In April, Holstein Canada will honor the recipients of the Master Breeder Award for 2016. One herd being honored is the Wagler family of Claynook Farms Ltd of Hamburg, ON, with their second Master Breeder shield. Read more about Claynook Farms here.Read more Cowsmo Master Breeder profiles on Cowsmo!
Claynook Farms Ltd of Hamburg, ON has been selected to receive their second Master Breeder Shield. Claynook Farms consists of Dennis & Betty Ann Wagler, Wayne & Mary Wagler and Marcus Wagler and has 600 head total.
The milking herd is housed in a tie-stall barn with a 2x 305d 12,011 herd average at 4.2% fat and 3.3% protein, 280-313-285. There are 22EX, 106VG, 75GP and 5G cows in the herd. In 2001, a new tie-stall barn was built, which can house 183 head.
The Waglers farm 600-plus acres on which they grow alfalfa, corn silage, grain corn, wheat and soybeans. The herd is fed a TMR made up of corn silage, high-moisture grain corn, alfalfa haylage, soybean meal, a mineral supplement and some rumen bypass fat. All feed is grown, except for the mineral supplement, soybean meal and bypass fat.
Three cow families have factored heavily into their Master Breeder shield, two homebred and one purchased: Claynook Opal Aerostar VG87-20*, Claynook Tina Allen VG88-17* and OCD Planet Diamond EX90-12*
When making a purchase, the Waglers look for a cow with correct conformation and with high GLPI and/or GTPI numbers, with high indices for conformation. They use these same parameters in sire selection as well.
They have been operating a flush program for nearly 30 years, preferring convention flushing to IVF flushing because of the lower cost. They both implant and sell embryos, including a global market, as well as putting some bulls into AI.
Over the years, their breeding philosophy has changed as they were an early believer in and adopter of using genomic information. The Waglers didn’t start out working to achieve a Master Breeder Shield, but instead have focused on breeding a herd of cattle that can provide a good life for their families. Goals for the future include continuing to improve the farm and herd to pass on to future generations, if the interest is there.