Farmer case study from ADHIS
(the Australian Dairy Herd Improvement Scheme)
HEAD: Decisions made easy
While computerised records have had many benefits for Alan and Gwen Macqueen’s dairy farm
business, one of the most obvious has been the herd’s impressive genetic gains, particularly over
the past eight years. The Macqueens have been in the top 2% of herds since 2005. Since then they
have steadily moved up the ranks from #70 in 2005 to #16 in 2012.
The Macqueen’s say the value they get from their detailed herd records far outweighs the effort in
collecting and entering the data. They refer to their records, and the reports generated from their
herd management software for making day-to-day decisions and for longer term planning.
Mr Macqueen has maintained a stock register since 1970 when they established the herd and Mrs
Macqueen took over the responsibility in 1998 when the system was computerised. She considers
herself the guardian of the records and is meticulous about making sure the information recorded
is both accurate and complete.
Although Mrs Macqueen enters most of the information on the computer, and generates the
reports, everyone working on the farm has a role in collecting the data and using the reports.
The Macqueen’s dairy farm is located on the northern edge of Wilsons Promontory National Park.
They milk 230 autumn-calving cows and rear replacement stock on a combined dryland area of
141ha, with a production target of about 600kg milk solids per cow each lactation. The feeding
system is pasture-based with milkers fed about 2.2 tonnes of pellets per cow per year.
Now in their seventies, the Macqueens describe themselves as ‘semi-retired.’ Over the past 12
years they have employed several young, enthusiastic and skilful managers. Their current manager
Rodney Gundrill takes charge of all milk production, the herd and pasture management and the
daily operating tasks. He is assisted by Danny Stevenson and Billy Davy.
Staff record information as they go about their daily activities. Pocket books are used away from
the dairy and a white board is used in the dairy for milking alerts such as cows being treated for
mastitis. Later, all information is handwritten into one of six exercise books for: mastitis, other
health treatments, paddock treatments, mating records, heat observations and AI/calving.
“The direct use of an electronic data capture device for calving, AI and herd health information
would probably save some time but having hard copies gives us the opportunity to check data for
accuracy before and after it goes on the computer,” Mrs Macqueen said.
About once a week, or more often at calving and joining times, Mrs Macqueen enters the data into
the computer.
The on-farm software used by the Macqueens enables herd recording data to be transferred
automatically. This means most of the herd information is stored in the one place, on the
Macqueen’s computer.
“Because we record all our joining details I can print out a report the day before preg testing is due
to be done. This assists with accurate preg testing results. And at calving time we generate
another report that enables us to accurately identify each calf’s sire.”
The Macqueen’s detailed records are also used for mating and culling decisions.
For breeding decisions, the Macqueens work closely with Paul Cocksedge, who was their farm
manager from 2000-2005.
“While he worked for us, Paul made major improvements to the genetic advancement of our herd.
When he moved to another job, he continued to help with sire selecting on a consultancy basis,”
Mrs Macqueen said.
Bulls are selected mostly for their Australian Profit Ranking (APR) but consideration is also given to
udder conformation, particularly udder depth and centre ligament.
“These are the essential traits for high producing and long lasting
cows,” she said.
Having good records enables the Macqueens to run their season’s
sires through a pedigree-based mating program to avoid inbreeding.
ADHIS is an initiative of Australian Dairy Farmers’, that receives the
majority of its funding from Dairy Australia through the Dairy
Services Levy.
For more information contact Michelle Axford at ADHIS ph (03)
8621-4240 or email maxford@adhis.com.au.
ENDS
Photo: Click here to receive a high res image by automatic email adhisMacqueen@monkscom.com.au
Caption: Avid users of records (from left): Gwen Macqueen, Alan
Macqueen,
About ADHIS (background information for media)
The Australian Dairy Herd Improvement Scheme (ADHIS) is an initiative of the Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF) to assist genetic improvement in the
dairy industry. ADHIS maintains a national database of performance and pedigree details for individual dairy animals. The data base is used to
generate Australian Breeding Values (ABVs) which indicate a cow or bull’s potential genetic merit (ie it’s breeding value to a dairy herd).
Genetic gain has increased significantly since 1983 when farmers began utilising ABVs. Each year the genetic merit of artificially bred cows is
increasing, worth about $9.40/cow/yr in extra profit. The value of these gains to the industry is approximately $20 million per year. ADHIS is partly
funded by farmer levies through Dairy Australia.
ABVs and ABV(g)s are produced for a variety of traits including milk yield and composition, workability and survival as well as profitability. Updated
ABVs are released twice a year (April and August) for use by dairy farmers and artificial breeding companies. ADHIS also releases ABV(i)s for
foreign bulls three times per year (January, April and August).
ADHIS is an initiative of Australian Dairy Farmers’, that receives the majority of its funding from Dairy Australia through the Dairy Services levy.