Andrew Dreadon, along with Robyn and Graeme McKenzie, bought Okawa Forbidden Hinda Ex in 2011 for $6600 as a rising five-year-old Holstein/Friesian. The cow they’ve nicknamed Hinda went on to win the Holstein/Friesian Association production award for the top-earning Holstein/Friesian for the 2011-12 season.
Hinda produced 1097kg milksolids (MS) that year. On Fonterra’s final payout of $6.40/kg MS she earned $7020.80. In the same season she also had the third highest protein and seventh highest fat content amongst registered Holstein/Friesians, producing 533kg and 564kg respectively during her 305 days in milk.
Hinda also won the World Wide Sire protein award for that season, her sire being World Wide Sire’s Sandy Valley Forbidden ET.
Andrew predicts she will claim the top earning title again for the 2012-13 season after producing 1119kg MS as a six-year-old. But her high quality production doesn’t equate to her BW which is now a mere 48/48 after dropping from 64/51, despite increasing on her record production.
“According to BW, she shouldn’t be doing the production she is,” Andrew said.
“There are cows in New Zealand with nearly 300 BW and I bet they’re not doing half the production.”
Andrew is assistant manager for his grandparents Tom and June Johansen, who own Valendale Ayrshires at Gordonton.
Robyn and Graeme have had a longstanding relationship with the family after they bought their first Ayrshire cows from Tom and June more than 20 years ago.
When Andrew, Graeme and Robyn spotted Hinda at the Waipiri Holsteins sale in Ohaupo they decided to go into partnership together. The cow stood out and the trio knew they had to buy her.
Andrew, Robyn and Graeme say they owe their thanks to the Barclay family who bred Hinda and made her available for the sale (Dairy Exporter, April, page 72).
“She was just about out of our price range. But she’s been worth every cent,” Robyn said.
The OPN VEW partnership which now includes Robyn and Graeme’s grandson Alex McKenzie, Robyn’s mother LJ De Koning and Andrew have bought two more Holstein/Friesian yearlings. They are kept at Valendale where Hinda is milked.
Graeme and Robyn sold their dairy farm at Rotorua several years ago but kept their best pedigree lines of Ayrshire and Brown Swiss cows which are all milked at Valendale. The 156ha farm milks 400 cows on a split calving high input system. The cows are fed 25kg/cow/day of supplements which includes 2kg of distillers grain through the dairy and 23kg of wet feed including palm kernel, maize and grass silage in a covered feedpad. The herd averages 520kg MS with top cows producing more than 1000kg MS.
When the farm moved to a winter milk contract six years ago it needed more cows and the family had to resort to buying Holstein/Friesians to make up the numbers. The move wasn’t popular with his grandparents but Andrew had always liked the black and white cows.
“They suited our high feed system well,” he said.
“It has been tough for my grandparents to swallow but I think they are secretly pleased with how some of the Holstein/ Friesians are doing.”
Standard set
Like any cow in the herd if they don’t come up to scratch it is not tolerated, Andrew said. All cows have to meet the standard set by his grandparents including the pedigrees.
“We’ve still got the passion for the pedigrees but at the same time they’ve got to be able to do the goods. We’ve got to have our animals up to standard production-wise because if they’re not paying their way they’ve got to go.”
The pedigree cows in the herd aren’t treated differently apart from being pulled out and taken to shows. For Robyn and Graeme they wouldn’t have it any other way.
“The only place we would milk Hinda is here under the watchful eye of Andrew,” Robyn said.
“Our cows are being so well looked after and are being given every opportunity to show what they’re made of. The cows have to be commercial, they are not mollycoddled. Production and type is what we aim for.”
Looking ahead, the partnership would be happy for Hinda to take her hoof off the pedal this season. Her udder is still holding up well and they would prefer her to last the distance than set another record.
“I would rather she not produce as much this year and her udder lasts until she is a 12-year-old,” Andrew said.
“It’s up to her daughter now to chase her. That’s the challenge.”
Hinda has produced one daughter, a bull and heifer/bull twins. The partnership also flushed her last year which produced two bulls. Percy Sharp from ET Services does a good job of the embryo transfer work, Andrew said.
“We flush three or four cows a year.”
“There is a cost in doing it, but you are only doing the top cows and now we’re getting interest from breeding companies and people interested in purchasing the stock. It’s a faster way of getting more animals on the ground so it speeds up your genetic gain.”
