The Rural Voice, 1990-07, Page 31but Canadian cows last longer and so
are more profitable in the long run.
Glen's assessment of the quality
of Canadian Holsteins is based on his
experience judging them — he's
Huron County's only official Holstein
Canada judge. That has meant ex-
tensive travelling for Glen, who has
judged in Spain, England, Ireland, and
Japan. He left for Ecuador in June,
and is off to Illinois this month.
"I like large, upstanding dairy
cattle, with well -attached udders and
good legs and feet, that look like they
can milk," Glen says. The primary
role of dairy cows is the be "efficient
converters" of feed to milk, and only
the correct type can achieve high
production and sustain it, he adds.
This summer, Glen will be re-
turning to Japan to conduct a judging
school. Japan, he notes, has been im-
porting some of Canada's best Hol-
steins for the past 25 years. "They
want the best," he says, "Quality is
the hallmark of Japan."
Japanese dairy farms, he adds, tend
to be more condensed than Canadian
farms. Buildings are more concen-
trated, and the number of cattle per
acre is higher. Forages are often im-
ported as well, partly because of acre-
age limitations and a wetter summer
climate, but also because the Japanese
are willing to pay for top quality.
When Glen was in Japan two years
Dairymen around the
world look to Canadian
Holsteins, says Holstein
judge and breeder Glen
McNeil. "We have the
best type cow in the
world." American cows,
he adds, tend to produce
more milk per lactation,
but Canadian cows last
longer and so are more
profitable in the long run.
ago, for example, Japanese farmers
were paying $12.50 for a 55 -pound
bale of hay imported from California.
The Japanese desire for quality
also extends to the price consumers
there will pay for milk — farmers in
Japan get twice as much for milk as
farmers in Canada, Glen says.
Glen's judging means he's often
away. He's also on the board of dir-
ectors of United Breeders, on the
Holstein Sire Committee, and reads
pedigrees at Carson's Auction Serv-
ices in Listowel. The farm work is
covered by Cliff and by Greg Feagan,
the full-time herdsman who has been
with Heather Holme for eight years.
Of prime importance on the farm is
the feed that complements the genetics
of the herd. Good genetics combined
with top quality feed produces a "win-
win" situation, Glen says.
He cites two technological
advances as the most important in the
dairy industry in recent years. "One is
the opportunity to use the best genet-
ics (through United Breeders) wher-
ever they are in Canada on a day to
day basis."
Another is the improvement in feed
quality and the refinement of products
to enhance forages. "If you have top
genetics, you cannot really allow the
cows to show their ability unless you
also have the feed with it."
The McNeils have won impressive
awards for their hay as well as their
cattle, including many local prizes and
the World Hay Championship at the
Royal Winter Fair in 1984. On their
130 -acre farm, they grow 70 acres of
hay as well as 22 acres of corn and 20
of oats. They buy their protein,
minerals, and some high moisture corn
to finish filling the silo in the fall.
To increase haying efficiency, the
McNeils recently purchased a round
baler and built a storage shed for the
hay. They also started using Super -
Hay, a biotechnical hay inoculant
made by Biotal Canada and distributed
in Ontario by First Line Seeds of
Guelph. Glen notes that it's important
to keep the large bales mould -free. "If
you lose one of these big bales, you
lose a lot of hay, and I just couldn't
afford that."
Hay quality has improved with the
inoculant, Glen says. Last year he
baled 600 round bales of alfalfa with
timothy (80-20) and sprayed all but 50
with Super -Hay, marking the untreat-
ed bales for future comparison. The
unsprayed bales "were dusty and not
nearly as palatable," Glen says. "The
spray -treated bales kept their quality
and were as perfect at the end of win-
ter as when we put them up." Even
hay harvested at 25 per cent moisture
produced excellent bales, he adds.
"Dairying is a very competitive
business," he says. "When dealing in
a world-wide market, you have to be
conscious of advantages."
Excellent livestock and forages are
two of those advantages. But so is the
Canadian supply management system,
Glen says. "Because of our supply
management system here we have
demonstrated that we can balance the
demand for milk with the supply."
Canada's advantage in supply
management has, in fact, become a
model for other countries who have
adopted and adapted the system. The
GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs
and Trade) talks that could challenge
supply management are, says Glen,
"very frustrating."
"You don't fix it if it isn't broken,"
he says. "Sometimes I wish our
politicians had a little stronger spine
as far as Canada is concerned."0
JULY 1990 27