KEEP PROFITABLE HERDS

Stratford Evening Post, Volume II, Issue 357, 14 September 1933, Page 2

KEEP PROFITABLE HERDS

Farmers Must Check Up

Frequently reference has been made to the need for the eradiciation of "scrub" cows, but the dairy farmer who wants a first-class herd will not be satisfied when he has replaced his poorer cuttle with reputed milk producers because, if his herd is to be the best he can get, jgvery cow must be able to put up a good record of production. There is only one way to be sure that there are no "passengers" in a dairy herd and that is by the use of systematic testing. Herd testing has grown in popularity and as it has increased it has become more available, but there are still a large unmber of. daii-y farmers who do not subscribe to it, and when the lesults obtained by the various associations are considered one wonders why testing is not more general. Quite apart from the fact that testing proves which cows are "passengers" and which are increasing the milk or cream cheque, its value lies in the permanent records that are established. A farmer may have an excellent cow —in fact he may have one oft the best in New Zealand —but if he does not test he has no means of proving just how good his cow is, and consequently has no chance of making the most of that cow. On the other hand the man who tests is able to weed out his less profitable cows and when he has'a herd of high producing dams he can sell their progeny at a price that will more than compensate him for the cost of testing, and the reason why he can do that is because he has a permanent and unanswerable record of the capabilities of the dams.

The dairy farmer who wishes to rise to the top in his profession cannot do better than introduce good sires into his herds and, as was previously stated even if the herd is a mediocre one, the consistent use of proved sires will, in a very few years provide him with well-bred cattle, but while he is doing that he should remember that the only * way to secure proved sires is to get them from cows with a good record from testing and he should also remember that there are such things as 'throw* backs". Most farmers who have set out to improve their herds by the use of well-bred sires have had the disappointing experience of finding an occasicnal poor production animal in the ranks of the younpj stock, arid the farmer who has kept a few sheep has at some time or other discovered a "hairy" specimen in the flock. Those degenerates are "throwbacks" to the early type and are apt to occur in any herd, and the only way to keep a true check on them, as far as the dairy herd is concerned, is by testing. Some dairy farmers judge their cows by the amount of milk produced and the writer has met farmers who have claimed a good cow on the exceedingly flimsy evidence of the colour of her milk. The colour of a cow's milk is a very poor guide towards it Quality because the colour of the butterfat varies in different cows and a cow with very white milk may have a fairly high test. The amount of milk produced is more conclusive, because, in a district like Southland, where cheesemaking is of more importance than the production of butter, a good flow of milk is essential, but a cow may produce a large amount of milk with a poor test. The ideal cow for a cheese producing district is one that will produce a good quantity of milk at a test best suited to cheese-mak-ing, and in testing the dairy farmer should not lose sight of that fact. This particular point was raised at the annual meeting of a herd testing association which was' held recently, and some of the members argued that records of milk production were of little value, but that the test for butter-fat was all important. Such an argument is a fallecy, particularly in an area where cheesemaking is of paramount importance. It is also a fallacy where the production of butter is concerned because it docs not matter how high a percentage of butter-fat is produced if a cow docs not produce a good supply of milk, to carry the butter-fat; for. instance a G-test cow giving two gallons of milk is noi as good as a 4-test cow giving four gallons. To sum up, it should be remembered that a herd can lie improved by the use of proved sires from dams with good buttcr-i'at records, but the use of such sires is not conclusive proof that the female offspring are all first-class dairy cows. Milk production should go hand in hand with butter-fat production and consequently it should be remembered that the offspring of a cow who is a heavy producer and of.a bull that has good butter-fat backing may make an ideal producer for the cheese factory. Finally, always remember that guesswork is a insecure foundation upon which to build a good herd and that the only way to prove that a herd is a good one it to produce records of performances in black and

white, and when they lire ofllvial herd-testing records thel arc unanswerable.