. Time is evaluated to see how long the cow is in the holding pen until she exits the parlor and water use is monitored for the sprinkler system.

More Hoard Farm intern experiences

Wrestling heifers, chasing dry cows, tagging cows, pulling twins at midnight, and being chased by bumblebees are just a few things that have kept my internship memorable so far this summer.

I have had a great learning experience, as well. I work with the herd health manager, Megan Lundy, and the calf manager, Stephanie Ayoub. In addition to breeding cows, I have learned how to IV cows. However, some of my favorite experiences have been pulling twins at 12:30 till 1:30 at night with Stephanie’s help. Both twins had their heads down so we had to push them back and pull the head up so we could pull them. My latest project has been to check cows that need tags, order tags, and finally tag the cow. After hours of tagging with Megan’s help, we were exhausted and happy that the task was complete.

I found a the nest of bumblebees in the straw pile while bedding the dry cows.

As part of my research project, Hoards had the sprinkler systems installed. One system is in the holding pen and the other in the return alleys. The system in the holding pen is on a timer with five individual sprinklers. When the sensors are tripped in the return alley, the cow is sprayed down when she walks though, cooling her before she returns to her pen.

These are just a few experiences of my internship so far. Now I need some hot weather in August to complete my research on heat stress.

Summertime is finally here

Summertime is finally here which means warm weather, barbeques, baseball games . . . and county fairs. The Hoard's Farm wastes no time in getting involved in its community where it leases out several Guernsey animals to local 4-H youth as dairy projects each year for their annual county fair.

The Hoard's Farm was well represented as nine Guernsey heifers were exhibited last weekend at the Jefferson County Fair. Six young people, including Jason Yurs's (the Hoard's farm manager) two children, each showed their animals at the Jefferson County 4-H show. Preparation for the county fair started early in the summer where the animals were selected and separated to be put on their show cow diet which consisted of hay, grain, beet pulp, and water.

The 4-H'ers took turns each day feeding, watering, and bedding these show heifers to make sure they were in prime condition for show day. The month of June was a busy time at the Hoard's Farm as there was always someone feeding or leading their heifer around outside.

In recent year's, the Hoard's Dairyman Farm has a tradition of showing registered cattle at the local level. Each year, several kids from around the county come to the farm hoping to lease an animal as a dairy project for the summer. The farm strongly believes in getting young people involved in the dairy industry.

"Showing animals is a great way to get kids involved and to show them what the dairy industry is like," says Jason Yurs. "They quickly learn the meaning of responsibility, hard work, and patience when they agree to take on a 4-H dairy project, while having fun in the process."

With another successful summer fair come and gone, the Hoard's farm is already looking ahead for more to come in the future.

Improved results with 3x milking

June 15 was an exciting day for Hoard's Dairyman. After months of discussion
and planning, the farm finally made the switch to 3x milking. Even though
the obvious reason for the change was to increase overall milk production,
there were other motives for moving to 3x milking.

"We wanted to show that Guernsey cows not only can perform, but also be
profitable in the modern dairy industry," said Jason Yurs, the farm manager.

Moving away from the previous 2x milking at 3 a.m. and 3 p.m., the milking
times at Hoard's Dairyman Farm are now at 4 a.m., 12 p.m., and 7:30 p.m. The
farm has already seen promising results. Of the 300 cows milking at Hoard's
Dairyman Farm, milk production increased an average 3 pounds/cow within a week
of the switch. Milk production continued to climb until the Wisconsin summer
weather moved in where there were a few days with a heat index above 100
degrees Fahrenheit.

There is a lot more planning when deciding to switch to 3x milking than one
might realize. The change has caused the farm to rearrange its entire daily
schedule. More employees are being trained to fill in the extra milking
times. Also the previous milkers and other farm employees have reorganized
their routine and working hours to fit around the new milking times. Calves
are now being fed earlier, and herd health check has moved to Monday afternoon
instead of Monday evening.

The farm will look for increased milk production throughout the summer.

Hoard Farm switches to 3x milking

Hello, my name is Cassandra Dutcher; I am the other intern here at the Hoard’s Dairyman Farm. I grew up on a dairy near Humboldt, Neb., where we are currently milking 50 cows of all breeds. I am a sophomore at Kansas State University, majoring in Production Management in the Animal Science and Industry Department. The primary goal of my internship is to learn the management skills needed to run a larger dairy.
During my first week at the Hoard's Dairyman Farm, they started milking three times a day. Morning milking begins at 4, the second milking at noon, and the third milking at 7:30. Hospital cows and later-lactation cows are only milked during the first and second milkings. So far, they have seen positive results. I have helped with the morning milking, scraping, treating the hospital cows, and bedding the dry cow pen with new straw. I also help feed the heifers and baby calves in the morning and evening. Later on in July, I will be doing a research project on heat stress.

New dry cow barn makes cows more comfortable

As the Hoard's Dairyman Farm continues to modernize, old facilities are being transformed to fit the needs of an expanding herd. The Hoard's Dairyman Farm is currently renovating the heifer barn and transforming it to dry cow housing. This new site allows for more ventilation and cooler temperatures due to greater air circulation and more overall space.

The facility has several new features. Along with having bigger and more open doorways, the dry cow barn is equipped with four 52-inch hanging fans to allow for maximum air flow. A feed lane was added under the north side roof of the barn, preventing spoilage from rain and making it easier to track feed intakes. Two separate calving pens were added, along with a pair of headlocks and a loading dock for easier cow transport. A warm/utility room (8 x 10 feet) was built to provide cows with warm water and for equipment and colostrum storage. Another new feature the barn has is the addition of red lights which will help workers check the cows without disrupting the animals' photoperiod.

Jason Yurs, the Hoard's Farm herd manager says this new facility will help with the farm's overall dry cow health. "This barn allows us to use pre-existing materials and is better suited for housing our current dry cows and for our cows during future farm expansion."

The heifers that used to be housed in this building were recently moved to the heifer facility in Elkhorn. When calves reach 4 months of age, they are moved down to this site until two months before calving.

Renovations are hoped to be completed by this summer.

Young Producers gather at Hoard's Dairyman Farm

Producers from around the state of Wisconsin, northern Illinois, and southeastern Minnesota gathered at our very own Hoard’s Dairyman Farm this past Saturday, June 13, for the Accelerated Genetics Young Producer Summer Meltdown event.

At this family-oriented outing, farm tours were given throughout the late morning with opportunities for attendees to ask questions of the farm staff about the herd and facilities. A catered lunch was served, followed by a brief program and introductions of all attendees. Producers then visited the National Dairy Shrine Visitor’s Center and Hoard Historical Museum before the event concluded.

Accelerated Genetics’ Young Producer Program aims to develop future leaders for their cooperative in a fun and friendly environment while also developing the leadership and communications skills of their members. The group is lead by a board of producers who help organize their four annual events. Other events include a Young Producer Summit to be held in early December, a Winter Get-Away in January, as well as their annual leadership conference held each year in March.

A Day at Hoard's Dairyman Farm

You might be familiar with Hoard's Dairyman magazine, but how much do you know about the actual farm? Not only does Hoard's Dairyman have people working hard to create an informative magazine, but there are also a lot of people working hard around the clock to care for the herd's 270 Guernsey cows in Fort Atkinson, Wis.

I'm Ashley Sprengeler and, as one of the 2009 Hoard's Dairyman farm interns this summer, I get the chance to learn from the managers and workers responsible for running a well-respected Wisconsin dairy herd. I'm currently a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where I'm majoring in dairy science with an international agriculture and Spanish emphasis. Being just three weeks into my internship, I've already learned many things about the day-to-day farm activities.

Work begins at 3 a.m. where all the cows are milked in a double-10 herringbone milking parlor. After milking, the cows are brought back to their stalls where they are fed a balanced diet of corn, haylage, cotton seed, silage, and other nutrients. At 4 a.m. herd health starts, and all sick and fresh cows are looked over and given proper medications.

The work doesn't end there; throughout the day calves, heifers, and dry cows are fed, bedded, and checked over for any signs of sickness. The farm has a veterinarian come out every Monday for pregnancy checks and any other care the cattle might need.

With summer already here, I'm excited to be out in the Wisconsin weather and to learn more about the Hoard's Dairyman Farm.

Hoard Farm featured on Wisconsin Dairy News

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?