Autumn Bulletin #173

New Zealand

AYRSHIRE BULLETIN No. 173 | Autumn 2020

Cow Comfort | Te Matai Ayrshires | Telling The Sustainability Story

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE NEW ZEALAND AYRSHIRE ASSOCIATION (INC)

NEW ZEALAND AYRSHIRE BULLETIN the

NO. 173 - Autumn 2020

OFFICE LOCATION Livestock Improvement Centre Cnr Morrinsville & Ruakura Rd Newstead, Hamilton POSTAL ADDRESS 595 Ruakura Rd, R D 6, Hamilton 3286

TELEPHONE 07 856 0816 EDITOR Pam Goodin PROMOTIONS CO-ORDINATOR Kandin Robinson E-MAIL

SPECIAL FEATURES 8 9 14 18 20 22 25 28 37 38 40 42 44 46 48 53

International Youth Tour 2019 Production Highlights 2018/19 Telling The Sustainability Story Te Matai Ayrshires LIC Bull Profile Renae Flett is Reaping the Rewards NZAEL Update Youth Members Take Part In Calf Club 2019 Roger’s Ramblings Trip To Astraya, WAF Conference TOP Review 2019 / Excellent Cows 2019 Cow Comfort Production Star / Forward Star 2020 Ayrshire National On Farm Challenge 2019/20 Championship Shows 2019/20 Áyrshire Retrospect

info@ayrshire.org.nz FACEBOOK Ayrshire New Zealand WEBSITE www.ayrshire.org.nz

Disclaimer Statements made by contributors to the Bulletin or views expressed by writers of Letters to the Editor of the Bulletin are not necessarily those of the New Zealand Ayrshire Association (Inc).

Next Issue No. 174 Spring 2020 Published - 1 October 2020

REGULAR FEATURES 2 3 4 4 5 6 17 17 21 29 34 60

President’s Comment General Manager’s Comment Dates to Remember Ayrshire Vision International News Office News New Members Fees & Merchandise Obituaries Youth Section Center Photo Spread Advertisers Index

CLUB REPORTS 55 56 57 58 58 59

Bay of Plenty Thames Valley Taranaki Northland Southland / Otago Canterbury

Cover Photo: Ali Stoddard - Musica Ayrshires.

Once again taking out the cover spot, with this beautiful shot of her Ayrshires. Originally entered into the 2019 Ayrshire Scenic Photo Competition.

Ayrshire New Zealand

PRESIDENT’S COMMENT

It has been an interesting summer for farming in New Zealand, we have seen many areas of the North Island experiencing drought conditions while in certain parts of Southland they have experienced flooding. One bright aspect is that the milk price is currently holding steady and next seasons predictions look positive as well. This news is welcomed by many dairy farmers who are finding their farm operational costs increasing as well as added pressure being applied by their financiers to repay farm debt.

Our Association is also experiencing cost increases but is still able to offer our members the services that they have always been able to receive. It was disappointing that our young bull semen sales were down back at mating time and I do ask that you consider using the young bulls that are selected each year for we are one of few countries in the World Ayrshire Federation that have their own sire proving scheme.

The show season was again interrupted by the cattle disease M Bovis causing many cattle sections at A&P Shows to be cancelled particularly in the South Island. As a result, the South Island Champion and Res Ayrshire Cow was decided during the on-farm judging competition. The North Island Championships were however decided at Stratford show where there was a feature show for all dairy breeds.

The on-farm judging was again very successful held this year in December. It attracted 270 entries throughout the country.

The judge this year was Shane Wadley from Queensland when I caught up with him and his wife, they were not only taken by the quality of cattle entered but also our scenery and green grass.

The February Board Meeting was held in Canterbury. Directors took the opportunity to catch up with members in the area either on their farms or at a club herd walk and BBQ held at the Ackermann’s Musica Stud. I was pleased that four Directors

stayed on so that Anne and I could take them to a Crusaders game just so they could see how it was done. A big thanks to my wife Anne and family and Jolanda Ackermann who between them were able to accommodate and feed everyone.

Donald Green President

Believe me this is the third time that I have written the opening paragraph for my Presidents Comment, every time that I make a start it is old news within hours. I am talking about the COVID-19 Virus that is shutting down our country and putting fear into the lives of many of us. For our Government to declare a State of Emergency is proof of the seriousness of this matter.

The day following the Board Meeting, and while the Directors were in Canterbury, the Marketing and Promotions Committee took the opportunity to hold a Fielday at Glenmore. The topic of the day was Cross Breeding using Ayrshires, we had three interesting speakers including Sue Macky, and stock on view. On review I felt that the day was well worthwhile, we had a good attendance and a good mix of farmers, AI reps and rural professionals. We had assistance from Dairy N Z facilitating the day and Farmlands and F M G who provided a BBQ lunch. Special thanks to Audrey Stevenson for her work organising the day.

Back in January Anne and I had the opportunity to attend the World Ayrshire Federation Conference in Australia. It was a mix of herd visits, conference sessions, attending Dairy Week and sightseeing. All in all, a very successful tour for the Australian organizers.

The Young Breeders Seminar due to be held in Taranaki has had to be cancelled due to the Virus outbreak, disappointing after Kylee Perrett and Audrey Stevenson had put so much work into the organising of this event.

Our Annual Conference was to be held in Nelson 9-12th June. It is now not likely to proceed due again to the Virus and the conditions that we have imposed on us. An alternative solution is yet to be decided.

Well all in all not one of my best reports, all that I can say is look out for each other and please take care.

Donald Green | President

AYRSHIRE BOARD Donald Green

Vince Steiner

Gordon Glentworth

President

Tokoroa

Kaponga

Leeston

M 027 482 2879

M 021 536 928

Roger Hutchings

Audrey Stevenson

Graeme Emslie

Okaihau

Riverton

Norsewood

M 021 644 572

M 027 201 0488

M 027 249 1268

Roger Hancock

Graeme Leech

Peter Allison

Ohinewai

Tirau

Outram

P 07 824 4602

P 07 883 1544

M 027 434 6834

M 027 221 8024

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Bulletin Autumn 2020

For the first time in my 22 year association with Ayrshire New Zealand, we are homeless! The worldwide Covid-19 pandemic means that we are entering a full lockdown for all but essential services for at least four weeks. As a team we will all be working throughout the lockdown from our homes, although the way we do some things will have to change and of course all face to face activities for the breed have been cancelled or postponed. This includes the Ayrshire Young Breeders Seminar in April and the Ayrshire New Zealand Annual Conference and Annual General Meeting in June.

Members that we can contact electronically will not notice much change, and we are working on being able to keep in contact with other members although our ability to print and post will be limited. By the time you receive this magazine electronically, we should have some good contact measures in place for all members.

At least initially, the Ayrshire Bulletin will be provided to members electronically via e-mail and the website. This is due to the lockdown on printers for all but essential government work. A decision will be made about printing as we emerge from lockdown, hopefully in a few weeks time.

Of course, as farmers feeding the country (and indeed the world), work goes on. There will be restrictions in place for you, even on farm. As for all rural professionals, our focus is on providing you with the support from our roles that you will need to keep producing milk and look after your herd. The challenge is in finding the most efficient ways to do this given the constraints that we are currently working under.

We also need to remember that life goes on – we as a Breed Society also need your support to continue to operate and to provide programmes and competitions to our members.

Registrations can still be completed, competitions and genetic gain programmes will still proceed. You will still need to purchase semen – and the Semayr Breeding Services catalogue is being prepared now. For a successful Conference at a later time the Alltech Photo Competition, Scenic Photo Competition, Somatic Cell Count Competition and National Progeny Competition all need to proceed now.

We encourage you to get in behind these important events on our calendar.

Pam Goodin General Manager

GENERAL MANAGER’S COMMENT

In this issue of the Bulletin, we still bring you interesting content including breed news, breeder and industry articles. Emerging breeder Renae Flett of Manawatu is profiled, along with Stuart & Delwyn Honeyfield of Te Matai Ayrshires, Taranaki. Gabrielle Steiner and Karen Feek report on their experiences at the World Ayrshire Conference and the International Youth Tour respectively. Brian Wickham, Animal Evaluation and Sue Macky, Dairy Production Systems Ltd, both provide us with their regular columns and updates. “Roger’s Ramblings” is fast becoming a stalwart column of the Bulletin, and we also bring you photos from the Fielday held in Canterbury in February. We make a welcome return to the show scene with results and photos from the North Island Championship at Stratford in November.

Over the next few weeks, lets all make a concerted effort to keep this community vibrant! Send us your photos for the Facebook page, and share with us your on farms stories of challenges you are facing. You never know when someone from within our community will be able to help you out with advice or practical assistance. We have some real community tools available with e-mail, Facebook and the website – lets use them to connect with each other regularly.

Most importantly, I hope we all take the lockdown seriously and do our bit to only move around as we absolutely need to. We all have vulnerable loved ones that we want to protect.

Pam Goodin | General Manager

A large portion of the material in this issue was submitted prior to the Covid-19 lockdown.

References may be made to events that have since been postponed or cancelled.

AYRSHIRE TEAM Pam Goodin

Kandin Robinson

General Manager

Marketing and Promotions Coordinator

E: pgoodin@ayrshire.org.nz

E: info@ayrshire.org.nz Publications | Design | Website | Social Media

Michelle Calcott

Robyn Gordon

Business Administrator

Member Services Administrator

E: accounts@ayrshire.org.nz

E: info@ayrshire.org.nz

Accounts | General Administration

TOP & Classifications | Registrations | Clubs | Competitions

Ayrshire New Zealand

3

DATES TO REMEMBER

AYRSHIRE VISION

APRIL

VISION

9 - Election Nominations Close 10 - Good Friday - Office Closed 13 - Easter Monday - Office Closed 24 to 26 - Ayrshire Young Breeders Seminar

CANCELLED 27 - ANZAC Day - Office Closed 29 - Ayrshire Board Meeting

MAY

1 - Scenic Photo Competition entries close 1 - National Progeny Competitions entries close 1 - Dairycare Somatic Cell Count Competition entries close 14 - Notices of Motion 25 - Annual Report Issued - (TBC)

JUNE

Ayrshire New Zealand will develop, promote and maintain the Ayrshire breed as a credible option for New Zealand dairy farmers.

PURPOSE To be the number one dairy population, among all breeds, under the NZ payment.

CORE VALUES • • • •

GOALS • •

1 - Queens Birthday - Office Closed 9 to 12 - Annual Conference POSTPONED 11 - Annual General Meeting POSTPONED

•

JULY

•

AUGUST

• • •

4 - Bulletin Advertisement Booking Due 11 - Bulletin Advertisement Copy Due

4

Bulletin Autumn 2020

Always maintain a professional image Ayrshire NZ will have united, vibrant members who are proud to belong.

Ayrshire NZ members will be proactive and engaged in striving to achieve Association goals.

Ayrshire NZ and its members are progressive and are perceived to be innovative.

Ayrshire (A14+) will make up >1% of the national herd Ayrshire BW/GW and PW will increase annually Ayrshire cows will be financially rewarding for those who farm them.

Ayrshire cows will be included in national statistics and trials.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPI) • •

SEPTEMBER

Genetic gain of the Ayrshire population Always look for the opportunity Maintain a financially sustainable business Foster camaraderie among Ayrshire members

•

Membership: The Association membership will be 30% of farmers who have a proportion of Ayrshire in their herds.

Registration: 40% of available animals will be registered.

Semen Sales: The Semayr / LIC partnership will have 50% of Ayrshire calves registered annually sired by Semayr bulls.

International News Invercamy Dairy at Woodhead made its first local retail delivery. - Scotland

Portage County dairy makes it work with just 10 cows - Ohio

Family run Invercamy Dairy at Woodhead near Fyvie made its first local retail delivery this week at Turriff’s Costcutter store.

The distinctive glass bottles in classic blue, green and red tops were delivered on Thursday and have already gained considerable attention.

Run by father and son Alexander and Richard Fisher the business has been working for over 18 months to bring their quality product forward for sale.

As Richard explained: “Here our heard is predominantly brown Ayrshire cattle on this farm opposed to the black and white Holsteins and Friesians that folk identify with dairy farms.

“It’s a better quality of milk with higher butterfat content.”

To read the full story online, head to: www.bit.ly/Ayrshire-News-02

Rebecca Oravets is elbow deep in a vat of curds and whey. She’s hand stirring what will soon become a batch of Gouda, trying to keep the curds from clumping together as they cook.

“You need to be gentle to the milk,” she said.

How China Got Milk - China Over the past two months, Chinese concerned about the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic have turned to a wide range of products for protection, from hand sanitizer to traditional Chinese medicine. On Feb. 8, the National Health Commission suggested consuming at least 300 grams of milk products a day as one of its dietary recommendations for fending off the disease. Milk surfacing as a go-to remedy in the country during a public health crisis shows just how far the beverage has come in the past century and a half.

Cow’s milk was first imported into coastal and central China by the Western merchants who trickled into the country after the First Opium War in the mid-19th century.

In more remote parts of the country, foreign missionaries sometimes bought local draft animals like yellow cattle or water buffalo to milk, but the low quantities of nighundrinkable milk they produced were of little practical use.

The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 allowed Ayrshire cattle, originally native to the United Kingdom, to be shipped to China for the first time. The first breed of dairy cows raised in Shanghai, Aryshires were quickly followed by Montbéliarde cattle from France. In the 1870s it was possible to buy locally produced dairy for less than half the price of imported products — and for approximately one-third the cost of a pound of pork. ...

For the full story, head to www.bit.ly/Ayrshire-News-01

As she stirs, her husband, John Paul Oravets, or JP, washes out the bulk tank in the adjoining room. Their two children, 4-year-old John Paul, or Junior, and 2-year-old Myla wander around the cheese house.

“Clifford the Big Red Dog” plays silently on a TV sitting atop a refrigerator. Country music croons quietly on the radio.

It’s cheesemaking day at Old Forge Dairy, in Portage County, where the Oravets family make aged cheese, from milk from their small herd of Ayrshire cows.

They have 11 cows and milk anywhere from six to 10 at any given time using a bucket milker. All the milk goes into the farm’s cheeses.

Everything about the Oravets’ operation is hands-on.

From the way they built their barn and cheese house to the way they milk their cows and make the cheese.

But it’s deliberate.

“There’s a reason for all the extra work,” Rebecca said. “It makes a difference in the taste.”

The couple bought Rebecca’s parents farm in 2015 with the idea of making it their livelihood. Rebecca is the fifth generation to farm the land, but her great grandparents were the last ones to run it as a dairy farm.

“We worked for a year on deciding what to do. Our goal was to make our farm viable through dairy cows, whatever means that would be,” she said. www.bit.ly/Ayrshire-News-03

Ayrshire New Zealand

5

Office News COVID-19 LOCKDOWN All members should be aware by now that the team have been working from home since Friday 20 March, and will continue to do so throughout the Covid-19 lockdown period that commenced on 26 March 2020. This will last until at least the end of April 2020, and will mean some changes to processes throughout our organisation and the way that we communicate with members.

How to contact us: Our preference is that wherever possible you contact us electronically (see page 3). Contact by telephone should only be made if you cannot do so electronically, or if your call is urgent. The team will be available for calls from 9am - 4pm Monday - Friday, and will not answer calls outside those hours.

Likewise, while you are asked to e-mail us at any time, e-mails will be responded to during advertised hours.

It is important that the team maintain a good work/life balance over the next few weeks, and working from home unexpectedly will take some adapting for us all and our families. We ask that you respect our home life and privacy.

Please do not text us. For the most part we will be using personal phones, and texts cannot be monitored and managed in the same way that e-mails can.

How we will contact you We will continue to keep members updated over the coming weeks and months, with the health & wellbeing of our members and team at the forefront of our decision making process. We will contact members electronically by e-mail, website and the Facebook page. We will also phone individual members as appropriate.

By the time you receive this issue of the Bulletin in your inbox, we will have been in contact with members who receive notifications by post. Where we do hold an e-mail address, those members will now be contacted electronically for the duration of the lockdown as we do not have the ability to print & post large numbers of notifications from lockdown.

Club Secretaries have been contacted and will have phoned all members that we do not hold an e-mail address for. They will be asked to provide an e-mail address if they have one, and if they do not and still wish to receive notifications this will be managed by the Clubs and a ‘phone buddy’ system.

All of these members will be given the opportunity to revert to posted notices on conclusion of the lockdown period.

Posted mail has been diverted and will be received during the lockdown period. Individual mail will be able to be sent by the team (but not bulk mail).

Keep an eye of the website www.ayrshire.org.nz and Facebook page Ayrshire New Zealand for further updates.

Ayrshire New Zealand activities • The Ayrshire Young Breeders Seminar scheduled for April 2020 is postponed until April 2021 in Taranaki

•

6

The Annual Conference scheduled for Nelson in June 2020 is postponed until further notice

Bulletin Autumn 2020

•

The Ayrshire Bulletin – Spring 2020 issue and the Semayr Breeding Services catalogue will be made available to all members electronically and on the website. A decision will be made about printing this magazine as lockdown concludes.

All printers are considered essential only for government supply work, therefore we cannot send anything to print from lockdown.

•

The financial year end remains at 31 March, therefore all audit work will proceed for preparation of the annual accounts. This can be completed remotely with the auditor.

•

The Annual Report will be prepared in accordance with the rules and any decisions made by the Board in relation to the Annual General Meeting.

•

The closing date for Notices of Motion to the AGM will also be managed in accordance with the rules when a decision is made about the AGM

•

A decision will be made by the Board about Director elections once nominations have closed.

•

The Alltech All New Zealand Photo Competition, Scenic Photo Competition, National Progeny Competitions and the DairyCare Somatic Cell Count Competition will proceed as normal.

Registrations Registrations will proceed as normal. However we will not be able to post registration certificates on card. We will e-mail an electronic copy or post a paper copy of the certificate on request. All card certificates can be posted if required once lockdown is complete.

INFRASTRUCTURE CHANGES Members will recall that we were required to set up our own IT infrastructure in preparation for accessing the Breed Society solution for DIGAD later this year. Hamilton based company Skypoint have been selected as providers to Jersey NZ, and all new hardware purchased. We have recently completed the transition to remove ourselves from the LIC network, members will not notice any changes on a day to day level. LIC have kindly agreed to allow us to maintain our existing phone numbers, so as we also transition to a new phone system later this should also have no effect for members. As further changes occur, we will keep members notified by e-mail and Facebook.

NZ DAIRY EVENT Organisers of the NZ Dairy Event have recently confirmed that the event will return in January 2021.

This is great news for the showing fraternity!

DIGAD UPDATE Hamilton based agricultural software development specialists Rezare System have been selected as the provide for the Breed Society solution for DIGAD (Dairy Industry Good Animal Database). Work is currently proceeding on a timeline, final costings and the contract. Once the contract is finalised work will proceed, with member management and the TOP platform first cabs off the rank in terms of development.

This is to ensure that the new TOP platform is ready for the 2020 TOP inspection season. Over the past few months considerable work has been done by the six participating breeds in the NZ Breeds Federation to update the Federation model in preparation for the new Breed Society database.

Work is also progressing on data share agreements with DairyNZ, LIC and CRV Ambreed. At this stage, we do not expect that any of this work will be adversely affected by the Covid-19 lockdown.

Pam, husband Mike, daughter Laura, and pets Trixie and Basil buckle down for the 4 week lockdown.

Our Bubbles

TEAM UPDATE Michelle Calcott joined the team in late October 2019 as Business Administrator. Michelle has settled in well to her role, and is proving to be very proactive, developing relationships with many members. Kandin and Robyn have both now completed their first year with us and they continue to take on more responsibility as their industry experience grows. Kate Gore joined us for casual TOP data entry from September through to Christmas, and will now re-join us as a part time administration assistant for a few hours a week around her university studies (currently on hold during lockdown). We are also working with a graphic design intern via Waikato University. Sean Bresnahan will assist Kandin remotely on a casual part time basis through semester 1, freeing him up to explore more promotional activities. Sean will also assist with the additional workload that the lockdown will create for Kandin as we move more activities online.

Ayrshire Proving Scheme

Kandin’s dog Lucca is taking the term “Working Dog“ seriously.

Robyn’s home office setup, featuring her secretary Rusty.

Help prove the Ayrshire bulls of the future - Join the Ayrshire Sire Proving Scheme • •

Semen available at $3.00 per straw + GST Free pedigree registration on all Semayr SPS sired heifers

Put up your whole herd, an age group or a selected line for the Sire Proving Scheme.

Get a head start on the latest Ayrshire genetics, and help the breed prove the Ayrshire bulls of the future.

Contact the Ayrshire office on 07 856 0816 or e-mail info@ ayrshire.org.nz for more information.

Michelle dragged her entire office desk home for the lockdown. (That’s dedication!)

International Youth Tour 2019

Held by the UK and Northern Ireland Ayrshire Society Article contributed by Gabby Steiner If you know me well enough, you know that I can talk your ear off however I can also be the person at the tail of the group soaking everything in and not talking much.

October 2019 I decided to branch out a little and stop living from the shadow of my family. Despite how scary it was I started my journey by writing about myself and sending the document into the Ayrshire Office. I then had an interview with Donald Green, Roger Hutchings and Pam Goodin. It wasn’t until six weeks later that I received a call from Donald. I remember I was hosing the yard and missed the first call, Donald then told me “I'm calling to tell you that you're the successful candidate,” and I responded with a simple “okay thanks.” I was extremely overjoyed at the time (not that Donald could tell). So the first long haul trip I accomplished with 24 hours spent in the air by myself had begun.

I decided to extend my trip in the Northern Hemisphere so for the whole month I was away from home. I visited my friend who lives in Hamburg for ten days before starting the UK youth tour. I flew from Hamburg with a connecting flight through Birmingham and into Belfast to meet Alan Timbrell and four of the other youth members, while we waited for the last delegate to arrive we sat very quietly (apart from Julie (Canada) and Alan who is able to talk an ear off of a deaf person). That night after we picked up Olivia (Sweden) from the airport we went out for dinner, by the next day we couldn’t shut Corey (America) up unless we were in a moving vehicle where he would fall asleep. I met these people complete strangers and left them as family, Iida (Finland) was my roommate for most of the trip and Lachlan (Australia) was an inspiration. We had one day where we weren’t looking at cows and spent the day doing courses in the trees, Alan

8

Bulletin Autumn 2020

chickened out after the second course but Lachlan despite being just as panicked carried on right to the end earning two stickers to everyone’s one. We visited some great herds with a variety of animals being viewed. The systems are completely different to the ones we have in NZ but also fairly similar with the fact that most places try to graze on pasture as much as possible.

Not only did I meet the amazing people I was crammed in a minibus with, we were greeted with such hospitality by all breeders. It was a great trip to learn genetics and meet some incredible people. I encourage young people to ‘get out and do it’. We are always saying how we can’t do things because we’re too ‘busy’ or any other reason but it’s a great experience to have and once you commit to something like this you will meet people and make friends across the world. Believe me, I was a nervous wreck but it was worth being scared for the people and accomplishments I made. It will always be worth the knowledge and friendship to take time away and try something new. Please don’t be afraid to talk to me, (I swear I’m not scary) add me on Facebook, Instagram and/or Snapchat and if you have any questions or need any help just send me a message and I will do my best to lend a helping hand.

And on a final note quoting Sir Selwyn Donald “you’ll never ever know if you never have a go.”

PRODUCTION HIGHLIGHTS 2018/19 The Mayfield Trophy for the top producing herd in New Zealand will this year be presented to Gordon & Jonathan Glentworth, Kaponga. Their herd of 223 pedigree Ayrshire cows averaged 7,887 litres milk, 337 kg fat, 293 kg protein (630 kg milksolids) in 286 days. This is a new breed record, easily surpassing the previous record of 607 kg milksolids also set by the Glenworths in both the 2013/14 and 2016/17 seasons. The Sanrosa herd has now won the Mayfield Trophy on 21 occasions dating back to the 1986/87 season.

The Snowline Trophy for the top cow 10 years and over will be presented to Sanrosa Della 06-128, E8-8.

Della 06-128 is owned by Goldwyn Enterprises Ltd and produced 10,838 litres milk, 439 kg fat, 398 kg protein (837 kg milksolids) in 305 days at 12 years.

Sired by the Finnish bull Asmo Omatunto, she is out of Sanrosa Della 99-128, V6-7.

Highest Producing Cows

The Supplementary One Award for cows in the S1A category is awarded to Sanrosa Joey 13-235 S1A, V7-8 owned Gordon & Jonathan Glentworth. Brooke produced 9,105 litres milk, 441 kg fat, 345 kg protein (786 kg milksolids) in 302 days at five years. Joey 13235 is sired by Asmo Tosikko.

Supplementary One Award

The Smith Family Trophy for the highest producing cow in the 2018/19 season will be awarded to Sanrosa Della 12-129, E8-9. Della is owned by Goldwyn Enterprises Ltd (Bryan and Lynley Hayward), Putaruru, and produced 11,439 litres milk, 516 kg fat, 418 kg protein (934 kg milksolids) in 305 days.

Seven year old Della is sired by the Finnish bull Asmo Tosikko ET out of Sanrosa Della 06-128, E8-8 (who herself features below as winner of the Snowline Trophy).

Semayr BW Award The Semayr Breeding Services Top BW Award for the 2018/19 season will be presented to Pineview Dairy Farm Ltd (Tony & Shirley Thomas), Rakaia. All herds with 50 or more pedigree in-milk Ayrshires are eligible, and certificates are presented to winners in all wards.

The top producing two year old for the 2018/19 season is Sanrosa Carmel 16-213, B7-8, owned by Gordon & Jonathan Glentworth. Carmel 16-213 is sired by the Semayr progeny test bull Iwa Snows Rumba ET out of Sanrosa Carmel 10-207, V7-8. Carmel 16-213 produced 9,574 litres milk, 385 kg fat, 348 kg protein (733 kg milksolids) in 305 days.

All production awards are as present unconfirmed.

Please contact the Ayrshire office urgently if you have any information which may affect these results.

In the three year old category Sanrosa Virtue 15-121, V6-8, produced 10,085 litres milk, 412 kg fat, 365 kg protein (777 kg milksolids) in 305 days. Owned by Gordon & Jonathan Glentworth, Virtue 15-121 is sired by Asmo Tosikko ET out of Sanrosa Virtue 10-127, V6-7.

Another Sanrosa cow in Sanrosa Royal 14-66, V7-8, takes out the four year old category. Once again owned by Gordon & Jonathan Glentworth, Royal 14-66 is sired by Sanrosa Danny Boy out of Sanrosa Royal 02-39, E7-8. She produced 9,720 litres milk, 415 kg fat, 350 kg protein (765 kg milksolids) in 271 days.

Top Milk Yielding Cows NAME

Age

Class

Milk L

DIM

Owner

GOLDWYN REALITY PET

5

E8-8

12,183

305

Goldwyn Enterprises Ltd - B T & L J Hayward

SANROSA RUMBA 10-314

8

V7-8

11,604

305

G & J Glentworth

GOLDWYN GP SECRECY

7

E8-8

11,566

305

Goldwyn Enterprises Ltd - B T & L J Hayward

SANROSA DELLA 12-129

6

E8-9

11,439

305

Goldwyn Enterprises Ltd - B T & L J Hayward

SANROSA ROYAL 12-63

6

H4-9

10,995

269

G & J Glentworth

SANROSA DELLA 09-132

9

V6-8

10,916

294

G & J Glentworth

SANROSA DELLA 06-128

2

E8-8

10,838

305

Goldwyn Enterprises Ltd - B T & L J Hayward

SANROSA VIRTUE 10-127

8

V6-7

10,765

297

G & J Glentworth

GOLDWYN BURDETTES KATE

5

E8-8

10,596

305

Goldwyn Enterprises Ltd - B T & L J Hayward

SANROSA DELLA 10-128

8

V6-8

10,528

303

G & J Glentworth

Ayrshire New Zealand

9

PRODUCTION HIGHLIGHTS 2018/19 Leading Herds by Ward WARD

NAME

Ped Ayr

Milk L

Fat

Prot

MS

DIM

1

Lodore Farm Ltd - R M & J E Hutchings

561

5482

244

201

445

271

2

M E & R E Bon

66

5836

231

207

438

261

3

W & Z Kite

182

6065

254

217

471

276

4

Goldwyn Enterprises Ltd - B R & L T Hayward

91

8085

340

285

625

295

5

G & J Glentworth

223

7887

337

293

630

286

6

Keripapa Farms Limited - M R & S A Booth

215

5710

257

207

464

267

7

Riverlea Farm Ltd - S & M Riley

371

4597

204

164

368

259

8

Trinity Holdings (2001) Ltd - L & W Main

172

6005

255

218

473

266

9

Trinity Farm Holdings - C Stevenson

417

6793

302

254

556

277

Top Cow Fat Age

Class

DIM

Fat

Owner

LARKSPUR CN JOJO

NAME

7

E8-8

305

538

Fusion Genetics Ltd - R & A Baker

SANROSA DELLA 12-129

6

E8-9

305

516

Goldwyn Enterprises Ltd - B T & L J Hayward

GOLDWYN GP SECRECY

7

E8-8

305

492

Goldwyn Enterprises Ltd - B T & L J Hayward

GOLDWYN REALITY PET

5

E8-8

305

484

Goldwyn Enterprises Ltd - B T & L J Hayward

LANDELL RISTOURN TANI S2A

6

E8-8

251

468

Landell Holdings Ltd - K Fitzgerald

SANROSA SNOWIE 11-260 ET

7

V6-7

295

461

G & J Glentworth

PINEVIEW 12-40 S1A

6

243

459

Pineview Dairy Farm Ltd - A T & S A Thomas

SANROSA ROYAL 13-25

5

E8-8

305

455

G & J Glentworth

LARNOCH BLAZE 10-268

8

V7-7

305

450

G & J Glentworth

SANROSA DELLA 10-128

8

V6-8

303

450

G & J Glentworth

Top Cow Protein Age

Class

DIM

Prot

Owner

SANROSA DELLA 12-129

NAME

6

E8-9

305

418

Goldwyn Enterprises Ltd - B T & L J Hayward

GOLDWYN REALITY PET

5

E8-8

305

400

Goldwyn Enterprises Ltd - B T & L J Hayward

SANROSA DELLA 09-132

9

V6-8

294

400

G & J Glentworth

SANROSA DELLA 06-128

12

E8-8

305

398

Goldwyn Enterprises Ltd - B T & L J Hayward

SANROSA ROYAL 12-63

6

H4-9

269

397

G & J Glentworth

GOLDWYN GP SECRECY

7

E8-8

305

397

Goldwyn Enterprises Ltd - B T & L J Hayward

SANROSA RUMBA 10-314

8

V7-8

305

391

G & J Glentworth

SANROSA DELLA 10-128

8

V6-8

303

383

G & J Glentworth

GLENKYLIE 14-61 S2A

4

B7-7

301

376

Glenkylie Dairy Farm Ltd - R & A, C Stevenson

SANROSA VIRTUE 10-127

8

V6-7

297

375

G & J Glentworth

10

Bulletin Autumn 2020

Herds Producing 400kg MS & Over NAME

Ped Ayr

Milk L

Fat

Prot

MS

DIM

G & J Glentworth

223

7887

337

293

630

286

Goldwyn Enterprises Ltd - B R & L T Hayward

91

8085

340

285

625

295

Trinity Farm Holdings - C Stevenson

417

6793

302

254

556

277

V K & S L Steiner

227

6169

282

214

496

277

Fairleigh Dairy Farm Ltd - K A & A E Eade

126

6208

253

220

473

280

Trinity Holdings (2001) Ltd - L & W Main

172

6005

255

218

473

266

W & Z Kite

182

6065

254

217

471

276

Emunna Partnership Ltd - C & P Prattley

160

5707

251

214

465

267

Keripapa Farms Limited - M & S Booth

215

5710

257

207

464

267

Willmor Pastures Ltd - M & L Williams

209

5538

258

205

463

272

Brookton Farm - D & A, C & T Green

241

5614

250

212

462

287

Lodore Farm Ltd - R & J Hutchings

561

5482

244

201

445

271

Rangeview Farming Ltd - G & T Emslie

149

5599

248

197

445

262

Pineview Dairy Farm Ltd - A T & S A Thomas

88

5302

242

201

443

228

M E & R E Bon

66

5836

231

207

438

261

Ingleside Ltd - R Morton

92

5621

230

203

433

261

H R & E J Slack

199

5601

235

197

432

285

P & H Baxter

147

5739

231

197

428

253

K & D Perrett

196

5503

225

199

424

255

S P & S L Coombe

50

5601

216

197

413

241

L & C Burnell

57

5267

218

188

406

267

Bonacord Farms Ltd - P & A, K & A Allison

347

4958

218

188

406

263

Ackermann Ltd

331

4978

216

184

400

229

Herds 200+ Cows Producing Min 350kg MS NAME

Ped Ayr

Milk L

Fat

Prot

MS

DIM

Glenmore Farm - D & A, C & T Green

520

4788

222

175

397

268

D E & A M Jacobsen

151

4340

210

163

373

250

P A & D A Crowther

129

4584

211

161

372

227

Lakeside Ayrshires Ltd - A & C Legg

190

4751

204

167

371

268

Riverlea Farm Ltd - S & M Riley

371

4597

204

164

368

259

Te Repo Farms Ltd - D & T Thompson

325

4409

202

163

365

252

CNRAYR Limited - M Livingstone

176

4601

190

171

361

268

A R Thomson

191

4493

193

162

355

265

Top Herd by BW

WARD

NAME

Ped Ayr

BW

1

Lodore Farm Ltd

561

5

2

Slack No 2 Herd

170

-7

3

M & J Fisher

72

-64

4

Mayo Pastoral Co Ltd

109

22

5

The Hardcase Family Trust

104

-2

6

L & C Burnell

57

-5

7

Riverlea Farm Ltd

371

-19

8

Pineview Dairy Farm Ltd

88

31

9

Trinity Farm Holdings

417

3

Ayrshire New Zealand

11

JUDGING CERTIFICATE REQUIREMENTS For members to be named on the judges list they must have passed the standards set out below:

1.

2.

Attended a Judging School every four years.

Passed a standard set by the Committee.

Overjudges to be elected by the Committee. Standards for passing:

3.

4.

Four year pass

Full Pass

75+ points

Limited pass

65 - 74 points Two year pass and must attend the next round of schools to retain their ticket

Fail

<65 points

May attend another school in the same year if they like

Judging days shall have two classes of five animals and be held every second year.

A member passing the Judging School requirements for the first time will be invited to join the Junior Judges list, and will be added to that list on acceptance of the invitation.

Elevation to Senior Judge will occur at the discretion of the Judging Committee • On receipt of three Associate Judging Reports from Senior Judges at a level accepted by the Judges Committee; OR • On receipt of one Associate Judging report from Senior Judge at a level acceptable to the Judging Committee, and two judging school passes If a member is already a Senior Judge for another breed, they may go directly onto the Senior Judges list following a full pass at an Ayrshire judging school. If they receive a limited pass, they may be invited onto the Junior Judge list. Any other case will be considered on a one by one basis.

5.

AYRSHIRE Scenic Snapshot Competition 2020 $300.00 worth of prizes up for grabs for the most creative or picturesque scenic shots of Ayrshires, Ayrshire herds, groups of daughters or any other photograph promoting Ayrshire cattle in New Zealand. Ayrshire New Zealand has generously sponsored the prizes for the following two categories: OPEN DIVISION - MONETARY PRIZES 1ST PRIZE: to the value of $100.00 2ND PRIZE: to the value of $75.00 3RD PRIZE: to the value $50.00

• • • •

Open to all members of Ayrshire New Zealand, their immediate families and employees.

Open class for all photos of Ayrshire cattle, either single or multiple animals in an informal setting.

Photographs to be postcard size, colour or black & white. May also be provided by e-mail in .jpg or .tiff format.

Entries to be submitted by 1 May 2020 All photographs may be used for publicity purposes by Ayrshire New Zealand

To enter send your clearly labelled photo to the Ayrshire office by 1 May 2020 12

Bulletin Autumn 2020

Inglecorner Burr Bailey V8-8 3yrs

Merv Livingstone VHC 30yrs

S: Palmyra Tri Star Burdette ET Winning ward 9 on farm national comp

Inglecorner Snows Rose V8-8 3yrs

S: Ferdon Tri Star Snow winning Southland A&P On farm comp.

Celebrating a very successful day at the Southland A&P Show.

Inglecorner Real Violet V8-8 4yrs

Inglecorner Barr Ralta

S: Fairleigh Reality Winning Supreme Ayrshire and Supreme Albreeds at Southland A&P Show on farm comp

S: Family-AF-AYR RD Barrel ET Winning 5-6 year old Southland A&P Show on farm comp

DANIEL LIVINGSTONE Mob. 027 22 46 034 E: incoay@gmail.com

MERVYN & HANNAH LIVINGSTONE Ph. 03 235 2855 Mob. 027 653 6673 E: incoay@gmail.com

577 Riverton-Wallacetown Highway, RD4, Invercargill 9874

Farming – Telling The Sustainability Story Contributed by Alltech - www.alltech.com True sustainability rests on three main pillars that include not just the environment, but also economic health and the social license to continue farming. An unbalanced emphasis on any one of these three will inevitably mean the other two are put under pressure. With the current hyper awareness of environmental issues, it is easy to lose perspective on the balance in the big picture, without which nothing is truly sustainable.

When the fundamentals of animal health and production efficiency are in focus, environmental measures can also improve by default. This means that although environmental footprints do not just take care of themselves, they are given a helping hand as farming outcomes improve, something farmers strive to achieve every day.

Taking a life cycle analysis approach to carbon foot-printing provides the mechanism that quantifies this balance, wrapping some numbers around the whole system that allows farming to tell its story in a way that finds approval with many groups.

The Alltech® E-CO2 environmental programme employs an animal centred approach that is underpinned by animal health and welfare and is sensitive to the profitability of the farming enterprise. Following these principles, it is possible to generate quantifiable evidence that guides decision making and allows an operation to meet multiple expectations.

Nigel Meads at Southern Field Days talking about Alltech E-CO2

Being based on an international standard and independently verified gives confidence that the Alltech E-CO2 programme is robust in its approach.

Along with modern high-tech laboratory facilities, a team of on farm support staff throughout New Zealand work together with farmers to capture the opportunities that the programme identifies.

Farming is changing. In previous generations the “social license to farm” was given without question.

Now the industry needs to remind itself that reducing emissions is an opportunity to re-evaluate farm efficiency. Farm specific life cycle analysis offers the tools to do just that.

Copy supplied by Alltech newzealand@alltech.com - 0800 ALLTECH

Bulls for sale of all ages from top cow families by top NZ and North American sires.

Let Alltech help: 9 Measure your GHG emissions 9 Review your rations via IFM Laboratory 9 Calculate your carbon fooprint 9 Support better profitability and performance

0800 ALLTECH | newzealand@alltech.com alltech.com/newzealand | AlltechAP

S OU T HWI ND

R O S E MOOR S PA RK / S OU T HWI ND T S B Q UA I N T- E T V8 - 9 Combining two of New Zealands most famous Ayrshire families

Secret & Qantas

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Southwind King Quin has one of the milkiest pedigrees seen in NZ Ayrshires in recent years.

His first 3 dams all over 8,000 litres milk, as is his paternal grand-dam, Secrecy on Par. Add in the longevity and Exc type classifications, King Quin ticks all the boxes needed.

His two grand-dams are two of the best in NZ this millenium.

Dam: SOUTHWIND TSB QUAINT ET V8-9

Sire: ROSEMOOR SPARK

GDam: SOUTHWIND JULES QANTAS EXC 8-9

GDam: BROOKVIEW SECRECY ON PAR EXC S

Sired by Tri Star Burdette 1st Type & Production class North Is. Champs 2019

Highest PW Cow in NZ 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Taranaki Cow of the Year 2008 and 2010.

Top Producing Cow in Taranaki 2005, 2007, 2009 & 2010.

Champion Cow Taranaki Show 2008 and 2010.

GGDam: SOUTHWIND BO QANTAS EXC Next 5 from 6 Dams all VHC or EXC

Sired by Ingledale Bonny King

Supreme Ayrshire Cow & Best Udder 2010 NZDE Reserve North Island Champion 2010 & 2011

6.0

8382

3.46 290 3.76 315 305

249

GGDam: BROOKVIEW BLUE SECRECY EXC 4 6 EXCELLENT DAUGHTERS TO DATE

10 Lac 5470

3.48 190 4.06 223 270

ENQUIRIES TO; Bernard & Robyn Stachurski (m) 027 275 9754 (e) waitowerfarm@xtra.co.nz

NEW MEMBERS

WELCOME

Ayrshire New Zealand extends a warm welcome to their newest members

Tony & Serena Jenkins Location: Waikato Prefix: Y-NOT

Membership: Associate Victoria Loeffen

Location: Northland Prefix: KAURIDALE

Membership: Junior

AYRSHIRE NEW ZEALAND

FEES & MERCHANDISE SUBSCRIPTIONS

PROMOTIONAL MERCHANDISE

Senior Members........................................... $200.00 Associate Members........................................$85.00 Junior & Retired Members..............................$55.00

Black Soft Shell Jacket....................................$91.30 Black Soft Shell Vest........................................ $47.83 Polo Shirt.........................................................$45.00 Youth Hoodie.................................................. $47.83 Youth beanie................................................... $13.05 Suede Caps..................................................... $13.92 Herd Sign - double sided.............................. $247.50 - single sided................................ $135.00 Dress Ties........................................................ $22.61 Membership Badges.........................................$5.22

REGISTRATION FEES Females named on MINDA All heifers under 1 year old (up to 100 heifers) ........................................... $5.50 All heifers under 1 year old (over 100 heifers) ............................................. $3.50 Heifer older than 1 year old ............................ $9.50 PLUS if name added manually on database ............ $1.00 Males Bulls up to 1 year.............................................$50.00 Bulls over 1 year ...........................................$100.00

OTHER FEES Production Register (each)..............................$21.80 Herd Book (each)............................................. $16.09 3 Generation Pedigrees....................................$6.53

Non-member registrations are double All prices exclude GST

Ayrshire New Zealand

17

Te Matai 09-70, Delwyn’s favourite.

TE MATAI AYRSHIRES Contributed by Hilary Jane - Southwind

The first Ayrshire purchased was ‘Burnside Marie’ in 1984, followed by some from Taranaki Club sales and also Valendale. The majority of the herd was initially built up using pedigree bulls, and later with AB. The herd of 360 cows consists of 90% pedigree Ayrshire, with around 20 Friesians and the rest crossbred. Delwyn and Paula rear up to 180 calves, 80- 90 are replacements and the remainders are beef.

Delwyn, Stuart, Paula, Scott and ‘Mug’.

Stuart and Delwyn Honeyfield’s ‘Te Matai’ stud last featured in the Bulletin in 2014, when they were adapting to recurring ‘summer drys’. Younger son Scott has been full-time on the farm since leaving school and a welcome addition to the ‘team’ is Scott’s fiancé Paula, who has been involved in the day to day operation for the past 15 months. Paula loves her new lifestyle, which is quite different to hairdressing and selling tractors! By the time this is published, Scott and Paula will have tied the knot, becoming fourth generation Mr & Mrs Honeyfield.

Stuart’s grandfather settled on the property in 1923 and when he died unexpectedly in 1954 his twin sons (Stuart’s father and uncle) took over the farm at the young age of 16. They carried out a lot of development over the years and today the farm, which runs from SH1 (north of Waitara) down to the sea, is in good order. Consisting of some sandy soils, the milking block is 161 ha on which the herd and all replacements (dairy and beef weaners) are run. A 37 ha runoff nearby is used to graze yearling heifers as well as make hay, and another property further north at Urenui is used as a beef drystock farm.

The studs name Te Matai relates to the local district.

18

Bulletin Autumn 2020

The cows are milked in a 44 bail rotary and are fed grass, silage, hay, some PK and turnips in the summer. Molasses is also used in the spring. Every year they experience a dry spell, and this year is probably the worst on record. Factory production generally averages 350-400 kg/ms per cow and depending on what happens in the next few weeks, Stuart is targeting 350 this season.

Over the years, proven Semayr bulls have been used, such as Sanrosa Royal Phillip, Carmelglen Brody, Te Matai Elvis and Southwind Jack’s Quintin, and more recently Sanrosa Deacon and Sanrosa Dalton. This year a Deacon daughter, one of the first from the PT team, has turned out far superior to her dam.

Stuart was pleasantly surprised as he says she was a runty little calf at birth. He was away at the time and Scott made an executive decision to keep it, a wise choice as it turned out. Stuart said they have used a sprinkling of Finnish too, just to keep something different in there, and it’s good to compare different bloodlines.

Highlights in the past have included getting home grown bulls into the Semayr catalogue, Te Matai Whiskey Seven, Te Matai Wendy’s Boy, Te Matai Protein Pak and of course Te Matai Elvis. The Elvis daughters are sound and get better and better with age. There are still Elvis sisters in the herd too.

Scott put up an electric fence, Paula rescued a bunny and carefully placed it in the long grass. Unbeknown to her it jumped right into the path of the bike as she drove off. Pest control is not always intentional.

Lodore Els Royalle, Stuart’s favourite.

When selecting bulls, Stuart says they consider all of the information as a tool instead of particularly going for any one thing. By doing so, he feels they have developed a herd of commercial, easy care, functional cows, with good temperament and capacity. He doesn’t like to see negative numbers and BVs are becoming more important . For the Ayrshire cow to survive, the breed needs to appeal to commercial farmers.

In the last couple of years, heifers have been purchased from ‘Lodore’, and they have fitted into the herd effortlessly.

Temperament hasn’t been an issue for many years and a kick rail is not necessary in the shed. Their Whisky bull was excellent for temperament and capacity . Delwyn has often milked on her own and now that Paula is also in the shed, there are no concerns whatsoever from a safety point of view. Overall, temperament and general commercial traits are paramount.

As Scott points out, the cows have to turn dry grass into milk.

Another important requisite is capacity, Stuart believes the cows need to be able to eat a lot. In his own words, “Our cows aren’t show ponies, they have to work hard.”

Fertility is pretty important. Occasionally a really good cow might be held over. Scott points out this year they used short gestation bulls in the last 12 days after the Herefords came out.

AB is used in the first eight weeks of mating.

The farm is very much a family operation and everyone is happy doing what they’re doing (most days). Elder son Troy works as a diesel mechanic in Inglewood, and looks after the gear, services the machinery and often does digger work on the farm.

Daughter Rebecca works at a travel agent in New Plymouth, having worked at Disneyworld for nine months a few years ago.

Scott’s off-farm interests include hunting, fishing and duck shooting. Stuart is a keen fisherman and recently took part in the annual Cockies Fishing Competition.

Both Delwyn and Stuart have been involved with their local community over the years, and have extended family nearby.

Delwyn grew up on a dairy farm at Kaimata, near Inglewood.

Having the Methanex methanol plant as a neighbour for 35 years hasn’t really been an issue, the Honeyfields reckon they are used to the noise and lights. However, when the plant shut down temporarily a while ago, the silence and darkness were really noticeable.

Another valuable member of the team is the farm dog ‘Mug’.

(She already carried the name when she arrived at Te Matai.)

Mug is no mug; she is extremely intelligent and always full of energy. Just lately she’s had a thing for chasing rabbits, but if she catches any, she just ‘mouths’ them. Recently, while helping

Stuart’s catch of the day.

Although farming necessitates a certain amount of ‘hardening up’ for those not born into that lifestyle, bobby calves are not an issue at Te Matai. Almost every calf is either reared, or sold on for rearing.

One of the Honeyfield’s regular buyers maintains the Ayrshires grow better than the Friesians, and forage more efficiently on the hills. The Honeyfields grow their steers to 2 ½ years, and the Friesian/Ayrshire, and even the straight Ayrshire steer, grow as heavy, and faster, than the Hereford/Ayrshire.

Paula has her own section of the wooden fence surrounding the homestead, it’s a bit newer than the rest of the fence. The very first night she met Scott’s family, she drove in, and due to the ‘unusual’ shape of the fence, her car accidentally connected with a railing. Stuart says she made a ‘really good impression’ that night. Paula maintains she was only trying to straighten out what was obviously a crooked fence.

Stuart and Delwyn are planning a trip to Canada in the winter to catch up with friends, including a young woman who, 26 years ago, worked initially as a nanny for them. After Scott was born, (and Delwyn was full-time Mum for a while) she started coming out on the farm to help, literally rolled up her sleeves and got stuck in. She is now on a cropping farm in Saskatchewan, where it’s all flat and basically there’s nothing else there. Stuart reckons you need to have a reason to go there.

Another person he wants to see lives in the same area and also has a cropping farm. Stuart first met the man, who was Dutch, when he worked on a farm in Minnesota (USA) for 10 months in the late 80s.

The chap, who’d worked on the same farm the year before, just happened to be visiting his old boss while Stuart was there. They found they had a lot in common and a couple of years later the chap came out to NZ and visited Te Matai.

Stuart makes the observation that although farmers in different countries and cultures have different ways of doing things, basically we’re all the same, simply growing a product.

While they’re away, Stuart and Delwyn hope to see some cows (Ayrshire in particular), in Canada and also in Minnesota if possible. There’s at least one Ayrshire herd Stuart knows of in that direction Ayrshire New Zealand

19

LIC Bull Profile Contributed by Jon Down - Product Specialist LIC The 2020 edition of the LIC Genetics catalogue is due out on farm in early April. In the Ayrshire section, you will see some familiar bulls, showing the strength in what has previously been marketed. We also debut a new 16 code bull which I am sure will grab many peoples interest. Young unproven bulls remain a key part in the continuation of genetic gain of the Ayrshire breed in New Zealand, and with the high calibre available, should definitely be utilised alongside daughter proven bulls.

Appearing for the first time with a daughter proof is 516504 Iwa Iso Castlebar ET, a Southwind Isabro son. Castlebar daughters certainly can produce with extraordinary milk, fat and protein BVs. Siring capacious daughters and being A2A2, I am sure he will be a popular choice this year.

513521 - Sanrosa Deacon ET

Daughter of Iwa Super Sonic

A 2019 graduate bull catalogued last year was 515503 Iwa Super Sonic, he returns as this year’s highest BW Ayrshire bull at 103BW. Sonic is sired by the well-liked Bonny George, with his Grand Sire Asmo Tosikko who adds some international genetics from his introduction from a Finnish nucleus herd in the early 2000s. Sonic’s daughters show real strength in their udders, combined with a placid shed temperament and A2A2 status, no wonder farmers love to milk these cows.

The two Sanrosa bulls, Deacon and Dalton from dam Sanrosa Della, are both big production bulls, and not to mention both A2A2. Deacon – an Asmo Tosikko son boasts a huge production of 26kg for fat and 26kg for protein, with Dalton not far behind at 15kg for fat and 24kg for protein. Combined with favourable farmer traits and conformation, it’s of no doubt that these brothers will continue to be popular for the season to come.

Daughter of Iwa Snows Rumba ET

511597 - Southwind Jacks Quintin

Another familiar bull, highly favoured by farmers for his easy milking daughters is 511597 Southwind Jacks Quintin, who catalogues with a BW of $86. Not only are his daughters easy milkers, they are also strong in their conformation and have capacity to burn. I am sure this bull will continue to be an important part in many teams. The number of daughters he has sired clearly shows his popularity over previous seasons!

20

Bulletin Autumn 2020

514509 Iwa Snows Rumba ET continues the trend of high production, with an extreme fat BV of 40kg – it is clear Rumba daughters love to produce! With great management and conformation traits, I am sure this bull will continue to be a popular pick!

It’s great to see yet another high calibre group of bulls catalogued, I’m sure these boys will continue to meet your breeding objectives and will continue to drive the genetic gain of the Ayrshire breed across New Zealand.

All the best for the season ahead.

OBITUARIES It is with much sadness that Ayrshire New Zealand records the passing of the following past and present member/s:

Tom Johansen

Tom immediately rang Tom Wallace from Ambreed and asked him to collect 500 straws before September when he needed to use them.

Over the next 10-11 years he was used as much as possible with Ingleside Nathan being used over his daughters. We finished up with a very uniform, capacious, high producing, placid herd.

We enjoyed the company of both Waikato Club members and the Association AGM’s throughout New Zealand.

Contributed by Junne Johansen

Tom passed away on the 7th October with both Ian and myself present.

We had nearly 62 years together and as arranged, he was buried at Gordonton along side our dear neighbors.

Tom really loved the herd, being a really great stockman the cows worked extremely well for us, giving security, entertainment and plenty to do.

Without doubt we struck gold when we purchased Snowline International. I remember when his first six daughters were first milked to when the first herd test results were received.

Russell Simpson - Taranaki

Garth Fairbrother - BUSHLANDS - Wellington

John Hendersen - POLLOK - Waikato

Ayrshire Sires of the Future To ensure the breed maintains its position as a breed of choice for New Zealand dairy farmers, we need to prove the bulls. And to do that, we need you!

The 2020 selection of Young Ayrshires are bred from a wide range of notable proven New Zealand and overseas sires, and consistent cow families. These young bulls represent a vibrant mix of genetics to improve BW, fertility and conformation for the Ayrshire breed.

•

Free registration for all two year olds sired by Semayr Progeny Test bulls

•

Free classification for all your two year olds, if at least 20% are sire by Semayr Progeny Test bulls Obtain the newest Ayrshire genetics and help improve our sires of the future!

All semen may be ordered through Alpha Nominated or you LIC Farm Solutions Manager Semayr Breeding Services catalogue out soon

Semayr Breeding Services is the marketing division of Ayrshire New Zealand

Renae Flett is Reaping the Rewards Renae Flett - Castlehill Ayrshires, written by Pam Goodin Renae Flett is a young woman going places. Industry award success a couple of years ago has seen her gain some significant national publicity, publicity that she has used to feature her new-found love for her Ayrshire cows.

Now in her eleventh season dairy farming and fourth season as a contract milker, 33-year-old Renae has no farming background. Helping a friend with relief milking as a teenager was it all took for Renae to fall in love with the cows and milking, and set her on a path to dairy farming. She started in the industry straight from High School, but initially only lasted a couple of years. She then spent five years working with racehorses, at Farm Source and doing relief milking before fully returning to the industry. Initially working as a 2IC, she completed two years as a farm manager before taking on a contract milking role for brothers Brian and Geoff Hill, Wakefield Ayrshires, Rongotea in the 2016/17 season.

22

Bulletin Autumn 2020

Since coming to the Wakefield herd, Renae has built up a 50-cow herd of her own ranging from R1s to mixed age cows, mostly Ayrshires. These will form the basis of a future sharemilking herd. Renae hadn’t even heard of Ayrshires before taking on this job, now she can’t conceive of her herd without them.

They are extremely hardy and love to work, and she f¬inds that if they are fed well, they will also milk well. Ayrshires love routine (they don’t like it when she’s not on time!) and hold their condition well.

Although Renae hopes that her breed choice won’t affect her sharemilking prospects, she is practical, and the balance of her herd will depend on the job and potentially the farm owner’s breed preference.

Renae’s cows are mostly from the Wakefield herd, but she has also purchased from the Pukekaraka and Southwind dispersals, last year’s Sentinal sale, and from the Fusion Genetics herd of Ron & Amy Baker.

She is particularly looking forward to seeing how the calves of these purchases do over the next few years.

In the current season, the empty rate is now down to 17%. Renae attributes this to increasing the bull power in the team, using six bulls to tail off instead of four, with three bulls in at a time in the now 180 cow herd. She used a lot of CIDRs at the beginning of this season hoping to bring a lot of cows forward and is taking more control of breeding decisions. She intends to take an AI course to be able to complete her own inseminations. Renae used Semex bulls on her own cows, but none of those matings held and those cows are all in calf to natural matings. Next year she intends to use World Wide Sires and Semayr Breeding Services. The Wakefield herd is mated to mostly Semayr bulls including Sanrosa Dalton and sire proving bulls Musica DJ Clef and Brookview Extreme.

The cows are wintered off farm at a nearby block at Himatangi as the farm pugs badly when wet. The young stock are also grazed off farm on a support block adjoining the dairy farm. All AI bull calves are reared to provide an additional income stream, and those bulls are also used to tail off the herd.

With Brian and Geoff Hill also involved in the family contracting business, no supplementary feed is required to be bought in. Grass baleage is grown and wrapped on farm, and Brian also grows maize and a summer crop of turnips.

Renae also took her first foray into the show ring this season at the Manawatu and Stratford Shows. Encouraged by many breeders, Renae credits the support and advice from Ron & Amy Baker as inspirational, commenting that they are great role models and she has been lucky to find people like them to follow and to learn from. Ron & Amy offered her Larkspur Rockstar Cameo the winning senior heifer calf that took out North Island Reserve Junior Champion at Stratford. Renae also had a successful outing at Manawatu with Intermediate Reserve Champion Southwind ShyQueen Q-Beer, purchased from the Southwind Dispersal sale.

Renae has made significant progress at Wakefield. On her arrival the herd had a 40% 6 week in calf rate, a 30% empty rate and the cows produced 52,000 kg milksolids. Brian bought in a few cows from the Peak View herd and from Taranaki to make up numbers, and she milked 175 in her first season. Then it flooded – and kept flooding all year.

The cows were flighty at first (which didn’t surprise her), but six months in they settled down and in that first season she produced an extra 9,000 kg milksolids, the 6 week in calf rate was up to 53% and the empty rate dropped down to 24% despite the flooding. Followed by a couple of better seasons weather-wise, last season the farm produced a record 69,500 kg milksolids (390 kg MS per cow) from 175 cows.

Each season commences with twice a day milking, but when the pressure comes on she will move to a 3 in 2 system (day 1 - morning & night, day 2 – middle of the day). The cows really enjoy that cycle and still perform well under that regime. While the previous sharemilker had milked under a Once a Day regime, when Renae tried this from mid-April in her first season she found that the cows dried off too quickly.

Renae comments that the 14 aside herringbone shed built 30 years ago is very old school – but it works.

There is no automation and she still manually teat sprays, but in the shed as throughout the farm Renae focusses on the getting the basics right. Her only extra help is to employ a relief milker so she can get to shows.

Renae rears around 130 calves each season. She keeps all bulls and rears Hereford crosses to sell as weaners for an additional income stream. With five weeks of AI followed by 6 weeks of natural mating, Renae will keep a few of the latecomer heifers as replacements but has found there is a great market for the Ayrshire/Hereford cross calf. With the demand as high as it is for these crosses, she believes with a bit of effort she could reduce the bobby rate to zero by running all Herefords to tail off the herd.

All the bulls used to tail off are DNA profiled as they test the calves for parentage, this testing also helps in the surplus heifer market when purchasers know they can rely on parentage verification.

Industry awards have been a big focus for Renae, she has made the regional final for sharemilker of the Year again this season and this is currently taking up most of her spare time. Her photo boards full of Ayrshire photos have been a real hit with the judges! In 2013 Renae was third place Dairy Trainee in Manawatu, winning the Knowledge Merit award. In 2016 she won the Manawatu Farm Manager of the Year, with merit awards for livestock management, farm management, power play and financial management.

Ayrshire New Zealand

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She won a leadership merit award at the finals that year. In 2019 she was a regional finalist for Sharemilker of the Year winning merit awards for livestock and leadership. She is back again in 2020 in the hope that she can gain some traction as she seeks a sharemilking position for the 2021/22 season.

A successful farmer, Renae also enjoys success with both writing and photography. With a building public profile, she is now writing a farming blog for Optimate, who value her honesty about farming and particularly love the Ayrshires!

With the growing farmer/consumer gap of huge concern, Renae puts a lot of effort into writing posts and blogs and sharing photos to show that farmers love what they do, and love & care for their cows – showing off the good sorts. She has had several photos featuring Ayrshires used within the dairy industry. Check out her Facebook page for some awesome shots Renae Flett – Agri and Events photographer.

Also becoming more active within Ayrshire New Zealand, Renae took part in last years On Farm Competition, entering two cows in each class. With support from Brian she selected her own entries and was thrilled to win the Ward 6 Veteran Cow class with Wakefield CT Asti. She also intends to enter the Alltech All New Zealand Photo Competition this year for the first time, and until the Covid-19 lockdown was intending to go to the Ayrshire Young Breeders Seminar in Taranaki.

And look out Manarapa Ayrshire Club – Renae is keen to up her involvement in club activities as soon as the industry awards are out of the way!

Late last year Renae classified her two year olds, and as a result Brian also classified the Wakefield heifers for the first time in a number of years. Renae comments that Brian is loving having somebody on the farm with a real interest in the cows, and she in turn has really valued his mentorship.

Renae’s escape from the farm is her nine year old Clydesdale thoroughbred cross Sonic. With both Sonic and Renae coming off injuries, he is just back into full work now. Renae

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Bulletin Autumn 2020

has shown him in hand successfully, and is now concentrating on hunting and jumping.

Renae’s future includes fiancée James Martin, who works as a stock truck driver. From a dairy background, James aims to become an owner driver with his own business. While he does help on farm, Renae will soon be looking for a small 50/50 sharemilking position that she can manage on her own. She feels that about 220 cows is ideal, and the job and people will be more important than the location. Both she and James will be looking for a farm owner who will support them to achieve their own and the farmer’s goals, growing a productive herd.

NZAEL UPDATE Contributed by Brian Wickham - NZAEL New Zealand Animal Evaluation (NZAEL) is undertaking a busy programme of work.

Manager Brian Wickham provides an update on the some of the projects that are underway. NZAEL has 12 objectives as explained in his last column. This column reports on recent progress with three of these DIGAD three & four, State-ofthe-art genetic evaluations, and Genomics and data.

DIGAD Three & Four Complete DIGAD phase three (Breed Society and TOP solution) and four (CRV as certified data provider).

State-Of-The-Art Genetic Evaluations Through an outsource contract, implement state-of-the-art genetic evaluations, for a subset of traits, that meet Interbull test criteria and provide a transparent framework for future improvements including the incorporation of genomic data and extension to the full range of traits.

Genomics and Data Establish a plan in agreement with the NZ cattle breeding industry and funders to enable the NZ cattle industry to realise the full range of benefits arising from genomic technology.

DIGAD Three & Four The project to complete the long planned DIGAD phase three (Breed Society and TOP solution) and four (CRV Ambreed as certified data provider) is now well advanced with in site. The main achievements since September 2019 being: • The Breed Societies, working as one through the New Zealand Holstein Friesian Association, have finalized their specifications, issued a call for tenders, evaluated tenders and are in the final stages of awarding a contract for the development.

• NZAEL is designing and developing a two-way interface between DIGAD and the Breed Societies system. This interface will provide breed societies with the information they require for member services (for example registration status) and the TOP recording service they provide to the New Zealand dairy cattle breeding industry.

• Progress with developing and testing the interface between DIGAD and CRV Ambreed’s system. When implemented, this interface will give CRV Ambreed a direct path to provide event data to DIGAD (replacing the current indirect path via LIC). It will also facilitate the transfer of animal details for herds that change between LIC and CRV Ambreed as their herd records service provider.

Brian Wickham Manager, NZAEL

State-of-the-Art Evaluation A strong industry collaboration has been established with the objective of delivering a national genomic evaluation system to NZ dairy farmers. Over the last six months we have completed the first of two steps toward this goal. This first step, completed in February, involved the implementation of upgraded genetic evaluation software and models. This new evaluation system is is referred to as NZAEL 2.0 to distinguish it from NZAEL 1.0 which has been replaced. The second step, NZAEL 3.0 is planned for implementation in February next year (2021).

Figure one provides a summary of the history and our plans for the next year. It traces the major developments since the introduction of the BW in 1996. Refer to figures two and three for a pictorial of the key features of NZAEL 2.0 and NZAEL 3.0.

The main changes from NZAEL 1.0 to NZAEL 2.0 are: 1. A software change. The NZAEL 1.0 software was developed 13 years ago. Since then, years of research have resulted in more efficient computation systems. The latest version is faster, and what used to take three days now takes less than one day. It is also better at solving the equations which are at the heart of a genetic evaluation system. The older software had on several occasions failed to produce good solutions.

2. Model changes. The model used to explain animal phenotypes has been updated to include inbreeding, to account for heterosis between Holsteins and Friesians and to reduce number of genetic groups. These three changes improve the accuracy of the resulting evaluations.

3. The Reproof Adjustment has been removed. This adjustment is no longer needed as the first two changes detailed above have reduced the bias in the evaluations of older bulls.

4. The Parent Average Adjustment. This has been updated. The parent average adjustment applies to production traits for young bulls used in artificial insemination before they have a crop of daughters with herd test data. Highly selected young bulls have inflated parent average EBVs. The adjustment factors have been re-estimated and the new factors applied.

Continued overleaf...

Ayrshire New Zealand

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NZAEL Update Continued...

Figure one - history of genetic evaluations for NZ dairy cattle

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Bulletin Autumn 2020

Figure two - elements of NZAEL 2.0

Genomics and Data NZAEL 3.0 is the second of two steps to implement independent national evaluations. While LIC and CRV Ambreed each have systems for computing genomic evaluations the goal of NZAEL 3.0 (as can be seen in figure three) is to incorporate genomic data from all sources into a national evaluation. If this can be achieved then everybody benefits â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the breeding companies have access to more accurate evaluations than they can achieve on their own, and farmers have access to more accurate evaluations for making their breeding decisions. Our focus is now on establishing the basis for achieving this highly desirable goal.

Figure three - elements of NZAEL 3.0

1.

2.

Update of the residual survival calculation. Residual survival breeding values are incorporated into the BW. These EBVs are calculated as the longevity breeding value less the amount of longevity explained by each of the other traits in the BW. The factors used in the calculation have been updated.

Updated economic weights. The economic values used to generate breeding worth have been updated.

Following the implementation of these changes, New Zealand is now back to being a full participant in the Interbull evaluations having passed all relevant tests. However, the next official Interbull evaluations will not be available until April.

From April, bulls with mostly overseas evaluations have their New Zealand results updated to incorporate international infomation.

Figure four shows the genetic trend for BW based on NZAEL 2.0 for the main breed groups. These trend graphs are available on the NZAEL website for all other traits and I recommend you have a look at them to see just how much progress has been made for a wide range of traits.

Figure four â&#x20AC;&#x201C; genetic trend in BW

I welcome any feedback and suggestions for how NZAEL can facilitate greater rates of genetic improvement of New Zealand cattle.

Brian Wickham NZAEL Manager Email: brian.wickham@dairynz.co.nz

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Youth Members Take Part In Calf Club 2019 For all entrants, results, and photos visit: www.calfclubnz.co.nz CALF CLUB NZ BRINGING THE DAIRY INDUSTRY CLOSER TOGETHER ABOUT CALF CLUB NZ: Calf Club NZ 2019, New Zealand’s largest online Calf Club.

Calf Club NZ have established a fantastic format that allows our youth to share their triumphs and compete with a broader range of contestants. Contestants submit a photo of their calf (with or without themselves in the photo) and supply a 100-word story about their experiences with their calf.

These are then put into our Calf Club NZ website where we allow contestants to vote for the social winners and our pre-selection judges nominate their top tens. The finalized Top Tens for each region are then calculated and visited by our official Calf Club NZ Judges who work along side our contestants to visit and undertake all of the traditional judging. Following completion each regions judge then decides our top 10 winners from each region, age and category.

Alyssa Bishop - Kio Valley Angels Wings Regional - Leading & Rearing - 1st Place HER STORY: This is Wings. The reason I chose her amongst the others is because her personality just stuns me also her unique markings. She was born on the 10th of August. Her dam is Kio Valley SI Keely’s Angel and her sire is PaHill Mike Jessrock. The day we brought her in was amazing because her mother was my calf. Drafting out the others, I realised she hadn’t had a proper drink I put her with mum I then found the instant bond between us. As she followed me around straight away. She was really easy to train compared to others.

Guy Perrett - Rainbow Star Regional - Dairy Type - 3rd Place HIS STORY: My name is Guy, I have an Ayrshire calf, she is red and white. Her name is Rainbow Star, she was born on the 26th of July. I like a green halter. I like to brush her, she is number 7. Rainbow Star likes hay, silage and likes to drink milk. I picked Rainbow Star because she always came to me. My calf likes to eat Optiguard. My calf likes to drink water. I like to scratch her, she licks my hand. I am going to take her to pet day at school in October.

Kelsey Perrett - Lilly Regional - Dairy Type - 1st Place Regional - Leading & Rearing - 3rd Place HER STORY: My Calf Lilly is out of my calf Ruby that I had 2 years ago. My calf’s number is 1, she is the oldest girl. Lilly is 7 weeks old, she was born on the 22nd of July. I liked the name Lilly. My calf likes hay, silage, water, optiguard and especially milk. Lilly is an Ayrshire. My lead is pink. I brush Lilly at the farm. Lilly is friendly and is used to the halter, she licks my hand as I scratch her. I will take her to petday at school.

She likes to run with the other calves.

Calf Club NZ 2019 was Proudly Sponsored by:

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Bulletin Autumn 2020

YOUTH COLOURING COMPETITION

YOUTH PROFILE

In the Spring 2019 - #172 issue we asked you to send in your colored creations. The winner is:

Share your love for Farming, Ayrshires and Agriculture.

In each Bulletin we encourage family members, children and youth members to submit a short story about themselves, to feature in the Youth Profile.

If you would like to submit your story for the next Bulletin, email info@ayrshire.org.nz

2019/20 SHOW SEASON Arran Trophy

Ayrshire Young Judge Competition:

Amber Megaw - 7 Years old from FERN VIEW Ayrshires

Imogen Steiner

YOUTH DATABASE Make sure you get copies of our Youth newsletter and any youth related e-mails by signing up for our Youth Database. This is open to any youth interested in Ayrshires (non-members included) and can be done online from the website or by contacting Pam at the office.

Greenlane Trophy

North Island Junior Young Handler Competition: Zara Williams

YOUTH ACTIVITY REVAMP Youth Committee Convenor Audrey Stevenson is still working on the revamp we announced in the Autumn Bulletin. Got a great idea? Contact any of the Committee members: Audrey Stevenson glenkylie@gmail.com - 027 201 0488 Vince Steiner brookviewgenetics@gmail.com - 027 482 2879 David Ackermann davo.ackermann@gmail.com - 027 372 1915 Pam Goodin pgoodin@ayrshire.org.nz - 07 856 0816

Fredrickson Trophy

North Island Senior Young Handler Competition: Zoe Botha

Neko McDonald clearview.ayrshires@hotmail.com - 027 244 2404

www.ayrshire.org.nz or follow Ayrshire New Zealand on Facebook!

Ayrshire New Zealand

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Introducing

E S T. 1 9 3 8 â&#x20AC;˘ I N G L E W O O D, TA R A N A KI

Highest Ayrshire BW Highest Ayrshire BW Herd in Taranaki Herd in Taranaki (Ward(Ward 5) in 5) 2012-13, in 2012-13, 2016-17, 2017-18.

2016-17, 2017-18.

Lowest Ayrshire Lowest Ayrshire Somatic Cell Count in Somatic Cell Count Taranaki (Ward in Taranaki (Ward5) 5) in 2014-15, in 2014-15, 2017-18.

2017-18.

Breeding for capacity,

Breeding for capacity, fertility & udders. Bull fertility & udders. inherd herdare are NZ Bullused used in Bred Sires NZ Bred Sires.

Kenmure Ayrshires - Proudly bred and owned

by Daphne, Hamish, Alistair & Robyn Gordon

Contact Daphne Gordon

027 653 6744

kenmure4@xtra.co.nz

The pre-existing herd signs are awesome and we thought since you guys loved them so much, it's time to bring them back with a fresh design.

MADE FROM A DURABLE 3PC ALUMINIUM CORE

Single Sided: $178 Double Sided: $210 1 x 594mm

ze is: 84

ale. Actual si

t to sc Example no

excl GST

We're excited to offer these signs again and look forward to seeing them on your gates.

Contact info@ayrshire.org.nz to order.

DATE: 20/03/2020

516504 A2A2

Iwa Iso Castlebar ET Fat Milk Liveweight Fertility Udder Overall Dairy Conformation BW

32.8 / 74% 1010 / 77% 29.1 / 83% -2.0 / 49% -0.13 / 77 0.16 / 71 92 / 70

Semayr Breeding Services catalogue out soon Semayr Breeding Services is the marketing division of Ayrshire New Zealand

To place your semen order contact LIC.

0800 651 156

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Getting told farmers love our herd testing service really makes my job worthwhileâ&#x20AC;?

Herd Test Technician

Shay Ward

At CRV Ambreed we pride ourselves on providing a personal service to all our clients. We provide accurate milk quality results based on real milk volumes measured on farm. Having the same Herd Tester at each test not only makes the task easier, it makes it a better experience.

Find out more from your CRV Ambreed Field Consultant or online at CRV4all.co.nz

BETTER COWS | BETTER LIFE

LODORE Established 1960

Herd BW 14/51 PW 54/72 as at 03/03/2020

Feeding calves extra during drought.

It has been a challenging summer this year due to the severe drought Northland has experienced.

Sorry to say we will not be holding our Annual Sale this year. Thank you to all those breeders who supported the sale over the years.

We may have limited lines for sale.

Visitors and enquiries always welcome MALCOLM Hutchings phone: 09 401 9676 email: okaihauhutchings@gmail.com

ROGER and JANE Hutchings phone: 09 401 9678 email: lodorefarm@gmail.com

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Gary Peters and Nicky Hine - Stratford A&P Judge Ross Morton - Stratford A&P Vince Steiner - Stratford A&P Zoe Botha - Stratford A&P Directors Peter Allison, Gordon Glentworth, Donald Green and Graeme Leech - Musica Ayrshires herd walk Sue Macky presenting - Ayrshire Field Day Just some of the turnout - Ayrshire Field Day Championship sashes - Stratford A&P Geoff Chapman & Tony Ackermann - Musica Ayrshires herd walk

Do you have a good somatic cell count and at least 25 registered Ayrshire cows?

Then enter the Dairycare Somatic Cell Count Competition prizes in all wards, plus an overall prize Entries e-mailed/ posted and available on the website, closing date 1 May 2019

Awards presented at Annual Conference

14 10. Roger Hancock, Vince Steiner, Brian Hutchings & Tony Ackermann - Ayrshire Field Day 11. Tim Green - Ayrshire Field Day 12. Donald & Anne Green 13. Honorary Life Member & past President Malcolm Hutchings recently married a life long friend and neighbour of the family Shennett Clotworthy 14. Directors Roger Hutchings, Graeme Emslie and Roger Hancock - Canterbury Board meeting

Progeny Competition 2020 ON FARM PRODUCTION & TYPE PROGENY COMPETITION

Put your team up against the best.

Compete for the Agri-Feeds Don Hutchings Memorial and Dalemere Farms Trophies and Cash Prizes Entry Forms available online

Email or Post to info@ayrshire.org.nz

Closing date 1 May 2020

“Riding Momentum to the top of the Ayrshire Breeding Scene” Peppernajump placed 3rd in The Next Generation Show 2019 (2yr old)

Peppernajump was purchased at the 2017 Waikato Next Generation Sale with Karl Munden (Australia). This modern milky daughter of Nexus Dreamer impressed me, so I bought her for Waipiri with Zane Kite and Karl Munden as partners.

I always enjoyed the “Cow sense” breeding philipsophy at Kiteroa and this Cow family is the pinnacle of that breeding programme.

Other maternal sisters by Jumper: • Sanrosa Dale • Burdette • Ingledale Lordship

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Looking to increase the Ayrshire percentage at Waipiri, watch for further exciting developments.

Bulletin Autumn 2020 waipiri@gmail.com

Waipiri Holsteins

Kiteroa Bo Pepernadira ET

ROGER’S RAMBLINGS Roger Hutchings - LODORE In the last Bulletin I wrote about our High PW cows and how they are our most profitable cows. I also commented on how our high PW / production cows produce superior offspring, and what our breeding policy is to try and maximise this.

In our herd of 700 cows, this gives us 50 cows we can select to cull. So, I pull up a list on Minda to identify our lowest PW cows. Then I go through this list and pick which ones to cull. Firstly, I look at calving dates within this list. Later calving low PW cows will be your lowest producing group. Then I look carefully at the lowest PW group of these cows. I do look at their individual production too. There sometimes are some reasonable producers amongst these cows so there is no point culling them. Once I have made up my list then I send the late calving ones to the works.

The early calving, which will be in-calf to beef, I sell as Nurse Cows. These will fetch a premium over the culls.

This time I would like to discuss, in more detail, what we do around culling. But, firstly, let’s talk about Herd Testing.

We Herd Test every year, as most of us do, to gain valuable information on our cows. It is great to identify our high producing cows. However, I believe, the best value we get from Herd Testing is identifying the low PW / producing cows.

It is often said that if we concentrated on the bottom third of the herd the other will look after themselves. What is meant by this? These are the animals that are holding us all back.

We have all got poorer producers in our herds. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could cull all these cows. Imagine the impact this would have on the per cow production and overall profitability.

By dropping off the bottom 50 cows each year gives us the chance to lift overall herd performance. I would love to cull more, however, we need to balance this with the need to maintain cow numbers.

Although I can’t cull all the low performing cows I would like, I’m not keeping replacements from them.

We need to use this information to make breeding and culling decisions. As I wrote last time, at Lodore, we mate these low performing cows to beef straws so we are not tempted to keep replacements from them.

So, back to culling. What is our approach to culling at Lodore? Generally, we have an empty rate of around 10% each year. Then we also have a number of, what I call, involuntary culls. For example: Old age, lameness, reoccurring mastitis, udder issues etc. These may account for around 5%.

With an annual replacement rate of around 22% this leaves us the opportunity to cull around 7% on performance.

THREE GENERATION PEDIGREES

It is all about lifting the performance and profitability of our herd. Breeding will get you so far but one of the most important factors regarding profitability if the ability to feed these cows.

Like I’ve said before, I am happy to continue this discussion if anyone has any comments to add.

My email address is lodorefarm@gmail.com

• Usually available same day • Can be sent directly to publishers, agents, or interested buyers • Great value for money @ $6.53+GST

Are you selling animals, looking to market bulls, chasing genealogies?

Make sure you get your Three Generation Pedigrees from the Ayrshire Office.

All we need to know is that the person ordering 3GPs are the owners - if you are not the owner then the animal needs to be registered.

Contact Robyn to order today: (07) 856 0816 / info@ayrshire.org.nz

Genetic Gain Of The Ayrshire Popultion Ayrshire New Zealand

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“TRIP TO ASTRAYA” World Ayrshire Conference 2019

Contributed by Karen Feek - Harvest Ayrshires I was lucky enough to attend back in January, this was hosted

by Australian Ayrshire Ltd. They made it into three parts A, B & C to try and accommodate the maximum number of people attending. The majority of the time there were 96 people, but in some parts it was up to 120. I attended Part A from the 12th - 24th of January.

Most people had been travelling all day flying into Adelaide before being shuttled out to the “Stamford Grand Hotel” Glenelg. This became home for the next three nights and the start of the conference with registration & welcome dinner taking place.

Day 1 - Today started with 96 Ayrshire enthusiasts hopping onto three different buses setting out on a short tour of Adelaide which has a population of 1.2 million. Stopping at the top of Montefiore Hill we looked at the statue of Colonel William Light who was the Surveyor-General of the colony of South Australia. Then we headed southeast out of the city to Mount Lofty Summit, at the top we looked back over Adelaide. Following this we had lunch and a few free hours in a small town called Hahndorf. Back on the buses with the next stop afternoon tea and wine tasting at The Winehouse, Langhorne Creek. Departure from here ended up having buses going in all different directions seeing different views of South Australia before going back to Glenelg, my bus went via Wellington and Jervois.

bringing us to the second herd visit of the tour, Boldview Farms Cher-Bar Ayrshires of Scott Braendler and Cheryl Liebich plus families. This enterprise consists of Boldview, Cher-Bar, plus another 20+ Ayrshire studs owned by various hobby farmers and family members, also three Jersey studs. I did notice with this herd there was a variety of types of animal, but you get that with different breeders having a different eye for the beloved cow. Upon arrival we went to the cowshed where they have a stunning showroom set up with all the trophies and ribbons Boldview and Cher-Bar have won over the years. This room was really amazing, showing their achievements and was quite full, well done great work everyone.

After viewing the herd we went back to the house for some refreshments and as we were departing back into the buses we were given a personalised keepsake, a Boldview Farms travel coffee cup. After checking in and freshening up we had dinner and a night of trivia out with the South Australia Ayrshire branch members.

Day 2 - Departing from Glenelg we went to Urimbirra Wildlife Park where we got to feed the kangaroos followed by fish and chips in Victor Harbour. First farm visit of the conference was at Greg & Tracey Edmonds, Geelunga Ayrshires. We definitely started with a bang, beautifully presented animals, clear and easy to read stickers on the cows rumps so when looking through paper work we knew who to look up, very helpful.

After looking through the herd with a cool beverage or two in hand, there was a fantastic set up at the house with nibbles, drinks, chairs, marquees all the trimmings. It was great, a big thank you to all the team at Geelunga for the work you put into making the day such a success.

Day 4 - Started the day with a quick stop to view the Blue Lake, what Mt Gambier is known for. We travelled into the district of Grant stopping at the Little Blue Lake, this was formed from a sinkhole.

Kindly enough Donovans Dairying which is a Holstein farm let us visit them, one of many little detours we took. They milk 2400 cows, split calving and were busy teat sealing on their 120 bail rotary while we visited. Leaving South Australia we entered into Victoria State. Between Nelson and Portland we passed a pine forest which had recently been burnt in the bushfires, this was the only signs of fire we saw the whole time I was over there. Lunch in Portland before making our way to Warnambool. We visited the Flagstaff Lighthouse & Museum and enjoyed a BBQ and a night outside watching the laser light show to finish the day off. It was just a shame it was so cold this night.

Day 3 - Early departure for a long day sitting in the bus, stopping in Coonalpyn to view a painted silo. Picnic lunch on-route at Padthaway then headed towards Mount Gambier

Day 5 - Merri Marina Sanctuary in Warrnobool was a windy little stop before making our way to Cheeseworld to visit their dairy display with cheese

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Bulletin Autumn 2020

tasting, history museum tour and lunch. We then travelled along part of the stunning Great Ocean Road to view the Twelve Apostles, Port Campbell National Park followed by a lovely meal and re-enactment display at the famous Sovereign Hill Historic Gold Village.

Karen snaps a picture with one of the Locals.

Day 6 - We travelled from Ballarat into Melbourne and picked up some Part B travellers who joined the conference. However my bus was a bit late arriving because we got stuck down a one way road, having to find car owners and asking them to move so our bus could fit through. Then we headed out to Munden Farms owned and operated by Adrian, Gale, Tony, Karl & Michael Munden.

We arrived a bit ahead of schedule having missed lunch, taking the buses down the road and through the paddocks to find where they had four mobs of stock separated and on the flats for us to walk through. Milkers, dry cows, incalf heifers and their elite herd which consists of the top production cows from the main herd. Munden show team are selected from this group of cows that produce higher than average. They milk 600 cows, split calving with a mixed herd of Ayrshire, Holsteins, Jersey and Crossbred cows on 1000 Acres running 1200 head of stock. A short drive brought us to a lovely afternoon tea which we were all ready for, the tent was swamped with no leftover food for even the flies to have.

With full tummies we viewed a small number of Ayrshires drafted out at Araluen Parks & Bluegum Park which are run as two separate family farms, both farms having predominately Jerseys alongside their Ayrshire cattle. One farm has 650 milkers, the smaller farm milks 350. After a few hours we returned to Melbourne.

Day 7 - Full day at leisure to enjoy the city of Melbourne. A small bunch of us went to the Queen Victoria Market before walking around the Fitzroy gardens and ending up along the waterfront for a refreshing drink, concluding the day with dinner along the waterfront with some different faces joining us.

of Ayrshire, Jerseys & Holsteins all well put together cows. This showed just how lucky New Zealand farmers are. Yes, we have our challenges but even drinking water for their stock is a challenge on this farm, everything is just so dry. They don’t irrigate as there is just no water to do so. They had only had rain twice in two years, one of which was only a few days prior to our visit. Their stock looked fantastic and it’s a real credit to all the Macadams family how they looked, especially with what they have to face day to day. Then we returned to IDW for Jersey judging. The second bus travelled to Echuca to tour the local town including a visit to the historic wharf precinct on the River Murray. World Federation Meeting continued on from Monday afternoon (day 8) with country delegates, after the meeting concluded the third bus returning to IDW also. After a quick trip back to the hotel to freshen up we all returned to IDW for the official conference dinner and Silent Embryo sale.

Highest price sold was lot 13 selling at AUD $975 per embryo, with Steiners embryos selling as the second highest price sold.

Day 11 - Most travelled back to IDW to watch the Holstein judging followed by the All Breeds show.

For those choosing not to, they could have a day of leisure in Shepparton if they were a bit cowed out, I went back to IDW myself.

Day 12 - Yesterday we came to the end of part “A” with some people travelling home. 13 of us headed back to the airport rather early only to spend a long day waiting at the airport for our late flights home.

Part B & C have continued onto the Australian capital city of Canberra and will carry on for 6 more days towards Sydney.

I would like to say thank you to Ayrshire New Zealand, Thames Valley and BOP clubs for helping me get over to join the World Conference. I thoroughly enjoyed my trip away. It was neat to see 12 kiwis make the trip over the ditch. I hope you all enjoyed your time as much as I did. A thank you must go to Australian Ayrshire Ltd and to all the people involved in making this conference such a success.

It was fantastic to meet so many like minded people from all parts of the world. I look forward to the next one.

Day 8 - Travelling out of Melbourne we headed to Shepparton for the next four days. After a lite lunch the conference session started with country presentations and guest speakers. Due to time getting away on us the World Federation Meeting got postponed and after a short break and freshen up we went into happy hour and welcome reception hosted by the City of Greater Shepparton.

Day 9 - Off to Tatura for International Dairy Week for the Ayrshire judging day. The number of animals exhibited with the quality of stock there was just outstanding. Following on with the live Ayrshire sale averaging AUD $4437 and a BBQ meal concluding the evening sponsored by Ayrshire Australia – Victoria Branch.

Day 10 - Three different directions today, the bus that I was on visited Arila & Sammac Ayrshires of the Macadam family.

This farm was definitely an eye opener for me with a mixture

Feeding the Roo’s. (Lucky it wasn’t Skippy)

Ayrshire New Zealand

39

Traits Other than Production Review 2019 2018 TOP & Classification

Top Sires of Excellents 2019

Breed

2yr

Older

Total

Herds

Ayrshire

1,916

999

2,915

53

Milking Shorthorn

371

107

478

13

TOTAL

2,287

1,106

3,393

66

Classifications Over Time Breed

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

Ayrshire

2,613

2,749

3,128

3,672

2,915

Milking Shorthorn

190

470

300

533

478

TOTAL

2,803

3,219

3,428

4,205

3,393

Excellent Cows 2019 AOTEAROA G Leech Aotearoa Regals Lindauer

E8-8

Goldwyn Vice Regal ET

BALMAINE Waitower Farms Ltd – B & R Stachurski Balmaine Bendig Neymar

E8-8

Palmyra Jerry Bendig

BONACORD Bonacord Farms Ltd – P & A, K & A Allison Bonacord 13-94 S1A Bonacord 14-51 S3A

E8-8 E8-8

Pa Hill SPB Nathan Valendale Dude ET

BROOKVIEW Brookview Genetics – V K & S L Steiner Brookview Beer Secrecy Brookview Freeby Chrissie Brookview Lot Secret Jam Brookview Love Rock Brookview Marcs Sarsha Brookview Secret On Par ET Brookview Snow Bar Brookview Sparks Irish Cumbrae 14-16 Brookview Lots Honda Brookview Marcs Secret Brookview Spitz Flame Brookview Spitz Saskia Brookview ST Alicea Brookview ST Jube

E8-8 E8-8 E8-8 E8-8 E8-9 E8-8 E8-8 E8-8 E8-8 E8-8 E8-8 E8-8 E8-9 E8-8 E8-8

Terrace Bank Free Beer ET Terrace Bank Free Beer ET Plum-Bottom Trident’s Lot Kamouraska Rockstar Shady Walnut Marc Anthony Woodland View Pardner ET Family-Af-AYR-Distinction Rosemoor Spark ET Kamouraska Rockstar Plum-Bottom Trident’s Lot Shady Walnut Marc Anthony Brookview Spitfire Brookview Spitfire Brookview Statesman Brookview Statesman

E8-8 E8-8

Forever Schoon Predator Carmelglen T L Tan

GLENKYLIE Trinity Farm Holdings Ltd – C Stevenson Glenkylie 13-57 S1A

40

Number

Salt Spray Bonny George

7

Plum-Bottom Trident’s Lot

4

Asmo Tosikko ET

3

Family-Af-AYR-Distinction

3

Palmyra Tri Star Burdette ET

3

Kamouraska Rockstar

3

Inglecorner Milky King

2

Top Sires of Excellents Over Time Name

Number

Inglecorner Milky Boy

77

Kiteroa Bo Pepperoni

72

Kingsway Casanova

66

Lochside Amos

60

Lakeside High Chieftain

58

GLENALLA Glenalla Farm Ltd – P & A Gilbert Glenalla PTB Katie ET Pukekaraka Elle Delila Pukekaraka Elle Poptart

E8-8 E9-8 E8-8

Palmyra Tri Star Burdette ET Haresfoot Elegant Haresfoot Elegant

GLENMORE Glenmore Farm – D & A, C & T Green Glenmore 12-239

E8-8

Wroughton Lord Winston

GLENMORE Brookton Farm – D & A, C & T Green Glenmore 14-145 S3A

E9-9

Palmyra Tri Star Burdette ET

GOLDWYN Goldwyn Enterprises Ltd – B & L Hayward Goldwyn Burdettes Kylie Goldwyn Cream Empress Goldwyn GP Katrina Goldwyn Lots Eve Goldwyn Milky Kendra Kiteroa Kalamine Sanrosa Della 14-128

E8-8 E8-8 E8-8 E8-9 E8-8 E8-8 E8-8

Palmyra Tri Star Burdette ET Kiteroa Cream Alfie ET Goldwyn Pretender Et Plum-Bottom Trident’s Lot Inglecorner Milky Boy Kiteroa Cream Prince ET Salt Spray Bonny George

E8-8

Waerenga Blaze Astute

HOLLIPORK M Terpstra Waerenga 14-46

INGLECORNER CNRAYR Ltd – M T Livingstone

CARMELGLEN A R Thomson Carmelglen Keily Carmelglen Karyla

Name

E8-8

Bulletin Autumn 2020

Lodore Jarrod ET

Inglecorner Spir Bellett Roselee Trident Bon Bon

E8-8 E8-8

Kiteroa Bonny Gayespirit Ferdon Lady’s Trident

KAURI AYRSHIRES B & C Hutchings Kauri 13-53 S1A Kauri Abbee Sikko Kauri T Kasio ET

E8-8 E8-8 E8-8

Lodore Tropical Asmo Tosikko ET Asmo Tosikko ET

SANROSA G & J Glentworth

KITEROA W & Z Kite Kiteroa Ebz Kiteroa Kanuka ET Kiteroa Bonny Babe S2A Kiteroa Bonny Greatstar Kiteroa Golden Jellybrie Kiteroa Rae Valendale Pepsie

E8-8 E8-8 E8-8 E8-9 E8-8 E8-8 E8-9

Salt Spray Bonny George Sanrosa Royal Phillip Kiteroa Kingdoom ET Kiteroa Bonny Milkstar ET Kiteroa Bo Pepperbrody Salt Spray Bonny George Salt Spray Bonny George

LAKESIDE Lakeside Ayrshires – A & C Legg Lakeside Great Dessa Lakeside 14-4 Lakeside 14-88 Lakeside 14-94

E8-8 E8-8 E8-9 E8-8

Kiteroa Bonny Great Gov Lakeside Lord Star Rosehill Real McCoy ET Lakeside Tri Mate

E8-8

Sanrosa Sebastian ET

PREMIER Premier Cattle Co Ltd - D & C Hayward Premier Bendig Sheba Premier Dream B Quiz S3A Premier Dream Frost Premier McCoy Burleigh Premier Tri Paula ET S1A

E9-9 E8-8 E8-9 E8-9 E8-8

Palmyra Jerry Bendig Nexus Dreamer Nexus Dreamer Rosehill Real McCoy ET Ardrossan EV Kates Trident

RANGEVIEW Rangeview Farming Ltd – G & T Emslie Ascog 14-4 Rangeview Freds Lesson Rangeview Geo Elsa Rangeview Orge Kandy Rangeview Andrei Chime Rangeview Freds Teacher

E8-8 E8-8 E9-8 E8-8 E8-8 E8-8

Kamouraska Rockstar Sentinal Hot Freddie Salt Spray Bonny George Salt Spray Bonny George Asmo Andrei Sentinal Hot Freddie

ROSEMOOR R & D Hancock Rosemoor Crown Miss ET Ardenvale Milk Belinda ET Rosemoor Eds Michigan Rosemoor Rics Sabrina Rosemoor Zed Special ET

E8-8 E8-8 E8-8 E8-9 E8-8

Ardmore Crown Napier Inglecorner Milky King Pa Hill Casanova Edwin Rosemoor Ricochet Rosevale GS Zacky

E8-8 E8-8 E8-8 E8-8

Inglecorner Milky King Ojaniityn Rumba Ojaniityn Rumba Carmelglen Typhoon

SENTINAL Sentinal Farms – D & K Perrett Bowenlea Law S3A Fairleigh W Peach Sentinal Snowie Sentinal Zoes Kate

E8-8 E8-8 E8-8 E8-8

Bowenlea Jude Law Wroughton Lord Winston Fairleigh Bonny Favour Waerenga Blaze Astute

SNOWLINE Brimar Trust – B & M McDonald Martz Renata

PA HILL G Travers Kauri SS Molly

Pampas Milky Vanyelle S1A Sanrosa Mary 13-100 Sanrosa Harts 13-211 Sanrosa Royal 13-18

E8-8

Martz Phantom

E8-8 E8-9 E8-9 E8-8 E8-8 E8-8 E8-8 E8-8 E8-8 E8-8 E8-8

Salt Spray Bonny George Lessard Imperial Rosehill Blackthorn Family-Af-AYR-Distinction Faucher Homerun Stenvale Stars Boy Shardville Silver Legacy Plum-Bottom Trident’s Lot Ardmore Crown Napier Family-AF-AYR RD Barrel ET Shardville Silver Legacy

E8-8 E8-8 E8-8 E8-8

Asmo Tosikko ET Larnoch Elijah ET Family AF AYR Double Whammy Hautpre Kansas

E8-8

Family-Af-AYR-Distinction

SHARDVILLE P & H Baxter Broadlea SBG Emerald Brookview Less Isodore Shardville Black Star S3A Shardville Dist Patch Shardville FH Betsy S2A Stenvale SB Dana Stenvale SL Lustre Stenvale Sweet Sheri ET Shardville Crown Star S3A Shardville DB Suzy S3A Stenvale SL Layla

THORNTON PARK M & S Booth Thornton Park Urika S2A Thornton Park 14-58 Thornton Park 14-86 Waitui 12-42 S3A

WENTWORTH C Walmsley Ltd Wentworth Dusty Belle

WILLMOR Willmor Pastures Ltd – M & L Williams Willmor 14-113 S3A

The Ayrshire New Zealand

TEA TOWEL

E8-8

Glenmore Tos Star Boy

NOTE: Design is an indication of the idea. The Finished design will be much cooler than this.

We are designing an Ayrshire New Zealand tea towel with our members STUD names.

Want your stud name on the Ayrshire Tea Towel?

Have it printed in 3 sizes: • Small - $10 • Medium - $20 • Large - $30 Once design and production is complete, tea towels will be available for purchase by members.

Contact Kandin now to get your herd included. info@ayrshire.org.nz

Ayrshire New Zealand

41

by Sue Macky, B V Sc, Dairy Production Services Cow comfort is an all encompassing concept involving all aspects of the cows environment that affects how she perceives and responds to that environment. In essence, it is about what makes your cow happy. Happy cows make more milk, have better feed conversion efficiency, better health and immunity and better reproduction.

Cow comfort concerns the social and physical environment of the cow, feed composition and quantity, cow management, rumen health, cow to cow and cow to people interactions (stockmanship), facility design and appropriateness etc.

Everything that affects her world, and her response to it.

Why is cow comfort important? Not only is it about happy cows but it is also about happy farmers. Cow comfort is a major component of the difference in performance between cows within the same herd, and between herds that otherwise appear the same eg same breed, genetics, feed etc. Various studies worldwide in very different systems, show that up to 30% of the difference in production between cows within herd and between herds is due to things that affect ‘cow comfort’. This means that herds and cows with proper cow comfort produce a lot more from the same feed than those without proper cow comfort. It has major effects on profitability via effects on feed efficiency, but also on disease and reproductive performance. Poor cow comfort does not always mean poor production, but it does mean it costs a lot more to get it. Cows are remarkably tolerant of inadequacies in their environment and will adapt to a whole range of not ideal things, but the cow always wins. If she doesn’t like it, or is not happy, her response will hit your pocket – you get less milk per kilogram of dry matter fed. This may be from the whole herd or just some cows in the herd. There is more profit leeching disease and/or depressed reproduction.

It is easy to assume that because cows are outside and grazing, that there aren’t as many problems as there could be with housed cows. This is not true. There are plenty of problems in the paddock, both man made and cow dependent, and usually as a result of farmer ignorance.

Conversely well designed barns can improve cow comfort, over cows being outside, especially with increased lying time and shelter (both heat and cold).

At the most basic level, cows are prey animals; somebodies’ dinner, so their responses are hardwired for survival from predators. This conditions how they respond to people, and how we should approach them. If they perceive you as a threat, eg fast sudden movements, approaching from in front and below, or from their blind spot behind, their instinct is to flee, ideally back into the mob or in a panicked zig zag, usually away from where you want them to go. To move or draft cows, waddle slowly like a duck and hiss like a snake, be nonthreatening. If cows are not handled gently and appropriately at all times, they are less likely to trust people, a behavior that begins at birth. Walking into a mob of cows for the first time is always a revelation. Cows are curious and social – if they trust the people around them, they approach quickly. If they do not, or worse, move away, I know that that herd will never be as healthy, productive or profitable as it should be. People to cow experiences, bad and good, are learnt and remembered from the beginning, so it pays to have a great calf rearer! Lack of trust increases stress and anxiety, decreases immunity and

42

Bulletin Autumn 2020

Sue Macky - B V Sc, Dairy Production Services

Cow Comfort

feed efficiency. Similarly, do not rear young calves on their own!

As prey animals, especially ones that have little lung tissue (only about 25% of that of people per 100kgs liveweight) to draw in unlimited amount of oxygen for fast running, they go for safety in numbers, ie mob up to present a more united front from which it is very difficult for a predator to select an individual target. Their large hearts (bigger than racehorses) give them significant endurance to see off a threat as a group. They need large fit hearts to pump huge amounts of blood through the udder for milk production.

Mobbing behavior is never normal. It indicates stress or threat, which may be as simple as being hungry, but includes such things as heat stress, lack of water, strange sounds and smells, an actual predator, flies, inability to lie down, cold (usually involving rain or extreme wind chill etc) people they don’t trust etc.

It indicates lack of comfort with their environment. Is there something you can fix?

Social structure, hierarchy and discipline in the herd is critical to the long term survival of the group as a whole. This is dependent on all animals in the group knowing their place in relation to all the others. They must recognize their herd mates, and this determines maximum mob size for optimum performance. Cows have some close friends, usually animals of the same age that they were reared with.

This number varies from as few as 4 or 5 to 40 or 50.

They have acquaintances with whom they are happy to associate (180 – 200) and there are others they recognize as belonging to their mob. By knowing who belongs, they know where they belong in the social standing. This conveys security and reduces anxiety, apprehension and competition.

Once the mob gets to big, cows don’t recognize everybody else, and don’t know where they stand in relation to each other. The herd becomes less relaxed, there is much less eye contact and often less total cow to cow interaction because they don’t know how it will be perceived. Feed conversion goes down, cow flow in the dairy is worse etc etc, productivity is constrained. Cows recognize or know about 400 other cows – when herd size is bigger than this, problems occur. Production per kg DM and kg lwt declines. 6 week in calf rate falls, disease incidence goes up. The extent of the change is dependent on management skill and stockmanship.

The ideal herd size is probably somewhere between 150 and 250 cows, impractical in many situations, but keeping individual mobs at 400 or less pays. It also

pays to shift cows between mobs as infrequently as possible, regardless if whether it seems logical to us. After AB for example, always put cows back in the herd they came from.

Don’t keep switching cows between mobs!

Social hierarchy within the herd is strictly enforced, usually by eye contact or head positioning if visual recognition is not enough. Physical fighting occurs when younger lower order animals decide to move up the totem pole, when strangers turn up, when there is competition for space or feed, or for punishment etc. Cows that don’t belong are kept to the ‘outside’ of the group, frequently around the edges of the paddock. This includes new comers and animals that would attract predators eg the sick or lame who will be pushed out as the sacrificial lambs.

All cow management, feeding, including at milking time and with respect to water or shade must take account of social behavior. The most dominant cows are usually in the safest place ie in the middle of the mob. They are not usually the leader, although the leader cows are usually well up the totem pole and may well be intending to become the boss when they get the opportunity. Similarly, some cows will always be at the bottom, regardless of size or age, always having to wait to drink, or having the wettest ground to lie on etc. Cows that forget their place and push in (or get pushed against or in front of a more dominant cow) can expect retribution. Cows are bullies and have long memories.

By nature, cows do not really like being up against each other – very close proximity is a response to a threat or stress, not a chosen position, except for grooming or when cows are on heat. They like their personal space, which varies according to status. Too often farm management creates situations where space per cow is compromised, which creates stress. Stress means increased cortisol levels, reduced calcium and reduced immune function. There will be disruption to behavior as lower order cows try to get away from more dominant cows.

This is most noticeable at milking when poor dairy design, and/or poor use of backing gates result in poor cow flow and unwanted behavior. It also disrupts flow to and from the dairy.

It means pushing cows at the back of the mob and expecting those at the front to move is stupid.

Winter grazing or crop feeding, or other high-density management strategies adversely affect social behavior, resulting in an unnecessary increase in animal movement.

Pugging, soil damage, mud creation is the result of hoof movement per hour per square meter. Extra movement occurs as lower order cows keep moving out of the way of higher cows, but lack of space means they can’t ever get right away – they are always encroaching on someone’s space.

the first way, by which cows controls excess acid production from normal rumen fermentation of feed – water dilutes acid. Everything that improves the rumen environment, improves the work rate and reproduction of the rumen microbes which in turn means a better fed, healthier cow with better feed conversion efficiency. Getting the feed right, both nutritionally and physically so that the rumen operates properly is critical to cow comfort. They need physically effective fibre, not just nutrients.

Any feed face, whether on a feed pad or a crop break, must be long enough for all cows to eat at once without threat. It must be as wide as a fully fed cow in late pregnancy measured at the widest part of the belly. For pasture fed cows, that’s around 1 m. Also remember that the cow will be expanding as she eats, so if the space is too little, some will be ‘popped’ out. Feeding faces should not be ‘busy’.

Even grazing in the paddock, there should be space for everyone to concentrate on collecting feed, not constantly moving out of the way of other cows.

Cows will also move unnecessarily if they are hungry or have an empty gut (looking for feed), if cold and wet (moving to keep warm and to find food that will generate heat for the rumen), or if heat stressed (to create air movement to move heated water vapor away and/or to escape flies) to look for dry spaces to lie down or to look for shade or shelter.

Well fed, well-conditioned cows, with plenty of space and water move very little, and cows in this state can withstand very cold temperatures, well below freezing. First break in any new paddock, should always allow a minimum of 10m2 / cow, or else move them as soon as they have eaten. This applies to feed pads as well as crops and break grazing. For crops, leave an uncultivated headland equivalent to the minimum required area. Crop introduction is simpler and easier, there is less mud. The 80 cow rule for water throughs and for feed racks of straw etc applies for crops 24/7. Many of the issues seen with winter grazing come about because people do not understand basic cow behavior and comfort requirements, so things get compromised from the start.

Cows do not like hot direct sun, or high humidity and the effects of the heat will be felt at as little as 15°c – we like it above 15°c, they prefer it below. Keeping cows cool and providing shade, should be a priority for happy healthy productive cows.

Inadequate access to water, especially when it is needed causes issues. This is not about flow rate or water supply but about trough area. For more than 80 cows in a mob there should always be at least two separate water troughs. At least one, but ideally all should have more than 2 meters of free space around – too often electric fences are put up against or over the trough. This is bad management. Cows that have to wait to drink, or worse wait to drink because of the risks posed by other cows, will perform less well regardless of what they are genetically capable of or what feed is offered.

Even for dry cows drinking only once a day is not enough for best rumen health and function, quite apart from the cow’s own welfare. Water is the first thing cows want after eating or activity. Essential on feed pads, at the dairy exit and along the race, not just in the paddock.

Best rumen function (and hence feed conversion efficiency) occurs in a mostly fluid environment, and drinking water is Ayrshire New Zealand

43

Production Star 2019 Production Star is a programme designed to find the best producing cows in each herd and breed to the best sires available. Farmers were given a selection criteria which was stated in the entry form. From the animals entered the following was evaluated.

Data analysed: • Individual animal Breeding Values (BV) A point system based on individual animal BV was created to give a different form of analysis. The greater the animal score the greater the chance of a superior animal.

•

Ancestry BV The high reliability of the individual animals BV is based on herd test results. Hence Ancestry BV to be of smaller influence on individual animal.

•

TOP score Preferably 7-7 or greater

•

PW-LW including ancestry Consistently 150 or greater, preferably above 200.

Production Stars 2019 PW/REL

Protein BV

Fat BV

Milk BV

Name

Ident

Sire

Owner

550/80

22/72

32/72

859/74

Southwind KC Queenet ET

BNHY-04-6

Kilfennan Challenge

A & H Jane

453/72

23/56

25/57

918/59

Southwind Ed’s Queenetta

BNHY-13-26

Carmelglen Edberg

Goldwyn Enterprises Ltd

388/74

15/56

24/56

504/58

Iwa Snowie 13-260

BNNL-13-260

Salt Spray Bonny George Iwa Syndicate

378/79

38/65

30/66

1379/68

Karnea Phils Nicky

DRYQ-09-8

Sanrosa Royal Phillip

Lodore Farm Ltd

322/74

18/56

19/56

894/58

Southwind HF Qantas ET

BNHY-15-22

Sentinal Hot Freddie

M Terpstra

320/71

17/54

20/55

716/57

Bonacord 11-63

BVLH-11-63

Lodore TK Brace

Bonacord Farms Ltd

314/65

17/47

28/49

519/52

Hatherleigh Sson Jennifer

GWKP-16-155

Iwa Super Sonic

Emunna Partnership

311/74

14/56

16/57

329/60

Musica 11-20

JMPR-11-20

Carmelglen Brody

Ackermann Ltd

298/72

13/54

19/55

514/57

Riverlea 11-32

CTHX-11-32

Carmelglen Brody

Riverlea Farm Ltd

277/79

15/63

13/64

815/66

Waerenga Brody Oppal

GGF-10-98

Carmelglen Brody

Lodore Farm Ltd

270/75

21/56

21/57

842/59

Southwind Oma Queenet

BNHY-11-15

Asmo Omatunto

Fairleigh Dairy Farm Ltd

251/78

10/58

15/59

494/61

Pa Hill Astute Irma ET

FVDV-12-65

Waerenga Blaze Astute

G J Travers

217/74

13/53

19/53

680/56

Lodore Blakes Colleen S2A

CHDD-14-138

Lodore Blake

Lodore Farm Ltd

213/53

26/46

19/47

865/49

Riverlea 17-71

CTHX-17-71

Southwind Isabro

Riverlea Farm Ltd

180/77

12/55

18/56

396/58

Lodore Jarmo Dancer

CHDD-11-108

Southwind Jarmo

Lodore Farm Ltd

176/76

14/53

25/54

632/57

Musica 13-98

JMPR-13-98

Lodore Blake

Ackermann Ltd

168/67

22/52

17/53

747/55

Lodore Ivo Nicky

CHDD-16-52

Pa Hill Brody Ivo ET

Lodore Farm Ltd

141/53

13/46

18/47

586/49

Riverlea 17-2 S3A

CTHX-17-2

Southwind Jacks Quintin Riverlea Farm Ltd

104/53

21/46

19/47

689/49

Shannon Isa Affro

JQPX-17-68

Southwind Isabro

D & C Beuth

91/69

15/50

3/51

716/53

Pa Hill Norman Velcro ET

FVDV-15-31

Pa Hill Blade Norman

G J Travers

21/52

20/41

16/43

824/45

Bonacord I C Gold Lady

BVLH-17-151

Iwa Iso Castlebar ET

Bonacord Farms Ltd

Production Star 2020

In search of the best producing cows within each herd of our Ayrshire farmers.

Eligibility:

Criteria:

Classes:

First and second lactation animals must perform within the top 20% of their age group in all of the following criteria. Three or more lactation animals must perform within the top 20% of the whole herd in all of the following criteria.

• • • •

1. First lactation 2. Second lactation 3. Three or more lactations

Protein kg Fat kg Volume L SCC (bottom 20%)

Production information must be obtained from a Trait Evaluation Report available from LIC in excel format.

Alternatively use Minda Custom Report (PW primary sort descending, LW secondary sort descending). Three Generation Pedigrees are to be included with every entered animal. Animals entered will need a TOP score and preferably 7-7 or greater.

Entries & Enquiries to be emailed to davo.ackermann@gmail.com 44

Bulletin Autumn 2020

Forward Star 2019

In search of the most promising heifer calves from our breeders.

Vision: To improve the genetic advancement of the Ayrshire Breed via young female progeny.

Functionality: The successful 2018 born heifers will be analysed and given recommended matings by Semayr. The male progeny will be considered for the Sire Proving Scheme. The female progeny will be considered for the next Forward Star intake.

Eligibility: The rising one year old heifers must have BVs of no less than, 6 out of 7 of the following criteria. Somatic Cell Count must not be above the BV criteria.

Protein Kg: 8 Fat Kg: 2 Milk: 250 Fertility: -4.0 Total Long: 50 SCC: -0.10 UO: 0.10

Criteria information can be obtained from a Trait Evaluation Report from your LIC area manager in Excel Format. Alternatively use Minda Custom Report (PW primary sort descending, LW secondary sort descending). Three Generation Pedigrees are to be included with every entered animal.

For any questions and queries please contact David Ackermann 027 372 1915 Entry’s to be emailed to davo.ackermann@gmail.com

Forward Star 2019 Point System Currently there is no genomic data available for NZ Ayrshire animals therefore a programme was put in place to fast track young female genetics. The programme is designed to try and find the most eligible young females that will become superior in-milk animals and breed to the best sires available. Farmers were given a selection criteria which was stated in the entry form. From the animals entered the following was evaluated.

Protein BV 5--8 9--12 13--16 17-20 21<

Data analysed: • Individual animal Breeding Values (BV) A point system based on individual animal BV was created to give a different form of analysis. The greater the animal score the greater the chance of a superior animal.

•

Ancestry BV The low reliability of the individual animals BV is based on Ancestry. Hence Ancestry BV to be similar or better than that of the individual animal.

•

Dam TOP score Preferably 7-7 or greater unless sire proved to be strong in udder traits.

•

Fat BV

Points

1 2 3 4 5

0 to 2 3 to 6 7 to 10 11 to 14 15<

1 2 3 4 5

Milk BV

Points

Fertility

Points

200-250 251-300 301-350 351-400 401<

1 2 3 4 5

neg 4.0 to -3.0 neg 2.9 to 2.0 neg 1.9 to 0.1 neg 0.9 to 0 0.1<

1 2 3 4 5

TotL BV

Points

Fertility

Points

50-100 101-150 151-200 201-250 251<

1 2 3 4 5

neg 0.10 to -0.2 neg 0.21 to -0.4 neg 0.41 to -0.5 neg 0.51 to -0.6 <-0.61

1 2 3 4 5

Points

UO

Points

1 2 3 4 5

0 to 0.1 0.11 to 0.2 0.21 to 0.3 0.31 to 0.4 0.4<

1 2 3 4 5

BW 0-20 21-40 41-60 61-80 81<

Ancestry PW-LW Consistently 150 or greater, preferably above 200.

Points

Forward Stars 2019 PW/REL

Protein BV

Fat BV

Milk BV

Name

Ident

Sire

Owner

160/11 135/13 130/12 122/12 120/11 120/12 120/12 120/12 117/12 113/12

16/32 20/38 20/35 22/35 21/32 21/34 21/34 21/34 20/34 10/35

21/33 25/38 21/35 21/35 24/32 21/34 21/34 21/34 17/34 20/36

436/34 597/39 582/37 834/36 766/33 613/35 613/35 613/35 666/35 319/37

Tayside Deacons Elana S2A Lodore Dea Royal ET Lodore Dea Siggy ET Lodore Dea Oppal Lodore Dea Colleen S3A Lodore Dea Jebblee ET Lodore Dea K Jebbie ET Lodore Dea Jebbie ET Rangeview Deacons Laura Lodore Blue Jebbie

CGXQ-18-23 CHDD-18-23 CHDD-18-4 CHDD-18-119 CHDD-18-140 CHDD-18-27 CHDD-18-19 CHDD-18-1 JBHD-18-1069 CHDD-18-161

Sanrosa Deacon ET Sanrosa Deacon ET Sanrosa Deacon ET Sanrosa Deacon ET Sanrosa Deacon ET Sanrosa Deacon ET Sanrosa Deacon ET Sanrosa Deacon ET Sanrosa Deacon ET Musica Blues S3A

Brynbush Farms Ltd Lodore Farm Ltd Lodore Farm Ltd Lodore Farm Ltd Lodore Farm Ltd Lodore Farm Ltd Lodore Farm Ltd Lodore Farm Ltd Rangeview Farming Ltd Lodore Farm td

Ayrshire New Zealand

45

Ayrshire National On Farm Challenge 2019/20 Judge: Shane Wadley, Auchenroad Ayrshires, Australia Competition Sponsors: Genetic Enterprises, J.Swap, Open Country

A huge congratulations go out to all those who competed in the Ayrshire National On Farm Challenge.

This year we saw Shane Wadley make the journey from Australia to judge our competition. He made his way around the New Zealand countryside, judging the high standard of Ayrshires our members have to offer.

It was a very close competition. In some cases the National placings only had one or two points between animals.

Full national results will be featured in the Spring 2020 Bulletin and on the Ayrshire New Zealand website.

We look forward to doing it all again later this year.

More about the competition: The Ayrshire National On Farm Challenge is a competition designed to discover and acknowledge the best functional type Ayrshires within NZ. The competition is designed to encourage all breeders to enter cows without the cost of traditional A & P shows and without cattle being fitted.

We know that there are very good cows spread around the country that do not leave the farm to compete at shows, and this competition is a great way to bring them out and promote your herd.

The competition is run nationally and judged by one judge selected by Ayrshire New Zealand.

The first and second highest pointed cows in each age group are announced at the Annual Conference Awards Dinner (this may change in 2020 due to the postponement of Conference). The highest pointed cow overall in each age group will be announced at the National AGM. The highest overall pointed cow through all age groups will receive a special award.

Keep an eye out for entry forms around October.

Regional Results These results are preliminary and are subject to change.

Confirmed results will be presented later in the year. and will be featured on the Ayrshire New Zealand website and in the Spring 2020 Bulletin Animal Name - Owner

Ward 1

Ward 2

Class 1 - 2 Year Olds

Class 1 - 2 Year Olds

1 2

1 2

Pa Hill Rata May - G J Travers Rose Bloom Alfie Becky - O Travers

Imaginayr TSB Lacey - RTJ Holdings Gemma Kelly Rosemoor Flash Michelyn - R & D Hancock

Class 2 - 3 Year Olds

Class 2 - 3 Year Olds

1 2

1 2

Thornton Park Decaf Calm - M & S Booth Lodore Ivo Nicky - Lodore Farm Ltd

Montrose TSB Eleonora - Andali Dairies Ltd Carmelglen D B Oxita - A Thomson

Class 3 - 4 & 5 Year Olds

Class 3 - 4 & 5 Year Olds

1 2

1 2

Pa Hill Salt Jennilee - G J Travers Lodore Blake Polly - Lodore Farm Ltd

Wentworth Dusty Belle - C Walmsley Carmelglen Brad Tib - A Thomson

Class 4 - 6, 7 & 8 Year Olds

Class 4 - 6, 7 & 8 Year Olds

1 2

1 2

Pa Hill Rata Jennilee - G J Travers Lodore Hugs Royally ET - Lodore Farm Ltd

Carmelglen Temira - Andali Dairies Ltd Rosemoor Crown Momento ET - R & D Hancock

Class 5 - Veteran Cow 9yr & over

Class 5 - Veteran Cow 9yr & over

1 2

1 2

46

Pa Hill High Doll - G J Travers Pa Hill Nero Jennilee - G J Travers

Bulletin Autumn 2020

Rosemoor Eds Michigan - R & D Hancock Montrose Destiny Helena - Andali Dairies Ltd

Ward 3

Ward 4

Class 1 - 2 Year Olds

Class 1 - 2 Year Olds

1 2

1 2

Kiteroa Cream Predette ET - Kiteroa Ayrshires Kiteroa Cream Bubbette ET - Kiteroa Ayrshires

Aotearoa TSB Reign - Leech Family Stenvale Burs Cheryl - Jamie Baxter

Class 2 - 3 Year Olds

Class 2 - 3 Year Olds

1 2

1 2

Pukekaraka Bdete Star - Topline Genetics Kiteroa Bo Peppernola - Kiteroa Ayrshires

Brookview Sassy Vick - Brookview Genetics Goldwyn Real Pretygirl ET - Goldwyn Enterprises Ltd

Class 3 - 4 & 5 Year Olds

Class 3 - 4 & 5 Year Olds

1 2

1 2

Sanrosa Queen 14-237 ET - Topline Genetics Kiteroa Bonny Stargazer - Kiteroa Ayrshires

Brookview Spitz Flame - Gabby Steiner Harvest Supre - Karen Feek

Class 4 - 6, 7 & 8 Year Olds

Class 4 - 6, 7 & 8 Year Olds

1 2

1 2

Pukekaraka Secret Avril - Topline Genetics Valendale Pepsie - Kiteroa Ayrshires

Brookview Dist Spirito - Brookview Genetics Brookview Napes Huron - Brookview Genetics

Class 5 - Veteran Cow 9yr & over

Class 5 - Veteran Cow 9yr & over

1

1 2

Kiteroa Bonny Blue Violet - Kiteroa Ayrshires

Ward 5

Brookview Po Sakkarah - Brookview Genetics Sharvdville Popstar S2A - Jamie Baxter

Ward 6

Class 1 - 2 Year Olds

Class 1 - 2 Year Olds

1 2

1 2

Sentinal Pretty SBG Lacey - Sentinal Farms Ltd Snowline Bur Bronwyn S2A - Brimar Trust

Arran Triclo Cassatta S2A - Arran Trust Christella Dane Cool - Ella Bashford

Class 2 - 3 Year Olds

Class 2 - 3 Year Olds

1 2

1 2

Snowline 16-11 - Brimar Trust Sentinal Zoes SHT Lara - Sentinal Farms Ltd

Sunshine Burdette Anna - Sunshine Ayrshires Kiteroa Bonny Grand Day - Landell Holdings Ltd

Class 3 - 4 & 5 Year Olds

Class 3 - 4 & 5 Year Olds

1 2

1 2

Peak View Burdettes Memo - Brimar Trust Sentinal Snowie - Sentinal Farms Ltd

Sunshine Burdettes Dale - Sunshine Ayrshires Arran 15-40 S3A - Arran Trust

Class 4 - 6, 7 & 8 Year Olds

Class 4 - 6, 7 & 8 Year Olds

1 2

1 2

Sanrosa Harts 13-211 - G & J Glentworth Sentinal Pretty Mannie - Sentinal Farms Ltd

Sunshine Dream Alice - Sunshine Ayrshires Kiteroa Bonny Gloryous - Arran Trust

Class 5 - Veteran Cow 9yr & over

Class 5 - Veteran Cow 9yr & over

1 2

1 2

Sentinal Belina - Sentinal Farms Ltd Kenmure Mayfair Phillie - Hardcase Family Trust

Ward 8

Wakefield CT Asti - Renae Flett Sunshine Tri Gloss - Sunshine Ayrshires

Ward 9

Class 1 - 2 Year Olds

Class 1 - 2 Year Olds

1 2

1 2

Glenalla Rockstar Rosa - Glenalla Farm Ltd Lakeside Mega Pep - Lakeside Ayrshires

Ingleside PB Lou - Ingleside Limited Ingleside SMJ Pipa - Ingleside Limited

Class 2 - 3 Year Olds

Class 2 - 3 Year Olds

1 2

1 2

Lakeside 16-4 - Lakeside Ayrshires Lakeside 16-48 - Lakeside Ayrshires

Inglecorner Burr Bailey - CNRAYR Ltd Cargillglen Poly Perfect - Cargillglen Family Trust

Class 3 - 4 & 5 Year Olds

Class 3 - 4 & 5 Year Olds

1 2

1 2

Pukekaraka Elle Delila - Glenalla Farm Ltd Glenmore 14-145 S3A - Brookton Farm

Ingleside CJ Lou - Ingleside Limited Ingleside Hot Tart - Ingleside Limited

Class 4 - 6, 7 & 8 Year Olds

Class 4 - 6, 7 & 8 Year Olds

1 2

1 2

Glenmore B Lara - Brookton Farm Pukekaraka Burdete Rose - Glenalla Farm Ltd

Fairleigh Burdette Annalva - Port Molyneux Dairies Ltd Ingleside Crown Tart - Ingleside Limited

Class 5 - Veteran Cow 9yr & over

Class 5 - Veteran Cow 9yr & over

1 2

1 2

Lakeside Hi Volts - Lakeside Ayrshires Pukekaraka Modem Ellie - Glenalla Farm Ltd

Mellora Locket ET - CNRAYR Ltd Ingleside Sweet Choice - Ingleside Limited

Ayrshire New Zealand

47

Championship Shows 2019/20 Contributed by Robyn Gordon North Island Championship Held: 30 November 2019 - Stratford, Taranaki Judge: Ross Morton

An exceptional turnout of animals competed for the Ayrshire North Island Championships held by the Stratford A & P Association. The show was the largest to get back up & running since the Mycoplasma Bovis outbreak and it was great to see such a large attendance with over 200 cattle exhibited.

ET) exhibited by Fusion Genetics (R & A Baker), Palmerston North, with Larkspur Rockstar Cameo (s. Kamouraska Rockstar) exhibited by Renae Flett, Rongotea, taking out Senior Heifer Calf & Reserve Junior Champion.

This year, a class completely different from any others took place. This was the Beledene Premier Dairy Cow. The world famous Beledene Jersey Stud that dispersed in 2018 with record prices donated a magnificent shield to the show for a Premier Dairy Cow Class open to all breeds and to be judged by any Senior or Associate judge of any dairy breed society in attendance. A total of 22 judges stepped into the ring to judge the class of 26 cows.

Junior Champ - Larkspur Double Barrel Jo

Intermediate & Reserve Intermediate Champ

Rock View Tos Liâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;l ET (s. Asmo Tosikko ET) exhibited by G & K Peters, Stratford, won the Heifer 3yr old in-milk, Junior Best Udder and then North Island Intermediate Champion with Reserve Intermediate Champion going to Brookview Sassy Vick (s. De la Plaine Vicking ET) exhibited by Brookview Genetics (V & K Steiner), Tokoroa.

Brookview Dist Spirito (s. Family-Af-Ayr Distinction) exhibited

by Brookview Genetics won the 7yrs & over class and backed that up by becoming North Island Senior Champion. Sunshine Burdettes Dale (s. Palmyra Tri Star Burdette ET) exhibited by Sunshine Ayrshires (B & N Lawson), Woodville, was named Best Udder & also Reserve Senior Champion.

The Greenlane Trophy (North Island Junior Young Handlers) was won by Zara Williams, Palmerston North, followed by Reagan Kelly (Imaginayr Ayrshires, Pukekohe) in second and Max Simmons placing third.

The Fredrickson Trophy (North Island Senior Young Handlers) was won by Zoe Botha (Aspire Ayrshires, Cambridge), followed by Neko McDonald (Clearview Ayrshires, New Plymouth) in second & Jacoba Gread (Heavenly Ayrshires, Morrinsville) placing third.

Zoe also went on the next day to win the Western Districts Young Handler Competition with over 20 competitors.

The Arran Trophy (Ayrshire Young Judge Competition) was won by Imogen Steiner Brookview Ayrshires, Tokoroa) followed by Zoe Botha placing second and third equal going to Neko McDonald & Daniel Simons (Mossy Ayrshires, Stratford).

South Island Championship

Held: Competed through the 2019-20 Ayrshire

National On Farm Challenge Judge: Shane Wadley, Auchenroad Ayrshires, Australia Once again due to the absence of shows in the South Island, the South Island Championships were judged within the Ayrshire On-Farm Challenge.

Senior Champ - Brookview Dist Spirito

North Island Junior Champion & Senior yearling heifer went to Larkspur Double Barrel Jo (s. Family-Af-Ayr RD Barrel

48

Bulletin Autumn 2020

South Island Champion Cow went to Fairleigh Burdette Annalva owned by Port Molyneux Dairies Ltd (T & K Button) and Reserve South Island Champion went to Glenmore B Lara owned by Brookton Farm (Green family). Honorable Mention went to Glenalla Rockstar Rosa owned by Glenalla Farm Ltd (Gilbert family).

Glenmore B Lara E8-9 Current Res Champion South Island Cow SIRE: Burdette DAM: Mellora Lara ET

FOR SALE:

Rising yearlings and in-calf heifers by Quintin and other Semayr Sires.

For more Details please contact Donald

JOB VACANCY:

Work available on our dairy farms in Canterbury at Glenmore and Brookton short or long term for next season, NZ or International staff.

ENQUIRIES ARE WELCOME:

Donald and Anne Green 03 3291848 or 027 2218024

Chris and Emma Tim and Sarah 03 3291890 or 0274185151 0273122174

Fat +23.7

Pro +21.4

ESTABLISHED 1976

Still here (in the background) supporting the Ayrshire breed.

Southwind Queen Bernadette (Palmyra Tri Star Burdette ET – Southwind KC Queenet ET Ex.)

1ST OPEN HEIFER CALF TARANAKI CLUB SHOW 2020 Southwind TSB Quaint ET V8-9 (Palmyra Tri Star Burdette ET – Southwind Jules Qantas Ex 8-9)

TARANAKI AYRSHIRE COW OF THE YEAR 2020

Albie & Hilary Jane 631 Pembroke Road, RD21, Stratford 4391 • Phone 06 765 6027 • Visitors always welcome!

SOUTHWIND

TITAN BURDETTE x SOUTHWIND DW QUEENAS VHC 9-9

$14

pictured below

SOUTHWIND DW QUEENAS VHC 9-9

Highest Pointed Cow at 94 points, Taranaki Progeny Competition 2018 4yr 8223L, 4.4% 359kgF, 3.5% 290kgP 251d 201LW

Introducing...

SOUTHWIND TITAN

TITAN is a SON of PALMYRA TRI-STAR BURDETTE - Awarded Premier Sire World Dairy Expo 2013 2018, and Premier Sire IDW Australia 2016 - 2019.

His DAM is the covergirl for the recently dispersed SOUTHWIND AYRSHIRE herd - SOUTHWIND DW QUEENAS VHC 9-9. Queenas sold for an Australasian record breaking price of $24,000.

Queenas is the epitome of 40 plus years of breeding for Southwind studmaster, Albie Jane.

Lots of production, show type, fabulous pedigree and female line, exceptional fertility and perfect temperament ensure her only son, Southwind TITAN, ticks all the boxes for enthusiastic Ayrshire breeders.

World Class TITAN - A BULL THAT CAN REALLY ADVANCE THE BREED.

For TITAN semen please contact; Neko McDonald (e) clearview.ayrshires@hotmail.com (p) 0064 027 429 8674 FIND US ON FACEBOOK ‘CLEARVIEW AYRSHIRES’

VISITORS VERY WELCOME

THE COWS AT WORK

GRAND DAUGHTER - Lexi Harris Lexi, aged 5 takes up Highland dancing following on from mother Jaclyn. Jaclyn and Dale have Ayrshire cows milking in the Bonacord Herd.

M

s ilk ire ing over 300 Ayrsh in a h erd of 575

Peter & Raelene Allison â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;wee Bonacordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 9 Surrey Bay Rd, R D 1 Outram 9073 Ph 03 417 7955 Mob 027 434 6834 Email bonacord.farms@xtra.co.nz

2020 has a new direction at Bonacord. We have given up our lease at Milton and now graze our young stock out. Pete and Rae no longer have to manage Milton and transport 1500 odd round bales back to farm as we now use meal and crops. Results look good this season.

Kelly & Amanda, Fynn, Reuben & Paige Allison 30 Church Rd, West R D 1 Outram 9073 Ph 03 486 2332 Mob 027 245 8613 Email kellyandamanda@ruralinzone.net

Visitors Welcome Rex and Audrey Stevenson A: 221 Bickley Road, RD 3, Riverton M: 027 2010 488

Craig Stevenson - Trinity Farm Holdings A: 219 Bickley Road, RD 3, Riverton M: 027 415 4633

Áyrshire Retrospect

A Collection Of Ayrshire Articles From The Past

1952 - Scotland, Home of the Ayrshire

A few highlights of a recent trip by Mr. J G Donald, Immediate Past President of the NZ Ayrshire Cattle Breeders’ Association Reference: Supplied by:

Dairy Bulletin 1952. Wright, Stephenson & Co Ltd.(Pages 14, 15,18) Zac Tocker - Tiakitahuna

A t the end of last year it was my privilege to enjoy a visit to Scotland on a special mission - to secure a top bull for service in the Ardgowan stud. The trip proved particularly interesting and instructive, in every respect strengthening my faith in the Ayrshire breed.

fodder used is, in the main, artificial, and it does not require a great deal of imagination to visualise how much better the production totals would probably be were they to enjoy natural outdoor conditions and feeding which pertain in this country.

I am also convinced that the N.Z. dairyman generally enjoys a much better nett return than does his counterpart in Scotland. While a high price is paid for T.B. tested milk, heavy expenses for feed concentrates, combined with a large staff, building upkeep, and so on, far more than offset this gross advantage.

Many times it amazed me to find so many good cows in the one herd. The tops among these were naturally outstanding, and such as one from time to time sees as illustrations in farm journals. They are unquestionably “Queens of the Dairy Worlds.”

Generally they show the lines of real producers, stand on perfect legs of real high quality dairy bone, and carry exceptional vessels. These are invariably of beautiful soft texture, carried well forward, while the teat placement is perfect. A very strong feature in the eyes of all Scottish breeders is hind the leg, they insist on its being more or less straight, experience showing that cows will otherwise not last, due to being stabled so much of their time indoors on concrete floorings.

The air trip to London, uneventful but full of interest, took only a few days, being met on arrival by Messrs. T. Wilson (Manager) and R. Timlett, of Wright Stephenson’s London Branch, who had made excellent arrangements with Mr. John Watson of Ayr, permitting my paying a visit to all the leading herds. Some six days before the sale conducted annually for the world-famous Lessnessock stud, I reached my headquarters at Ayr. My time was utilised to the maximum advantage. Visits were included to such top herds as Carnell, Auchenbrain, Changue, Bankend, Willoxton, Harleyholm, Skye, Low Milton, Netherton, Nether Craig, Hallbarnes, Barngower, Burton, and of course, Lessnessock.

I readily confess to being soon amazed by many aspects of farm appointments in Scotland. The huge buildings surrounding the homesteads in the form of byres, hay and straw barns, associated with stockyards, all were on a scale hard to comprehend for the first time.

A visit to these byres was an eye opener. There in their stalls were some 40 to 50 cows, each in a business-like way identified by names, breeding, and production records. When one realises that these cows spend half the year inside, it brings home very forcibly their splendid milking qualities. The

It was apparent that Scottish cows are kept in higher condition than applied here, particularly when coming to calving. As a consequence they immediately go straight into heavy production, generally these cattle are somewhat heavier boned than we are accustomed to, and, to my idea, carry better hindquarters. While I have heard it contended that a longer head than our usual is the rule, my experience did not show this to be generally true.

Continued...

Ayrshire New Zealand

53

Continued...

Important Sales

A t the Ayr Autumn Bull Fair, my first sale experience, the sight of 150-odd bulls, all brought out in well-nigh perfect

order, was a revelation in animal husbandry. All are paraded in the pre-sale show and made a really grand display. On this occasion the championship went to the Burton Herd for a youngster which later made 1700 gnes., the runner-up came from the Carnell, and the third prized winner from Changue.

These bulls are always stalled on the grounds on the night before and are available for inspection under electric light conditions. The ratio of really good ones was surprisingly high.

Top Cows

T

he many good cows which impressed me in the herds mentioned earlier were too numerous to describe in detail. I did, however, secure a good range of photographs of these, some of which I hope can be used as illustrations for this article. As was only natural, “musts” on my itinerary included studs where the dams and close relations of my earlier Scottish importations were located. These included Netherton Dorthy, to see a member of the famous 10,000 lbs. Club and dam of Netherton Typhoon, my first post-war importation. Then at Willoxton I got another great thrill on inspecting the grand cows Crocus 6th and Crocus 3rd, dam and g.-dam of Willoxton Lustre, whose stock have been in such great demand at the last three Ardgowan Sales. Then last but not least, Harleyholm Butterfly 15th, grand old cow and dam of Harleyholm Topsman (Imp.) and Harleyholm Signet, whose blood is keenly sought throughout his homeland. Now around twenty years of age, Butterfly 15th is the typical long-lived Ayrshire, and like other dams earlier inspected of my other sires, served to show in a most convincing way my good fortune in getting these bulls. There is little gamble in breeding where one can use sons of such cows as these.

My next auction experience was at Lessnessock. This proved one of the big events of the year, the attendance being around 2,500. The offering comprised some 90 lots, all brought out in the pink of condition. Owing to indifferent health, Mr. Adam Montgomerie, O.B.E., was not able to see his great line disposed of, his first attendance break since the inception of the sales.

To see a line of 50 bulls bred within the ranks of one family, all of such excellent class, made a lasting impression, and brought home most forcibly the wonderful foundation bloodlines from which they obviously were developed.

My own choice fell on Lot 84, Lessnessock Pewter, but as he had also taken the eye of other keen judges, I had to pay the top price of the day to get him. Not only did this youngster himself appear, but I had been greatly taken by all his immediate relations seen beforehand. These comprised both his sire, Lessnessock Worthy Conquest, and dam, Low Milton Penelope, also Conquest’s dam, Westburn White Clover and two of Pewter’s own half-sisters in the byres. Such a background left me in no doubts whatever of his potential as a breeding bull.

Another big attendance, estimated at around 3,000 were on the scene for the Barngower Sale, and like at Lessnessock, it was essential to get in well before the proceedings started to be sure of a seat in anything, like a good vantage point. The top price here was 2,300 gns., with two others also making over 2,000. The major part of the offering was disposed of to English buyers.

54

Bulletin Autumn 2020

While I feel very pleased with the experience gained during my trip, I realise that Ayrshire breeders would be foolish indeed to feel complacent that our cattle can be little improved by importations.

While we have many good cows, developed under quite different conditions from their homeland blood relations, we have a long way to go before our breeding knowledge could fairly be match with the “master minds” behind the development of the breed in Scotland. Despite our advancement in many directions, there is a lot we can still learn from this source of infinite experience.

We enjoy tremendous climatic advantages in the Dominion, which, utilised to maximum advantage, is placing us second to none in the breeding of high class dairy cattle. But, on the other hand, I sincerely hope that these bountiful gifts of nature will never be offset by a spirit of contentedness lacking the drive essential to progress.

CLUB REPORTS Bay of Plenty Director: Vince Steiner - Brookview President: David Feek - Harvest Secretary: Heather Baxter - Shardville Publicity: Frances Feek - Harvest Well greetings from a very brown South Waikato.

Sadly most of our club members in the Bay of Plenty club are suffering with drought conditions, as no doubt are other Ayrshire breeders.

We have had a few social gatherings to bolster morale and I will start with those.

In September we joined with the Waikato and Thames Valley club and had a lunch gathering at the Prince Albert in Cambridge.

Club competition at Talbots

In December we had our Christmas gathering at David and Frances Feek's place . The Australian Judge for the on farm competition, Shane Wadley and his wife Brenda were in the area so we had a lovely meet and greet. We also had a representative there from OCD who were part sponsors for the event.

Early January saw Albie Jane judging our Club’s On Farm Competition and that evening we had another pot luck dinner at the Feek's place. Once again the local members rustled up a great meal and atmosphere.

Also January saw a contingent of local breeders head of to Australia for World Conference. (I know there’s a great report in this Bulletin to tell you all about it.)

Then to end our social whirlwind calendar we had a potluck dinner at Vince and Sheridan Steiner’s in early February as Mary Ellen Trueman (Canada) and Edmund Els (South Africa) were visiting and it was nice that we were able to meet them. Edmund has just been appointed President of the World Ayrshire Federation

Garden Statue presented to Brian & Rae

Our guests of honour were Brian Robinson and Rae Montgomerie, Brian spoke on his fascinating career in livestock sales. Who knew that selling cows could lead to so many adventures.

The clubs presented Brian and Rae with an original piece of garden art for their garden as a token of appreciation for their services to the local Ayrshire breeders.

He has always gone the extra mile for us and we felt this was a small thankyou.

Sadly in October a few of our local members made the sad trip to Morrinsville to attend Tom Johansen’s funeral. This was a sad occasion to farewell a much loved and respected member of our Ayrshire family.

Potluck at Steiners

I hope that rain in useful quantities starts soon for all of us whose paddocks are thirsty Frances Feek | Publicity

In November we had a combined Mini club show at Dianne and Terry Talbot’s farm. Gemma Hartstone was our judge. Not an easy task with the great calibre of stock on display. Thanks guys for putting on another great event.

Ayrshire New Zealand

55

CLUB REPORTS Thames Valley Director: Roger Hancock - Rosemoor President: Dave Mitchell - Penoak Secretary: Sue Gibberd - Guildford Publicity: Jeanette Keen Our spring started with a luncheon on the 23rd September joined by the three clubs Bay of Plenty, Thames Valley and Waikato to thank Brian Robinson & Rae for the support they have given the Ayrshire Breeders over the years, there was a good turn out. Brian spoke of events that had happened in his career. The clubs presented them with this garden statue.

Thames Valley - BULL PROGENY COMPETITION FIVE COWS BY ONE SIRE-TYPE & PRODUCTION 1st

V&S Steiner

2nd V&S Steiner 3rd V&S Steiner

4th Carmel Glen Ltd

Rosemoor Spark

Plumbottom Tridents Lot Family Afayr Distinction Palmyra Burdette

444.0pts 429.0pts 441.5pts 448.5pts

FIVE COWS ANY SIRE JUDGED ON TYPE 1st

V&S Steiner

2nd Carmel Glen Ltd - B Team 3rd Carmel Glen Ltd - A Team 4th G & L Kelly

461.0pts 451.0pts 445.5pts 429.5pts

COW FAMILY 3 COWS SAME FAMILY 1st

V&S Steiner

2nd V&S Steiner

3rd Penoak Farm 4th V&S Steiner

5th= D&S Gibberd 5th= V&S Steiner

Secret Grand Blue Secrecy

Sultans Deanne Secret B Team Ice Princess Chrissy

274.0pts 271.0pts 268.0pts 267.5pts 259.5pts 259.5pts

THREE TWO YEAR OLDS BY SAME SIRE 1st

V&S Steiner

2nd Carmel Glen Ltd 3rd Carmel Glen Ltd 4th V&S Steiner 5th V&S Steiner

Rosemoor Spark

Goldwyn TCK President Gentleman

Brookview Steinlager DeLaPlaine Vicking

265.5pts 259.5pts 258.0pts 257.0pts 250.0pts

THREE TWO YEAR OLDS ANY SIRE 1st

Penoak Farm

266.0pts

2nd G&L Kelly Garden Statue presented to Brian & Rae

At our AGM John Thurlow and Faye Hartwell were made life members and the club took the opportunity at the luncheon to present John Thurlow with a certificate that was presented by our patron Tony Torrens.

We acknowledge the passing of our long time member Tom Johansen on the 7th October 2019.

Gabby Steiner left for England in October to represent New Zealand at the International Youth Tour.

Our meeting held 6th November at Graeme Leech’s was a lovely sunny day attended by 14 members. Graeme’s cows were looking very well.

Gabby gave a talk and showed some photos about her visit to Great Britain with the International Youth Tour.

Our meeting on the 30th January 2020 was held at Michael Terpstra “Hollypork” A good turn out to this young breeder.

His cows were looking well and like a lot of farmers in our area would be happy for some rain. The bull progeny competition results were announced, congratulations to all who took part.

Jeanette Keen | Publicity

Bulletin Autumn 2020

263.5pts

4th Carmel Glen Ltd

262.5 pts

THREE TWO YEAR OLDS BY SAME SIRE 1st

Penoak Farm

2nd R&D Hancock

3rd Carmel Glen Ltd 4th R&D Hancock 5th V&S Steiner

Rosemoor Spark Rosemoor Spark

P Bearkly Reagan Sunshine Reality

Rosemoor Spark

267.0pts 263.25pts 263.0pts 262.0pts 260.5pts

THREE YEARLINGS ANY SIRE 1st

Penoak Farm

265.0pts

2nd Carmel Glen Ltd

263.5pts

3rd V&S Steiner

263.0pts

4th R&D Hancock

262.75pts

5th D&S Gibberd

257.0pts

THREE YEARLINGS ANY SIRE 1st

R&D Hancock

2nd D&S Gibberd

3rd R&D Hancock 4th V&S Steiner

5th Carmel Glen Ltd

Rosemoor Spark

Kiteroa Cherry 15.4

Broardlea Stormin Charlie Rosemoor Spark

Bear Ayr Distinction

251.0pts 250.0pts 250.25pts 249.0pts 247.5pts

THREE CALVES ANY SIRE V&S Steiner

254.0pts

3rd Carmel Glen Ltd

250.0pts

1st

2nd R&D Hancock

56

264.0pts

3rd V&S Steiner

251.0pts

Taranaki Director: Gordon Glentworth - Sanrosa President: Jonathan Glentworth - Sanrosa Secretary: Kylee Perrett - Sentinal Publicity: Hilary Jane - Southwind Here is a resume of the busiest six months of our club’s calendar.

The club invited Brian Robinson and Rae Montgomery to our Xmas barbecue, which was actually a catered dinner in the Stanley Road School. (After closing several years ago, the school was purchased by the community and is a popular venue for various clubs and groups.) After dinner, a presentation was made to Brian and Rae in recognition of their long time support of the Ayrshire breed.

Our annual club show was held at the Stratford showgrounds in January. Seven exhibitors paraded 35 young stock for judge Lynden Muggeridge. A weight guessing competition (of Southwind’s three calves) drew a lot of interest. Winning individual guessers were Max Simmons, Gary Peters and Claire Simmons, with Claire taking out the overall totals. The raffle was won by Cooper Simmons.

The progeny competition was judged by Ross Soffe in February. There were record entries, with 143 animals from 11 studs inspected over two days. The competition includes an ‘on-farm show’, and the Oaks competition as well as the normal type and progeny classes.

Snowline in Spring-look at all that feed!

Our September meeting was hosted by Brian and Marian McDonald at ‘Snowline’, on a fine but cool day. The cows had plenty of feed and were in top condition.

Our February meeting was held at Stuart and Delwyn Honeyfield’s ‘Te Matai’ stud at Motonui. Despite the current drought, the cows are milking twice a day and are holding condition well. The Te Matai team, including Scott and Paula, features in a story in this edition.

The weather deteriorated the following month for the meeting at Daphne Gordon’s ‘Kenmure’ stud. Following a tasty Subway lunch provided by our host, we inspected the cows, who weren’t fazed by the array of umbrellas.

The Stachurski family modelling Taranaki Club’s bold tee shirts- Left to right (back)- Joe, Bernie, Sam & Grace; (front) Robyn & Charlotte.

Daphne Gordon and her #1 helper Frodo

The Stratford A&P show was a big event (North Island Championships) and six local members joined several exhibitors from outside the region to make the reinstated cattle section a success.

Sentinal (D&K Perrett) and Sanrosa (G&J Glentworth) held their second annual yearling and weaner sale at Sentinal early December. Good prices were realised for well-grown stock.

Members Lisa & Peter Megaw (Fernview) and Robyn & Bernie Stachurski (Balmaine) came up with a brilliant suggestion to produce club shirts, to promote the club and the breed at every opportunity.

The shirts and sweatshirts are bright and bold (like the wearers) and you can’t miss them.

The Taranaki Ayrshire Cow of the Year is ‘Southwind TSB Quaint ET’ (A&H Jane) and runnerup is Rockview TOS Li’l ET (G&K Peters).

Hilary Jane | Publicity

Ayrshire New Zealand

57

CLUB REPORTS Pair of Yearlings (2018 Born)

Northland

Pa Hill Deacon Erin

180.5

Lodore Dea Jebby ET

180

Kauri Lipstick

179

1st= Lodore Farm

Lodore Trops Royalty ET

181

270.5

1st= Maipo Limited

Maipo Inks C Spark

181

270

3rd Gavin Travers

Pa Hill Deacon Spice

180

271

Semayr Senior Bull Progeny

269

2nd Lodore Farm

1st

Director: Roger Hutchings - Lodore President: Brian Hutchings - Kauri Secretary: Karen Rowland - Lodore Publicity: Alison Allen - Pampas

1st

BA & CA Hutchings 2nd Lodore Farm 3rd= Gavin Travers

3rd BA & CA Hutchings

3rd= Lodore Farm

274+

Saltspray Bonny George

270

Carmelglen Brody

Junior Progeny - 6 Entries 1st

Lodore Farm

2nd Lodore Farm 3rd= BA & CA Hutchings 3rd= Gavin Travers

Lodore Philander Lodore Tropical

Asmo Tossikko ET Pa Hill Salt DiDo

Cow 5 Years & Over - 11 Entries 1st

BA & CA Hutchings

2nd BA & CA Hutchings 3rd M & S Booth

Cow 4 Year - 10 Entries 1st

BA & CA Hutchings

2nd M & S Booth 3rd M & S Booth

Cow 3 Year - 10 Entries 1st

Maipo Limited

2nd= M & K Partnership 2nd= M & S Booth

Cow 2 Year - 12 Entries 1st

Odyssey Travers

2nd= BA & CA Hutchings 2nd= Lodore Farm

Yearling - 13 Entries 1st

Lodore Farm

2nd M & K Partnership

3rd BA & CA Hutchings

Calves - 18 Entries 1st

Maipo Limited

2nd Lodore Farm

3rd Gavin Travers

BA & CA Hutchings

2nd= Lodore Farm

2nd= Gavin Travers

1st

92

Gavin Travers

2nd Lodore Farm

Maipo Brigette Spark Pa Hill Chief Molly

Larnoch Elijah

Carmelglen Brody Pa Hill Must Elope Lodore Glorify

183.5 181 174 173

92.5

Kauri Tossik Rhannie

93

Thornton Park Jump Ina

91.5

92.5

Pekatahi Emma One

92

Thornton Park Decaf Calm

91

91

Rosebloom Alfie Becky

91.5

Lodore Lands Matti

91

Southland / Otago Director: Peter Allison - Bonacord President: Craig Stevenson - Glenkylie Secretary: Alison Duffy - Miro Publicity: Nancy Eade - Fairleigh Our spring was a disaster all over the region with rain, rain and more rain plus the added bonus of gale-force winds every day. After about three months into calving it decided to settle down and we eventually got some heat and sunshine.

91

In October we held an evening meeting, just the usual people in attendance.

Lodore Dans Page

92

Kauri Lipstick

91

Just before Christmas we had our annual meal at the Croyden Lodge in Gore. Numbers were down but everyone who attended enjoyed themselves, especially the wee ones when Santa walked in!

Kauri Tossik Tammie

Lodore Jacks Glenette

91.5

Maipo Inks C Spark

91.5

Pa Hill Deacon Spice

90.5

Lodore Trops Royalty ET

91

Kauri Cream Rhannie

188

Lodore Brody Jell ET

181

Pa Hill Silve Jenni

181

Kauri Tossik Rhannie Lodore Lands Jell

Pa Hill Salt Jennill

The Allison family hosted our summer meeting where we saw Ayrshires and Jerseys. The farm and cows were both looking well. After the herd walk they supplied a great BBQ lunch â&#x20AC;&#x201C; thank you to you all.

Our club bull progeny competitions were cancelled due to lack of numbers.

Mycoplasma Bovis has put a big dent in our show circuit with lots of breeders of all breeds not willing to bring cattle out.

In July our club will be celebrating its 100 years. A special luncheon and celebration is taking place on the 4th July 2020.

Nancy Eade | Publicity

58

Lodore Trops Royal ET

Semayr Junior Bull Progeny

Kauri Cream Rhannie - Judges Pick

Lodore Ivo Nicky

M & S Booth

Kauri Nickyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Becks

269

Thornton Park 14-58

Thornton Park Cindi

Lodore Dans Page

1st

95

Kauri T Kasio ET

Pa Hill Deacon Ellie

269.5

Kauri Cream Rhannie

Dam + Dtr or 2 dtrs in milk 1st

Pair Calves (2019 born)

Asmo Tossikko ET

Holyrood Royal Hughie

2nd Lodore Farm

Club Competition Results Senior Progeny - 6 Entries

Odyssey Travers

Bulletin Autumn 2020

NOTE If your club has recently had a competition, feel free to send the results to info@ayrshire.org.nz to be placed on the website. www.ayrshire.org.nz/club-events

Canterbury President: David Ackermann - Musica Secretary: Wendy Drummond - Wakalona Publicity: Wendy & Dave Drummond - Wakalona A busy summer for all our farming members. Like the majority of New Zealand, we have it hot and dry but most of us are fortunate to have irrigation to offset the summer drought. On one member’s farm the electricity cost was $1550 per day for the month of January!

day was the Association field day at Glenmore where the topic for the day was Cross Breeding with Ayrshires. This day was well advertised and open to the general public. We had people from Northland to Southland attending.

Cattle were back at Ellesmere Show after a year off. Ayrshires were the only dairy breed with John Legg and the Prattley family exhibiting. The 2020 show in October will be the 150th.

The club has had two field days and was involved with the Association field day held at Glenmore on the 21st February.

The first was held at the Leggs, Lakeside. After a look around the herd, John gave us a talk about his restorative pasture management methods and also took us to see the stream plantings that they were doing along the Harts stream that flows into lake Ellesmere.

Our next get together is our AGM to be held on the 15th April and we are expecting competition for the top jobs!

Anne Green and Lisa Williams are organising the Assn Annual Conference in Nelson for Ayrshire N Z so please make the effort to come along.

Donald Green | Publicity

Our second herd walk was at the Ackermann’s Musica stud.

This was held when the Directors were in our area for their February Board Meeting. An evening walk was followed by a BBQ meal with very good numbers attending. The following

REGISTRATIONS

Been thinking about registering your herd?

Ayrshire New Zealand offer three simple registration methods, to make it easier for you.

• Turn Your Herd On registers all female animals eligible for registration in the herd.

• Age group application will register all eligible females in a specified age range.

• Individual registrations.

Head to www.ayrshire.org.nz/registrations for more details Contact Robyn to arrange your registrations - info@ayrshire.org.nz

TOP & CLASSIFICATION

Help the Ayrshire breed accelerate by inspecting your herd this year!

TOP & Classification helps recognise the progress towards improving the Ayrshire breed, through animals with superior conformation as well as production.

Classification is undertaken by the Association in late spring each year. Animals are scored by trained inspectors on a scale of 1 – 9 for 11 different conformation traits along with scores for ‘udder overall’ and ‘dairy conformation’. These scores are then converted into an ‘award’ that is attached to that animal

Applications for TOP & Classification will be open late Spring. Consider getting your herd done.

For more information: www.ayrshire.org.nz/top-classifications

Ayrshire New Zealand

59

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR We invite your Letters to the Editor. Not all letters will necessarily be published and the Editor reserves the right to edit letters for publication and to have the right of reply on any issues raised. If a letter is not intended for publication please record “Not for publication” on the top of your letter.

ADVERTISERS INDEX Kiteroa - W Kite, Z & M Kite and family Pa Hill - G Travers Brookview - V & S Steiner

Rear Cover Inside Front Inside Rear Cover

Inglecorner - M & H and D Livingstone

pg13

Carmelglen - A & Z Thomson

pg 14

Alltech NZ Ltd

pg 15

Balmaine - B & R Stachurski

pg 16

Ayrshire Genepool New Zealand

pg 30

Kenmure - D Gordon & family

pg 30

Semary Breeding Services

pg 31

CRV Ambreed

pg 32

A LATE PENALTY Fee of $50.00 may apply for any advertisement copy received after the advertised deadline.

Lodore - R & J Hutchings, M Hutchings

pg 33

Waipiri - D & P Fullerton

pg 36

Musica - Ackermann Family

pg 49

BULLETIN SUBSCRIPTION RATES

Glenmore - D & A, C & E and T & S Green

pg 49

Ayrshire Breeders Corp

pg 50

Southwind - A & H Jane

pg 50

Clear View - N McDonald

pg 51

Bonacord - P & A and K & A Allison

pg 52

Glenkylie - R & A and C Stevenson

pg 52

ADVERTISING CONDITIONS The Editor reserves the right to accept, amend or reject any advertisements, editorial or article submitted for publication.

While every effort will be made to publish advertisements as ordered, no responsibility is taken for the failure of an advertisement to appear as ordered or for any errors or omissions in the printed copy.

Members included in membership sub Non-members $15.00 per annum Overseas $45.00 (NZ) per annum

ADVERTISING RATES Page Full Half Quarter

Black & White $ 195.55 $ 115.00 $ 80.50

Full Colour $ 402.50 $ 201.25 $ 97.75

Inside & Rear covers to be negotiated All prices include GST

COMPETITIONS ENTRIES CLOSE

AE figures used in this publication are from the 20/03/2020 run unless otherwise stated

Scenic Snapshot Competition - pg 12

1 May

Dairycare Somatic Cell Competition - pg 35

1 May

Production & Type Progeny Competition - pg 36

1 May

Kiteroa Cream Priority ET Burdette + Prada Marketed by Ayrshire Breeders Corporate

Two of his calves recently sold for $4,000 each!

His ET Sisters Kiteroa Cream Predette ET

Kiteroa Cream Bubbette ET

A 9-9

A 9-9

Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just think about using him.

MAKE IT A PRIORITY

any enquiries

Wally - ph. 021 087 79257 Zane, Marie, Brodie, Jonty, Taleah & Zoe ph. 027 662 0998 kiteroa@xtra.co.nz