Don & Linda Green and Brenda & Brent Roszell of Feederlane Holsteins in Wainfleet, ON milking 75 head in a double 8 parabone paroulour, and housed in a compost pack barn built in 2010. The herd boasts seven Multiple Excellents, five Excellents, 41 Very Goods and 24 Good Plus, with a Rolling herd average of 237-353-233.
They farm 350 acres, and freed a TMR made from haylage, corn silage, high moisture corn, baleage and purchased protein and mineral supplements.
Winning this first Master Breeder Shield has always been a dream of Don’s, and several animals figured in prominently in the award including Feederlane Lindy Elaine, who’s descendants contributed 96 points to the shield. Feederlane Cosmo Tootsie’s three sets of twins and their offspring also contributed 67 points. One of the sets of twins, Feederlane Allen Tamara EX-6E and Tara EX-4E were also the Grand and Reserve Grand Champions at the 2006 Niagara County show.
Sires that have worked well in their breeding program include Allen, Storm, September Storm, FBI and Goldwyn. Daughters of these sires contributed the majority of the Master Breeder Points. More recently they have had success with Fever and Sid as well. Current service sires include Impression, Chelios, Smokin, Superpower and high genomic sires like Doorman, Soloman, Stantons Bookeeper and Capital Gain.
The breeding philosophy they subscribe to hasn’t changed much over the years. They continue to try and match the cow’s faults to the bull’s strengths, to improve the herd with each generation.
Cattle are rarely purchased at Feederlane, with the last purchases being in 2010 to help fill the quota when the new barn was built. They also do not flush cows in the herd very often.
In the future, their main goal is to continue to improve their overall herd management score while maintaining conformation.
Other accomplishments of pride include being named the Premier Breeder at the Niagara County Holstein Show in 2006 and again in 2014, as well as exhibiting the Grand Champion in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2011 and 2013. In 2007, they received the award for the most improved DHI herd in Niagara County.
