This might not be the first Master Breeder shield for Lloyd and his family at River Dale but the excitement level is all the same!
Farm Operation Stats at River Dale Holsteins
Total # of animals – milking and total: 33 milking and 44
Herd Classification: 11EX 17VG 7GP
Herd Production: BCA 260-272-258
# Acres – forage and grains grown? 80 acres total – grow 30 acres mixed grain 30 acres alfalfa and 20 acres corn silage
Type of Feed Fed? Feed component ration – baylage, corn silage and grain with a top dress
Do you buy or make all of your own feed? We purchase all of our protein components and corn.
Name people involved in the farm?
Lloyd and his wife and some of the children.
Was achieving your Master Breeder shield a goal you set when you 1st started breeding cattle?
Never was a goal and now I’ve got my second one – just love my cows,but was never a part of the plan.
Most influential cow family(s) that helped earn the Master Breeder Shield? Was she or they purchased or bred?
We don’t really have one major outstanding family – there’s a bunch of different families that have contributed equally. We’ve bought heifers and cows in the past that have done really well for us but we’ve also bred a lot that have helped us too.
Sire that worked well and you feel had the most impact on your herd?
September Storm has really really worked well for me and previous to him we had a lot of success with Astre and Gibson bloodlines in the herd. More recently we’ve had more Goldwyn son daughters starting to calve in.
What bulls are you using now? What do you look for in a sire? Would you say you are type, genomic, production focused or a combination of these?
Right now I’m using Sid and Dempsey, Fever, Atwood, Aftershock and McCutcheon. I select for high Type – the higher the number the better! I don’t like to see bulls that have major holes in them – like with Atwood, I really have to becareful with his high pins. I breed for type and feed for milk.
Have you changed your breeding philosophy over the years at all? Why?
I’m starting to use bulls with a bit of milk and using some young sires here and there.
Before achieving your Master Breeder Shield what would you consider your greatest accomplishment as a Dairy Farmer and Holstein Breeder.
Winning my first Master Breeder Shield!
Future Goals?
Want to continue maintaining what I have here and hope that my children become more and more involved and hopefully they become dairy farmers also.
Name an animal (cow or bull) in the breed you admire the most and give reason why?
Goldwyn by far is a bull to admire in the industry – he’s changed the breed forever I think.
When I was a teen ager I alway dreamed of having a cow like Charity!