HERD TESTING.

Ohinemuri Gazette, Volume XXXII, Issue 4228, 14 February 1921, Page 3

HERD TESTING.

By J. G. JVARn. The Association method of testing dairy herds was inaugurated in New Zealand by the Dairy Division by starting nine' groups some years, ago. The accuracy of the work accomplished on Association lines had been checked in two ways, viz., (a) against the-semi-official testing of such cows as happened to be tested by both methods during the same season; (b) against the factory returns. Evidence from both these sources Showed that the Association system of testing individual cows is as accurate as required. Association figures, however, would probably be found to exceed the factory figures by 5 to 8 per cent. Such variations would be largely due to the fact that the Association credits each cow with her yield from the date of calving, whereas usually the milk produced during the first four days or so does not find its way to tha factory. Also milk used for household purposes and feeding caWes, and that spilt, would account for the variation. The semi-official testing work bears satisfactory i evidence " that provided the dairyman takes his samples and weights carefully the Association method will produce results which will compare most favourably with the seini-offi- j cial testing where an independent Government testing officer checks the weights and takes the*samples. Association testing shows that as a whole they know far less about their individual cows than they have reason to suppose. They often, buy cows with unsatisfactory results. One man ar. the beginning of the season paid »;1O for a cow which in 233 days produced only 961bs of butterfat.. Testin;; not only proved unprofitable buying, but it proved injudicious selling. A dairyman tested a cow once through the season, and' being . dissatisfied with the exceptionally low test sold it to a neighbour, who during the succeeding season had his herd tested on the usual plan and found that his accent purchase produced 3961bs of butterfat. Further proof that dairymen did not know the respective merits of their cow& was shown in the experience of the Dairy Division in asking members of various associations to select theii best eight cows and place them in order of merit before the season's testing commenced. The mistakes made by almost every dairyman in this connection should satisfy dairy farmers that the taking 'of the weights and regular monthly testing were'essentials to accurate knowledge of the individual cows. Milking machines have made it very difficult up to the present for users to avail themselves of the benefits of. testing associations, but the difficulty was now overcome by a New Zealander'jb- invention, whereby accurate results could be obtained. The present cost of these machines was fairiy heavy, but one of the two' methods could be adopted which would reduce the cost per head—(lst) to instal, say, two testers in a four-cow plant and take four days over the sampling instead of* two, or (2) for a group of farmers to go in -for a "set fmcl work it round among- themselves, so that the last man to use them would finish up in time for samples' to go on by the 30th of the month. Fifty'pounds of fat per cow per year was a low estimate of the increase to be attained by culling in one season, and on that basis a herd of 40 cows would produce £152 Is Sd more in one year, taking butterfat at Is 7cl, or £158 6s 8d at Is lOd. During the second year of testing, 15 herds produced 2681bs of butterfat from the average cow, whereas during the first year the same 15 herds averaged only *2091bs of fat, a difference of 57lbs of fat per cow. In some herds the increase had been as much as 76 lbs of fat. Following are the testing figures of these associations, which show:—A: Ist year, 19olbs of fat; 2nd year, 255. B. 205 and 243. C:' 209 and 257. In other words, a quarter less cows would produce the same amount of .fat. The variation in the production of various herds was in- ! teresting, and. in many case^ wide differences were shown. One herd of 30 cows with an average milking period of 218 days averaged 253!bs of fat per cow, whereas another herd of 30 cows with _ a period of 217 days produced only'l4Blbs of fat per cow. a difference of 1051bs, worth 3.8. 6f Su'at Is 7d pe"r Ib. The difference of individual cows in the same herd was even more striking. • One cow during the first 186 days produced 31 libs of fat, another milking 182 days only produced 1861bs. In a second herd one cow produced 4101bs of fat in 269 days, while her mate gave 221bs in 270 days. The difference in the. yield of individual cows was' largely due to variation in dairy temperament, and to this was attributed the cost at which one type of cow will produce butter fat as against a i-ow of a different fype. Experiments sshowed that variation in the cost of production was considerable between cows of diffefent temperaments. While cows of the dairy type and temperament, have, under given conditions, produced butterfat at a feed cost of 6d per lb., the cost of producing butterfat by animals ->f the milk and beef type will, be 7d per lb., and of the beef and milk type 8d per lb, whereas the beef type could not produce fat at under a cost of 9d. These costs would be higher pro-' portibnally to-day, and the figures gave an indication of the,necessity of specialising in the dairy type if butterfat is to be produced at the lower cost. Kaupokonui was one of the first associations started in New Zealand, and some of the' best cows in individual herds during the past season have the following butterfat yield 't© their credit:—6os, 530, 479, 447, 431, 420, 419 and 415. The lowest ran from llOlbs in 252 days upwards until one man's lewest was 631. Four herds had a Jowest yield exceeding 2001bs per cow. The average cow had a credit of 2661b5, and the average of the herds was 2851bs per cow. The Association average for all cows milking 100 days was 250.0711bs in. 239 days, while the five lowest yielded only 98.011bs in 162 days. The following figures go to show the influence of sire on progeny. A sire from Certificate of Record cow was used:— Record of dam: 231 days, 215.791bs of fat; 207, 287.1; 241, 214.64. Records of daughter: 273, 326.34; 238, 330.56: 247, 2975.3. This paper concludes by an acknowledgment of the assistance given by the Director of the Dairy Division in supplying the statistics relative to Association herd testing, j The cost to farmers having their cows tested by the New Zealand Cooperative Dairy Company is 2s 9d per cow,, or Is 9d per cow for the! outfit, and Is per cow for the testing. Outfits are returnable at the end of the season, and full credit allcwed if in good condition, but this is a business where persistency and consistency pays, and should be done every year. Balances, graduated to Vijlb up to 251b or 501b, vary in price from Is 6d upward. It is very necessary that these weigh correctly, as an error of %Ib in each weighing increases to 151b in the month and 120 lbs in the season of eight months.