In April, Holstein Canada will honor the recipients of the Master Breeder Award for 2016. One herd being honored is Kingsway Farm of Hastings, ON. Read more about Kingsway here.Read more Cowsmo Master Breeder profiles on Cowsmo!
The McMillian family, consisting of Gord & Pauline, along with Morgon and fiance Lindsay Oxby, and Emma & Ethan McMillan make up Kingsway Farm of Hastings, ON, which is receiving a second Master Breeder Shield.
The herd consists of 300 head, with the milking herd housed in a tie-stall barn, with pack barns for hte heifers and dry cows. Calves live in hutches and super-hutches. The herd is no stranger to type-oriented success, boasting 35 EX, 65 VG and 10GP, with production of 39kg 4.2 3.3 234-265-240. The milking herd is fed a TMR. Six-hundred-fifty acres of land are farmed, growing 300 acres of hay, 150 of corn, 100 of soybean and 50 wheat.
Without a doubt, most Holstein enthusiasts are familiar with the success of the Kingsway Terrason Allie EX95-2E-*4 family, responsible for 47 nominations in All-Canadian, All-American and All-Britain contests since 2006.
Another influential family that has helped build the herd is that of Kingsway Lheros Chelsie VG89-2YR-*4, with five generations of All-Canadian nominations tracing back to Chelsie in their pedigrees.
Kingsway Mark Chief EX-6E-*12 is another influential family. One recently notable descendant of that family is Kingsway Airlift Gosling VG-88-2yr, the stunning white heifer that captured attention when she won All-Canadian Intermediate Yearling honors in 2015.
Some new cow families have been added and are rising to the top, bringing even more depth to the Kingsway breeding program. Favorites include Nipponia R D Lizabeth EX96-3E; Knonaudale Jasmine EX-94-3E*2 and Kingsway Goldwyn Drumstick EX-95-2E*6. All of these cows have daughters who have been nominated All-Canadian!
When making purchases, they tend to look for cows with great udders and balanced frames. An emphasis is placed on great pedigrees and sire stacks as well, and they frequently invest in new animals to re-sell or breed from.
Their embryo transfer program has grown over the years as well, increasing the number of cows flushed, as well as the frequency of flushes. They sell embryos, as well as implanting, with an aim of keeping their embryo inventory low, with 95% of their heifers carrying embryos.
With an emphasis on sire stacks, they have found that bulls like Dundee, Goldwyn and Sid have been successful in their herd. They are liking the results they are seeing from their Dempseys, Doormans and Solomans, and continue to use those bulls, along with Callen and a few others.
They note again that great udders and feet and legs are paramount in their herd, and strive for balance-framed, hard-topped cows with great style to compete at the shows. They also desire a balance of production, components and health traits. These are what they feel make up the “true-type” cow!
As a dairy farming family, the McMillans take great pride in having a family dairy farm, where everyone can work together. Their goals for the future include continued growth and developing greater efficiency, giving the next generation the chance to take over.