Lockmar Holsteins of Sutton West, ON is receiving their second Master Breeder Shield at the Canadian National Holstein Convention in Alberta.
On the farm are Jim and Carol, along with sons Scott and Andrew, and Andrew’s wife Elyse. Jim’s father Byron is still active on the farm, coming to the barn every day at 90 years of age. Jim and Carol’s oldest son, Mark, works as a Licensed Plumber. Mark and his wife Janice, have a daughter Paisley and are expecting their second child in April. Andrew and Elyse recently welcomed son James in January.
Working together to care for their 240 head herd, of which there are 75 head milking, the Lockie family houses their milk cows in a tie-stall barn with TMR feeding. They utilize hutches for their calves, and heifers live in a pack barn. The Lockie’s farm 800 acres of wheat, corn, soybeans, barley and hay.
The milking herd is fed a TMR mix of corn silage, haylage, high moisture corn and soymeal, with dry hay fed twice daily. Purchased feed for the farm includes soymeal, a mineral premix, calf starter and milk replacer.
The herd currently boasts 21 Multiple-Excellents cows, along with nine other Excellents; 74 Very Good individuals and 30 Good Plus. The current herd average is at 11,505kg Milk with a BCA at 253-295-260.
Over the years, the Lockie family has worked to improve the facilities on their farm, including an addition to the old barn in 1994, and then again in 2005. This increase the amount of stalls to 70 and included two boxstalls. In 2012, they renovated all the old stabling in the old section of the barn to suspend all the dividers, and Legend Rubber Mats were installed. Other improvements over the years have included new implement sheds, hay barns, a manure pit, grain storage facilities, a grain drying system and also new heifer barns.
Jim’s original goal when he began his adventure of breeding registered Holsteins was to take his father Byron’s herd and work towards a 100% purebred, homebred herd. After he accomplished that goal, he set his sights on breeding the first Excellent cow to carry the Lockmar prefix. That goal came to fruition with Lockmar Astro Jet Allison, who was a big contributor to both Mast Breeder Shields.
“I can still remember the feeling of getting that first homebred Excellent,” recalls Jim. “After we achieved that, I wanted to tackle my ultimate dream, and that was to achieve Master Breeder. Growing up in York County, I had the opportunity to see some of the world’s greatest herds, such as Romandale, Oak Ridges, Quality, Sunny Maple, Farisview and so many more. Naturally my goal was to breed cows the way these amazing herds have, and join the ranks of Master Breeder with these herds.”
There are two maternal sisters, Lockmar Ada Ileen and Lockmar Ned Holly, who have been influential in helping to earn the Master Breeder Shields with their offspring, as has Lockmar Raider Jasmine. These families are all homebred.
When selecting bulls to use in their herd, they tend to look for a bull that will breed for both show-style type, longevity and good production. Currently the bulls they feel are impacting their herd positively include Sid, Windbrook, Doorman, Atwood, Soloman and McCutchen. Past bulls that have had influence in the herd include Ned, Astro Jet, Raider, Leader, Charles, Gibson and Goldwyn.
The Lockie’s have gotten away from flushing as much as they used to, however when it is utilized, it is to help further the development of the herd as opposed to producing extra embryos for sale.
The herd is 100% homebred, and has been for quite some time. In the late 1970’s several key purchases were made to develop a foundation from Master Breeder herds such as Raivue and Dougal Lea Holsteins.
Over the years, the breeding philosophy the Lockie’s subscribe to hasn’t changed much, and either have their goals.
“We feel that we have done well with our breeding methods, so why change?” muses Jim.
The goals for the future at Lockmar looks a lot like the goals of the past: they wish to continue to strive to breed “The Canadian Kind.” High type cows with high production, who last a very long time. In the end, they feel those cows are the type that are the most profitable.
Cowsmopolitan wishes to congratulate the Lockie family on the outstanding accomplishments of their home-bred Lockmar herd.
