Archive for November, 2006

Next Entries »

Avenues of Income - Guest Blogger Joe Engel, Luck-E Holsteins

Friday, November 17th, 2006

Holstein World: How heavily do you rely on foreign sales of embryos? How do you reach buyers locally and abroad?

Joe Engel: In the past couples years we have started to export a lot more embryos than we used to. This has helped us be able to expand our flushing program so we can increase the size of our main cow families.

Advertising has helped build our embryo market. Our website has been the most beneficial, and show placings have helped too. As far as selling genetics in the U.S., word of mouth accounts for most sales. That’s why we are very happy when we see animals from our farm do well for others.

Posted in Guest Blogger Series by sschmidt | No Comments »

What the Breed Needs Now-Guest Blogger Joe Engel, Luck-E Holsteins

Thursday, November 16th, 2006
Holstein World: You”re young and obviously committed to making a living in the dairy and purebred Holstein industry. What does the breed need to do to maintain its success and ensure the livelihood of fellow Holstein breeders?
Joe Engel: I think we need to strive to breed cows that are efficient for the facilities we use today. I think it is important that we try to breed cows with extreme balance so they can be profitable in the many types of facilities and management styles out there. Cows need to be strong enough to compete in large groups and still have the dairyness to produce large volumes milk year after year. It is more important than ever for cows to have correct legs so they can last no matter what kind of housing. They also need to be wide from end to end so they have a big muzzle, udders that can hold a lot of milk without being deep and rumps that are wide and properly sloped so they can calve with ease and breed back fast. I think it’s also important that cows have quality udders that are low maintenance. Low scc premiums make a big difference, especially when milk price is down.
We have noticed two big differences since we moved into freestalls 11 years ago. The first is it takes a stronger cow than it used to in tiestalls since the cows have to compete more being in large groups. At the same time it is very important not to sacrifice dairyness to get this strength. That’s why I think Holstein Association made a smart decision making dairy strength a breakdown in the classification program. It also takes a more massive cow, at least for us, than it used. The more pounds of forage a cow can eat, the cheaper we can get milk from her. The other thing we have noticed is cows with a little straighter leg tend to last longer walking on cement over the years for us.

Posted in Guest Blogger Series by jbrown | No Comments »

Guest Blogger Joe Engel: Impact of Canadian herds at Luck-E

Wednesday, November 15th, 2006

Holstein World:  You built your current herd by purchasing herds from Canada-how has the border closing affected your a) expansion program b) merchandising program?
 

Joe Engel:
Canadian cattle have definitely had a huge impact on our herd.  Luckily when the border closed, with previous purchased herds and two more herds bought just weeks before the closing, our primary nucleus had already been formed.  We were almost too full at the time but it turned out to be a blessing.  When the border closed it definitely had an impact on us.  Bringing cows down was not only a big part of our business, but something we really enjoyed.  Fortunately we had a big inventory of young stock on the farm so we could keep merchandising without affecting our milk cow numbers.  We usually calve about 115 heifers per year; this allows us to sell about 80 females per year without loosing numbers.  It is more important than ever for us to aim for low maintenance cows that breed fast so we can continue to do this. 

We have also worked to increase embryo sales to help fill the gap of not being able to bring cows down for resale. Increased flushing has also helped us build upon our main cow families, which has definitely made a positive impact on herd.

                                         

Posted in Guest Blogger Series, Uncategorized by jbrown | No Comments »

Using Advent-Guest Blogger Joe Engel, Luck-E Holsteins

Tuesday, November 14th, 2006

Holstein World:
Obviously, you””ve had some success with the very popular Advent bull. What are the traits he sires that work especially well for matings in the Luck-E herd?  Can you tell us more about your two Advent stars?  Are they still at home?  Being flushed?  Being shown?  How have they helped the Luck-E merchandising program?
 

Joe Engel, Luck-E Holsteins:
Our Advents are well balanced cows with deep, sweeping ribs and have a lot of style.  His best traits are the ability to sire dairy strength and aggressive eaters. This combination makes them work good for our freestalls and being a red bull, I think this makes him an ideal match for many Rubens and Talent daughters. We have had two Advents score VG-88 as two year olds. Kite, the red one, we sold this summer and Kalotta, the black one, we flushed earlier this fall and exported embryos.  We are now going to breed her back, but plan to flush her more next year.  Her Rubens dam is now being flushed to fill demand for embryos.  We plan to keep flushing more cows to Advent.  Our most recent advent flush was to Bikini EX-92. We are excited about bringing red carrier into this family since Bikini is our favorite cow.

 

 

Posted in Guest Blogger Series, Uncategorized by jbrown | No Comments »

Guest Blogger Joe Engel, Hampshire, IL-Luck-E Holsteins

Monday, November 13th, 2006

This week we are pleased to have our first guest blogger series.  Joe Engel of Luck-E Holsteins, Hampshire, IL, initiates this series.  Look for his continuing interview throughout this week, beginning with a bit of an introduction to the Luck-E operation-

 Holstein World: What are the current stats at Luck-E?  Number of Acres farmed, type of facilities?  Family members involved?  Sires being used?  Major cow families that are being developed?
 
Joe Engel of Luck-E Holsteins, Hampshire, IL:We are currently milking 155 cows and have about 225 heifers and 50 bulls.  Our farm is 185 acres and we farm a total of 500 acres. We grow all our own cornsilage, haylage, and high moisture corn. But we buy most of our dry hay.  The cows are milked in a 38 cow tie stall barn with 19 units (1 between each pair).  The cows are housed in sand freestalls. The main barn has 110 freestalls, our new barn for high producers has 48 freestalls, and the fresh cow pen has 14 freestalls.  The calves are raised in calf hutches and then go to our new heifer shed until pregnant then they move to another farm so they have access to pasture.  My brother Matt and I are partners with my parents who started the farm 40 years ago.  The main sires being used are Dundee, Talent, Advent, Goldwyn and most recently Affirmed.  Our first Talent daughters are now fresh and look really good!  The family that has been at Luck-E the longest is the Klassy family.  Klassy is a second generation EX-94.  Klassy has transmitted very well for us for multiple generations, family members include two VG-88 2yr old granddaughters by Advent and farther down the line great great granddaughter Luck-E Kartoon.  Other main families include: The Ashley family, Ashley was an EX-94 Starbuck that had six EX daughers, the most well known member is her granddaughter Luck-E Blitz Australia.  Another family is the Bobbi family.  Bobbi VG-88-2yr had six daughters, all of which went excellent.  One of which is Luck-E Jed Bikini EX-92, she is currently our favorite cow in the herd and being flushed at Sunshine Genetics.  The last family is the Starbuck Truly family. Truly is an EX Starbuck from a VG-CAN Triple Threat. The most notable branch of this family is the daughters of Trust Lee EX-93, the first three are VG-87, VG-88, and VG-89 as 2yr olds.

 Holstein World: Joe’’s interview continues all this week!  For a look at the Luck-E website, visit www.holsteinworld.com/luck-e.  Remember to check in each day for more from Luck-E Holsteins and stay tuned as we ask a number of breeders and enthusiasts to share their experiences, philosophies, and a few tips with us!  

Posted in Guest Blogger Series by jbrown | No Comments »

Next Entries »