Well-known Dutch pedigree Holstein breeder Nico Bons has spoken about his goal of breeding a Grand Champion of the Open European Holstein Show.
He was speaking at a Pharvet farm walk in Co. Galway, on the dairy farm of the Screene family, which is home to the Windfield Holstein herd.
The walk had a number of speakers including Nico Bons, Bill Ryan, Dr. Lauren Popiolek and Conor Geraghty.
The focus of the walk was around new antibiotic regulations and some of the products and measures that farms can use to reduce the need for antibiotics.
Windfield Holstein
A large crowd made way to Windfield Holsteins, with many there to hear the Dutch Holstein breeder Nico.
Nico is the owner of Bons-Holstein, a 67-cow pedigree herd, and has 80 youngstock too.
The Bons Holstein herd is 100% home-bred since 1945, with an average 305 days production of 10,800kg of milk/cow at 4.4% butterfat and 3.5% protein.
34 animals in the herd are classified EX, with the remainder classified as VG or better.
Nico is also well-known in Holstein show rings across Europe, judging his first show at just 18 years old.
He has judged 150 shows since then across Ireland and the UK, as well as the Netherlands; Belgium; Finland; Sweden; Denmark; Spain; France; Russia; the Czech Republic; and Japan.
His breeding goal involves aiming to breed, own and show the Grand Champion of the Open European Holstein Show.
The herd has already won a number of Dutch titles and international titles.
Nico Bons
Nico told the farmers in attendance that his ultimate goal to is breed the Grand Champion of the European Holstein Show.
This has been Nico’s goal since he took over his family’s farm at the age of 21, and his farm was set up to achieve this goal.
Three important parts to achieve the Grand Champion for Nico are:
- Feeding programme;
- Housing and comfort;
- Breeding.
He said that ensuring cows and heifers are on the right diet is important to ensure they reach their full potential.
Cows have changed in the last 20 years, so the housing for these cows also needs to change.
Breeding is also important to achieve the goals set out within the herd, with Nico saying that whatever your goal is you should continue to breed for that.
According to Nico all of these are as important as each other, with Nico stating that he is trying to achieve the perfect balance between the three.
Nico said that he continuously changes things on his farm to achieve his ultimate goal.
Grand Champion
Nico started using OmniGen before the 2016 Open European Show in Colmar, France.
Omnigen is a nutritional supplement which helps to combat the negative effect that stress has on immunity.
According to PharVet, it works by boosting the immune system and helps it to recognise pathogens, which ultimately reduces the need for antibiotics.
Nico said the product helps his cows deal with the stress caused by the heat during the show.
55g/cow/day is required and it can be fed in concentrates, in the feeder or dusted on silage; it takes 46 to 60 days to fully build up the effect.
Because of this, the products need to be fed to cows and heifers during the dry period.
He was advised that the product would help the cow to maintain intakes during the show, even in the higher temperatures.
Of the 22 cows from the Netherlands attending the show in France, seven were Nicos. While there, he examined his competition.
“I always like to keep my eyes open and to see if any other breeder does it better than me,” Nico said.
“What I noticed was that my cows where under less stress on the warm days.”
Bons Holstein
In 2021 there was only no cases of mastitis on his farm and so far in 2022 Nico told the farms that he has been two cases mastitis.
He said that in the past, E. coli mastitis had been an issue on the farm.
Nico puts this down to the boosted immunity that the cows have on his farm from the product, which helps them to fight off pathogens.
Although he believes that product helps, he did note that it will not help if everything else is not done right.