Morsan Farms Open House
“Farming at Morsan is not only a Passion but an Obsession, our business benefits from the natural skills of people and the innate toughness and longevity of the Canadian Holstein Breed. Morsan Farms is a family business where integrity and attention to detail are key ingredients to our success.”
This is the opening paragraph to the Morsan Farms herd brochure that I received upon arriving at the farm for their Open House on Friday, July 4th, the day after the Morsan Mountain High II Sale. Often times you will happen upon some writing that really impresses you. However, it is truly a noteworthy attribute when what you see on paper is clearly displayed in person. Morsan has accomplished this feat with truly awesome cows, facilities and people.
The herd brochure (more like a 49-pg booklet) included everything from descriptions about each of their facilities to the herd’s full list of cows and their most up-to-date DHI information. Here are some notes and candids from my visit. Enjoy!
Morsan Farms
Currently milking 900 cows, 3x in a double 16 herring hone with rapid exit and back flush. Began milking in 1996.
The current calf housing on the farm includes 3 barns with 6 seperate rooms - climate controlled housing rooms, individual pens, a washroom and a grain storage room. They can hold 216 calves in individual pens and it is an all in, all out system. A room of calves is weaned once the youngest calf in the room has reached 6 weeks of age.
The maternity barn was built in 2006 and houses close-up cows (moved there once they are 3 weeks from calving), hospital cows, calving pens, bull pens, vet room, operating room, palpation area, hoof trim area and milking parlor. The cows here are milked 2x in a Boumatic double-6 parlor. The milk from this barn is pumped under ground to the calf barn for pasteurization.
This next part is taken directly from the herd brochure because it does such a great job of explaining their thoughts on nutrition:
Feeding the dairy herd at Morsan involved the use of as many locally grown feedstuffs as possible, supplemented with commodities and additives that make economic sense. At Morsan we respect the five pillars of profitable production - management, environment, genetics, health and nutrition. Simply put, there is no magic in achieving high milk production - breed good cows, take care of them, feed them what they require and they will respond. With this philosophy in mind, rations are built around farm-raised forages that are strategically fed to appropriate groups in a manner such as to maximize their use.
The milking herd varies from 800 to 1000 cows at any given time as they are constantly buying and selling. There are also approximately 250 dry cows and 2000 head of young stock. The current avg. daily production is 37.2 kg (82 lbs) with 3.8% fat and 3.2% protein. The herd is fed a TMR containing: barley grain, ground corn, corn gluten meal, Megalac, sodium bicarbonate, corn distillers, beet pulp, cottonseed, canola meal, potatoes, brewers grains when available, soybean meal, alfalfa hay, minerals, alfalfa silage, corn silage, barley silage and Fermenten.
Influential herd sires to date appear to be Outside, Rudolph, Blitz, Stormatic and Talent. Current service sires are Pronto, Talent, Jasper, Baxter, Dolman, Goldwyn, Bolivia, Laurin, Shottle, Duplex and a few select young sires. An extensive flush program is in place. 20-25 cows are flushed every month with 60% of Grade 1 eggs being frozen for export and the rest implanted.
The Show Barn, the last stop on my tour, is quite impressive. Show cows are housed in this pack barn with 2 cows per pen. They are fed a grass hay - preferably about 50% timothy, 40% brome rescue and 10% alfalfa - along with a 16% grain ration which is fed 3 times per day. Wet beet pulp is also fed once a day at a rate of 5 lbs/cow. All show cows have access to a pasture lot every evening for exercise.
