Before that year, their herd’s balanced performance index (BPI) was consistently below breed average but since that time it has consistently bettered the national average. The BPI is a measure of genetic merit for the key traits that affect dairy farm profitability.
Two major changes in 2021 have been instrumental in turning around their herd’s genetics - moving from a Jersey-Holstein mix to concentrate solely on Jerseys and starting genomic testing.
Their herd now ranks 63 in Australia for BPI with an average of 45. It consistently tracks above national average for genetic progress for longevity and has made significant improvements in genetic merit for fertility and mastitis.
Chloe says concentrating on one breed and genomic testing all calves have been significant contributors to their success, with data playing a big role in their decision making.
“We’ve got history going back multi-generations and then genomics builds the story for what we do,” she said.
“It gives us really good data to be able to make good decisions.”
Chloe and Rodney have been leasing his parents’ farm since 2016. They started with a five-year plan to go straight Jerseys, but it took a clearance sale to push them into action.
“In 2021, Jamie Drury’s herd of cows was up for dispersal at Tamworth,” Chloe said.
“It was a great herd so we bought 50 and sold about 80 Holsteins and also bought some local Jerseys.
“We had the five-year plan but hadn’t done anything about it, then with great dispersals, we could do it.”
Rodney had the Jersey portion of his family’s herd and continues to prefer the breed for its smaller stature, good feed conversion and high components.
“Our farm has a heavy clay base and can pug easily so the Holsteins did way more damage,” he said.
“We also thought it would be easier to manage one herd, especially when it came to feeding. Concentrating on one breed has definitely improved the quality of the herd.”
They now milk about 200 cows on a compact 133 hectares, which also has to maintain young stock.
As part of their changes, Chloe and Rodney moved away from “just joining cows”.
“We have a clear vision of the type of cow we want,” Chloe said.
“She needs to be strong in stature, milk really well, especially in terms of components, convert really well and do better on less, and she must get in calf.
“We focus on fertility, components and strength.”
They use selective mating, with genomics data becoming a more important cornerstone of their plans. At least 80 per cent of the herd has been genomically tested.
“We probably didn’t use the data as well as we should have at the start but now you realise you can’t do anything without data,” Rodney said.
“Now we look at the genomic data and every cow is visually assessed in the paddock and we have so much breeding and classification history to look back on. It becomes part of the jigsaw puzzle to figure out what we want.”
With their breeding consultant, Chloe and Rodney go through DataGene’s Good Bulls Guide to look at their best options.
“We look at who is at the top, what can we use, and what suits our herd. A bull might be number one in the country, but we ask ourselves will he actually suit our cows and can we achieve what we want to achieve with that bull.”
Nearly 80 per cent of their cows are bred from bulls that meet DataGene’s Good Bulls criteria.
The bulls they have chosen over the past 10 years have improved their cows for BPI, HWI overall type, protein, fat, fertility, mastitis resistance and longevity.
While the vast majority of these improvements fit their goals and breeding choices, Chloe describes the improved longevity as a happy accident, not that she is complaining.
“It’s not a main focus but we always love having cows productive for as long as possible.”
They use a mix of sexed semen on cows along with conventional semen and a small percentage of beef semen.
While Jerseys are now their focus with cross-breeds exiting the herd, eldest daughter Charlotte, 11, decided to start her own herd this year, so a sprinkle of Holstein Reds have been added to the mix.
The herd calves in March-April and all heifer calves are genomically tested.
“We rear all the heifers to avoid the bobby calf market,” Chloe said.
“That means we rear more heifers than we need, genomically test them, and then export the tail end.
“This year I reared 50, all genomically tested, but we only need to bring 35 in so we keep the best. The first line of defence is the genomics. “
Exports are a good source of extra income for the business.
“Jerseys are never going to get as much as Holsteins but there is still a good market for them,” Rodney said.
“We take out from the bottom and they’re ready to go. We’ve got history going back multi-generations for everything and then genomics builds the story for what we do.”
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