The Rural Voice, 1981-01, Page 5Bruce dairy farm has excellent production
Alan Whytock, seen here with one ul'his top producing cows,
is a firm believer in using artificial insemination to upgrade
the production figures in his herd.
As you approach the Whytock Dairy Farm on the 4th of
Culross in Bruce County you cannot help but be impressed by the
white painted fence posts which frame the farm and the big, red
brick farm house. Alan Whytock and his wife, Dorothy, started
milking cows here in 1962. Alan's father had been milking
shorthorns, but Alan bought a Holstein at a sale and he soon
found out how much better she milked. So they bred the
shorthorns for beef (which lowered their milk production) and
started to build a herd of Holsteins. Right away they went on the
Dairy Herd Improvement (D.H.I.) program and later they
entered the National Identification Program (N.1.P.) when it
started.
From the beginning, Alan and Dorothy decided not to keep a
bull on the farm. They were raising a family and all five children
were helping in the barn as soon as they were old enough. Also,
Alan explained: "You go out and buy a bull to breed all of your
cows that one year. Because he is not a 'proven' bull you have no
idea if his calves are going to improve your herd. By the time you
find out (three or four years later) that his daughters are indeed
superior, you have long since shipped him. By using A.1. you can
continue to use an individual bull for several years."
Alan also figured that he could keep two or three cows in the
space that one bull would require. The production from these
cows would more tha n offset the cost of A.I. Alan's son, Wayne,
had just returned from the Winter Fair the day I visited the
Whytock farm and he was enthusiastic about the bulls he had
seen there. Wayne told us: "United Breeders bought a bull
yesterday for $80,000 and last year they paid S140,000 for a bull
shown at the Winter Fair. There are very few dairy farmers who
could afford to pay this kind of money for unproven bulls."
TEST RATINGS
Although these unproven bulls are sired by well proven bulls
from dams classified as Excellent or Very Good. United Breeders
must encourage test matings for four to six weeks in herds which
are on production test. Then the use of these bulls is discouraged
until they are proven. In the Holstein breed, 15 to 20 youne bulls
with superior genetic promise are sampled each year by United'
Breeders Inc. On the average, only four out of 20 bulls will be
superior enough, based on daughter information, to return to
service five years later.
The results of using semen from these superior bulls can be
clearly seen in Alan Whytock's production figures. And not all of
his cows are registered. Some of his top producers are the result
of generations of genetic improvement brought about by using
carefully selected bulls in the A.I. Unit.
One wall of the Whytock's den is covered with frame
certificates and awards from various organizations. One of the
awards he received in 1979 was an Outstanding Production
Award from the Bruce County Holstein Club for the highest
composite BCA (Breed Class Average) for a two-year-old named
"Ethel Ace." In 305 days she produced 8643 kg. of milk (BCA
203) and 322 kg. fat (BCA 204).
Wayne Whytock proudly showed me the latest award which
they haven't had time to frame yet. It was from the Holstein -
Friesian Association of Canada for the Highest County Herd
Average: BCA for milk (172), BCA for fat (162) and composite
BCA (167). According to Don Fortune, director of information
and promotion for United Breeders, this places Alan Whytock
fourth in Ontario for herd production figures.
Further proof of the superiority of this herd can be seen in the
Whytock barn where the stalls are occupied with beautiful, black
and white cows which clearly demonstrate the classic Holstein
conformation. Alan Whytock is very modest about his
achievements but his son, Wayne, told me that these cows give
them an average of 16,869 lbs. of milk per year --- an impressive
record in anybody's book.
trend could be in any of the qualities
desired such as: good feet and
legs, mammary systems, udders, rumps,
etc. Some traits are more highly heritable
than others.
The history of artificial insemination
in swine is much more recent. Starting in
1960, Western Ontario Breeders Inc., a
leading cattle A.I. Centre, performed
research and field trials on swine A.I.
Fourteen years later the Ontario Swine
A.I. Association was founded. It is the
only co-operative Swine A.I. organization
operating in Canada, with a license
issued by Agriculture Canada. Consider-
able assistance from Agriculture Canada,
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and
Food, and the Ontario York Producers
Marketing Board lets the Association
make available to the swine industry a
battery of the best performance tested
boars in North America. Semen from this
A.1. unit is flown to customers all across
Canada and overseas. The Association
currently has 825 members.
The pi occdure for using A.I. on a sow
is entirely different from the one followed
for cows. For one thing, a technician
cannot be used to inseminate a sow
because she will probable not go into
'standing' heat with someone strange
around her. Therefore, the herd owner or
manager must take a one -day course put
on by the Ontario Swine A.1. Association
so he can learn to inseminate his own
sows. He (or she) must learn how to work
a sow up in the same manner that a boar
does during a natural breeding.
This "working up" will encourage a
THE RURAL VOICE/JANUARY 1981 PG. 5