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Published Sep 06, 2023 • 4 minute read
Molly King shows her calf at the Grand River Dairy Show. jpg, KC, apsmc
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August has been a busy month for the South Bruce Dairy Club, starting with the Grey Bruce judging competition on Aug. 2.
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The club has been practicing judging at each meeting in preparation for the competition. This year there were eight classes.
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In four of the classes, competitors had to give reasons and the other four were non-reason classes.
Once the judging was finished, members enjoyed pizza and games while the points were tallied.
When the results were announced the South Bruce Dairy Club members did well with five of the seven who competed placing in the top five of their age groups.
A few days later was the Lucknow Dairy 4-H Invitational.
The Lucknow Dairy 4-H Invitational is the largest one-day 4-H Dairy show in Canada. There were over 120 competitors.
This year, six members from the South Bruce Dairy 4-H Club attended the show.
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The members were up early in order to have all the calves ready before the show started. The first of the calves arrived in Lucknow before 5 a.m. By eight o’clock, the South Bruce pack was buzzing with activity. At the end of the day, everyone was tired, but it had been a good show.
The next show was the Hanover Brown Swiss Breed Show.
Breed shows are different than 4-H shows. In a breed show, only heifers and cows of that particular breed can be shown.
The members showing Brown Swiss calves this year did well with all of them finishing in the top five in either Junior or Senior Showmanship.
Members of the South Bruce 4-H Dairy Club wash their calves before a show. jpg, KC, apsmc
Two weeks later, three members drove to Elora for the Grand River Dairy Show.
This was the fourth qualifier for the Bruce County TD Classic Dairy Team. By now, the members and their calves were getting used to the show day routine. Late nights before getting everything ready, followed by an early morning, a long drive, and a full day of showing.
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The last show in August was the Bruce Grey Holstein Breed Show. Here, the members showing Holsteins placed very well in both showmanship and conformation with several first place being won.
Each show was a little different, but overall the club has done well with multiple high placings at the shows.
The club also held their final meeting on Aug. 30 at Ikendale Farms in Walkerton.
Ikendale Farms was started in 1952. They were one of the first farms to adopt quota when it came in. They are currently milking 410 cows in a 30-stall rotary parlour. They farm 2,000 acres between the land they own and rent.
Tyler Kuntz (third generation) led the tour starting with the “Hospital Barn.”
The Hospital Barn was built in 1980. When the barn was built, it was the milking barn. When they upgraded to a new barn with a rotary parlour in 2005, the old barn became the hospital barn where the fresh cows and treated cows are milked in the old double eight parlour.
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The next stop on the tour was the calf barn.
After being born in the hospital barn, new calves are moved to the calf barn. Here the calf is housed individually and fed colostrum from its dam.
At three to five days old, the calf is moved to a group pen where it is fed by a robotic milk feeder until it is weaned. Once a group of calves is weaned, they are moved to the heifer barn. The pens are cleaned between groups of calves to prevent disease transmission.
Calves in the calf barn at Ikendale Farms in Walkerton. jpg, KC, apsmc
By then it was time for milking to start. While the club walked up to the milking barn, Tyler explained the different crops that they grow and how the crops are used to feed the over 900 cattle on the farm.
This year they tried growing winter canola for the first time. In the last two years, they have built bunker silos in order to store more of the forages on the farm.
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Once the club reached the milking barn, Tyler showed the club the rotary parlour. Unlike other parlours where the farmer walks up and down the parlour milking the cows, with a rotary parlour, the cows load into the parlour which slowly rotates, so the farmer can stand in one spot washing udders or putting on milkers. Also unlike other parlours, which can only milk a limited number of cows before reloading, the rotary parlour doesn’t stop. The cows load and are milked as the parlour spins, and when the parlour has completed a full turn, the cows are finished milking and back off the parlour and walk back to their pen.
Tyler told the club that they milk three times a day and that each milking takes four hours.
Members of the South Bruce 4-H Dairy Club tour Ikendale Farms and watch the milking operation. jpg, KC, apsmc
In order to keep everything running, Ikendale Farms employs over 20 employees, including two herd managers.
After watching milking for a while, the club finished by touring the free stall barn where the cows live and the heifer barn. After the tour the club ended the meeting with the year-end quiz reviewing everything they have learned this year.
The club’s achievement day show will be held at the Mildmay Fall Fair.
The club would like to thank Tyler Kuntz for taking the time to show the club around and explain their operation.
Submitted by Sarah Weber
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