Ards herd repeats long life cow award

In spite of her age she continued her record milk yield, milk quality, fertility, cell count, health and above all profitability to take this title for the second year in succession.

Kyle Henry, Northern Ireland product specialist with Genus ABS visited the Ards herd of Wallace and Wilson Patton to get a photograph of this top performer and hear of her impressive production and health statistics.

He explained: “The Genus ABS Profitable Long Life Cow competition does not just recognise the cow that has given the highest amount of milk or just the oldest cow. There are many attributes which contribute to a profitable long lasting cow – milk components, fertility, age, health and welfare and how she compares with her herd mates. She does not receive any special attention but is simply treated as another member of the herd.”

He added: “Ards Shottle Belinda was born in September 2005 and has produced a lifetime yield of 110 tonnes in 10 lactations at 4.21% BF and 3.66 protein. She continues to impress, with her outstanding conformation, fertility, trouble free nature and exceptionally low cell count of 62. She is a firm favourite with her owners and now has several daughters milking in the herd. Belinda is bred by breed legend Picston Shottle and displays all the attributes required to last and be profitable. She has been Classified EX on no less than six occasions with a final class of 94 points, but most of all remains youthful in her appearance and easy to manage. She is a worthy winner.”

Genus ABS Cornerstone coordinator, Sally Thomasson commented: “The Genus ABS Profitable Long Life Cow competition was created to celebrate cows that have made an outstanding lifetime contribution. A subtle change has been made to this competition to include the word ‘profitable’ to ensure the winners have lived a long and profitable lifetime and not under-performing in later lactations just to achieve certain milestones.”

Ervin McKinstry, Genus ABS Ireland manager, added: “The Genus ABS team in Northern Ireland would like to congratulate the Patton family on the management, breeding and monitoring of the herd which has ensured many successes in the show and sale rings in addition to maintaining a top performing commercial herd.”