As part of our three-part series on Captal farms – a series of farm partnerships, now milking 1,500 cows in the South East – we focus on the Captal Breeding Philosophy.
Captal farms has developed a dairy farming system that requires the cow to suit the system rather than the other way around.
There are several key technical performance indicators that Captal farms pay particular attention to as they have a huge bearing on the profitability of the business.
The three 500s
The ideal Captal cow must be a low-care animal that is capable of producing her liveweight in milk solids in each lactation.
- Weigh approx 500kg;
- Produce 500kg of milk solids/year; and,
- Approximately 500kg of supplement on a predominately grazed grass diet.
Last year, the herd delivered almost 9% solids (4.95% Fat and 4% Protein) with 475kg of solids. Due to a quota restrictions at the start of the year, and the inclusion of a large proportion of heifers, Captal is confident they can produce closer or exceed the 500kg of solids for 2016.
According to Linda O’Neill, LIC Breeding Advisor to the Captal operation, every litre of milk from the cow is commanding a premium price well above the co-op average, which helps protect the business from the volatility in the dairy markets.
Last year, Captal achieved over 8.5c/L more than the co-op average.
“This is worth a considerable amount to the bottom line.
“This impressive performance is due to the dedication of the entire Captal team to best practices in grassland and farm management while an astute breeding policy has delivered exceptional cows,” she said.
Also Read: Part 1 : Milking 1,500 cows in a dairy franchise6-week in-calf challenge
The cow must also be capable of going back in calf year on year and have the durability to survive for 5+ lactations. The average empty rate across the Captal farms in 2015 was 5% after a 13-week breeding season.
One of the most important indicators of farm performance is the six-week in-calf rate (6WICR) (not to be confused with the six-week calving rate).
Captal farms achieved a 79% six-week in-calf rate in 2015.
It is critical to achieve a high 6WICR as this will dictate the calving spread for the following season and ensures that the cows calve at the right time of the year to maximise grazed grass to produce milk and have a long lactation.
Captal farms are taking the six-week challenge with LIC Ireland to try and increase their six-week in-calf rate to the industry target of 80%. There are eight key components to the six-week challenge that all contribute to maximising the 6WICR.
A herds’ increased six-week in-calf rate will have increase days in milk, increased AI bred replacements and more profit for the business.
Young stock management
Young stock management is closely monitored by John Condon and his team in the Captal franchise.
All stock are weighed regularly and batched according to weight to guarantee heifers reach target and this is well worth the effort.
Linda says for every 1% closer a heifer is to target, the cow will produce an extra 2kg of MS in her first lactation.
Management
The Captal team meet as a group every month, facilitated by Linda O Neill, to review performance and plan management for the month ahead so all within Captal group are aligned, focused with responsible for their own specific area.
Every member of the group is expected to report weekly on the performance of their respective areas of responsibility.
Breeding strategy
According to Captal founder, Pat Ryan it’s in the group’s DNA to like good dairy stock that look well even at the expense of a small amount of profit.
“Ten years ago we had the top EBI herd in the country with a predominantly Holstein/NZ Friesian herd,” he explained.
Pat Ryan, Captal founder.
Ryan picks the bulls for the partnership on the following criteria:
- High MS/kg of milk fat and milk protein i.e greater than 25kg
- Bulls must have good confirmation (Traits Other than Production)
- Bulls must have a positive breeding value for fertility in the BW index.
- All bulls used in Captal are daughter proven KiwiCross bulls. (PSQ,YMD, FR2213, and OKT).
The Captal herd are largely comprised of Jersey Friesian crossbred cows.
They have been crossbreeding for over 10 years but, prior to this the breeding policy was focused on New Zealand Friesian.
Ryan could clearly see the benefits of a Jersey crossbred cow for the Irish grass-based system. He started using Jersey sires on the Friesian cows at first and has moved on to KiwiCross sires over the last number of years for mating on the subsequent crossbred cows.
This year, the sire team Ryan will use will include almost all KiwiCross sires as the majority of the herd are now crossbred.
He says KiwiCross sires have daughters milking in the herd with several lactations completed at this stage and are delivering exceptional production and fertility performance.
The bulls
PSQ Solaris
PSQ Solaris is a prime example of everything that is good about LIC genetics and is a bull that Captal has used extensively across the herd over the last number of years.
“It is not an exaggeration to suggest PSQ is the greatest proven grass based bulls of all-time. He has high value kg of solids, excellent fertility, health, SCC, body condition score, dairy confirmation and temperament,” says Linda.
Everything you could want in a bull, he has it, she says, and is highly proven with over 1,000 daughters milk recorded in Ireland along with over 10,000 daughters in New Zealand. He has continued his steady rise up the EBI ranks since his daughters have started milking in Ireland to the point where he now is €285.
YMD Moodys Executive
YMD Moodys Executive is another KiwiCross sire that will be used extensively on the Captal herd this year.
He is one of the highest-ranked Breeding Worth bulls in New Zealand and should be another step up again from PSQ when his Irish daughters start milking in Ireland.
Traits of Captal’s ideal cow
- Weigh approximately 500kg
- Have good body capacity
- Good fertility characteristics
- Good functional type traits i.e. udder, legs and feet, chest and rump width
- Be able to graze grass 300 days a year
- Have good temperament characteristics
- She will need to peak at 2kg solids per day and have a steady lactation curve.
- The cow will milk 5,500L at 4.95% fat and 4.00% protein which will supply 500kg of solids
- The herd will have an average empty rate of 5% after a 13-week breeding season and 80% six week incalf rate
