Dairy Event 2010: Showing benefits

If there is one word that sums up how a modern Holstein dairy cow should look it is “balanced” says Lancashire Holstein breeder David Tomlinson. He reckons it is something that should apply just as much to cows collecting the silverware at the most prestigious shows to those which never venture further than the farmgate.

But does the show ring, and the breeders who regard it as a valuable showcase for their stock, still provide the commercial milk producers around the ringside with a “blueprint” for the ideal type of cattle they should be wanting to fill their cubicles?

The show ring has always been, and will continue to be, an opportunity to promote stock and genetics. But while it has certainly been the subject of widespread debate in terms of whether or not it truly represents the type of animals commercial dairy farmers should be striving to breed, there are now signs the pendulum of change is starting to swing more towards the functional rather than the fashionable.

“Cows that those people around the ringside know will go home and be put straight back into the cubicle house are the cows that do a good PR job for the breed as well as the breeder at the end of the halter,” says David Tomlinson, who runs the 210-cow Bilsrow herd with his wife Sheila and son James at Bilsborrow, Preston.

While 30-year-old James Tomlinson enjoys showing cattle, he is from an up and coming generation of pedigree Holstein breeders that is increasingly aware of what the show ring should be about.

“Ultimately profit is about life-time yield and that’s why senior, productive and well classified cows that can still win shows please the crowd as well as the judge.

“And I think it’s going to become even more important to the breed that these cows are recognised for their truly commercial value and in doing that they’ll enhance the credibility of the Holstein breed as well as the herd they come from,” says James Tomlinson.

With six 100t cows in the Bilsrow herd – which has a herd average of 10,100kg – longevity and life-time yield means increased profitability. The Tomlinson’s have a benchmark of five lactations and 50,000kg reflecting the age and level of production they aim for.

David Tomlinson says judging trends are changing to reflect the type of cow that can thrive and be profitable as UK herd size increases. “Over the past 40 years the drive for more milk has moved black-and-white herds from the traditional Friesian to the Holstein Friesian and on to the pure Holstein. That brought a major shift towards a more extreme type of cow and along the way the breed has confused angularity with dairyness. And in turn judges have followed fashion and shown a preference for taller, sharper animals.

“These cows have been capable of producing more milk, but longevity has become an issue and chest width has been lost.

“But trends are always changing in livestock breeding and the pendulum is now swinging back towards a less extreme type of Holstein that will fulfil it’s primary role of providing farmers with an animal capable of sustaining profitable milk production beyond two or three lactations – and that’s the type of cow whose type traits need to be recognised in the show ring,” says David Tomlinson.

“A few years ago you could probably stand at the side of the ring and choose the winners simply based on their size and scope. That’s not the case today. And as we see more of the younger generation coming through as judges that trend will increase, simply because they are the men and women who’ll be managing the bigger herds of the future.”