a 40,000
lb rolling
herd
average
was the
new norm?
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JC-KOW Farms, Whitewater, WI
They have the highest rolling herd average (RHA) in
Wisconsin and possibly the country. His 200-cow
herd has a 305 day average of 40,280 pounds of
milk, 1,200 pounds of protein and 1,330 pounds of
fat on three-times-a-day milking. He grew his herd
from within improving each generation with genetic
selection while never forgetting the importance of
good feed, cow comfort, and attention to detail.
Key Areas of Focus that Kollwelter Dairy would
contribute to their success in achieving 40,000 RHA:
Technology - Embraced it and adapt to it for breeding, cropping, and milking
· Uses aerial mapping and GPS to apply fertilizer and micronutrients injected through center pivot irrigation system
· Utilizing Genomic Testing to ensure appropriate retention of both herd bulls and cows
· Through his parlor he added a cow management tool with cow activity transponders to aid in better heat detection
Genomics – Utilize to cherry pick best genetics and grow his herd with those genetics
· Focuses very heavily on flushing best cows and mating those to the best bulls and then doing embryo transfer work to rapidly expand those genetics
· For mating uses In Breeding Cow Calculator from the Holstein Group
Cropping – Focuses on consistency and the use of technologies to achieve more consistency · Irrigation techniques and fertilization through his irrigation pivot
· Take weekly clippings of haylage to determine optimum harvest time for maximum quality
· All haylage is cut and chopped in 24 hours
· Is achieving high tonnage and high quality of both haylage and corn silage on a limited number acres (around 500 acres in total)
· For corn and corn silage, his plant density is 40,000 plants per acre
Feed Management – Use of TMR mixer, storage management/facility
· All feed is stored in bags and black top to limit dirt and foreign material from getting in their TMR
Cow Comfort – Sand stalls, fans, sprinklers, not overcrowding, not pushing the cows
· 7 Day Fresh Pen for cows & 10 Day Fresh Pen for heifers and these pens are always below 100% stocking density
· Stocking density is at 75% for milk cows. Has approximately 200 cows for 300 stalls
Resource Management – Utilizing outside resources and people that can contribute to the
decision making on the farm
· Uses Sunshine Genetics for ET work
· Vet and Nutritionists
· Winfield Solutions and FS Frontier for cropping data collection