Brothers Jan and Jeff King have diversified their 1,000-plus registered Holstein herd by adding a milk bottling facility and marketing top genetics.
Kings-Ransom Farm outside Schuylerville, N.Y. kicked off the Virtual Farm Tours at World Dairy Expo.
The dairy was established by the King’s father in the early 1960’s when he started milking Guernsey cows in a tie-stall barn. In 1972, a freestall barn was added and the herd changed to Holsteins. The brothers grew up milking 140 cows and showed cattle as well, gaining a passion for genetics.
Jeff and Jan came back to the farm in the early 1990s after graduating from Cornell University. During that time additional freestall barns were built and the cow herd went from 140 cows to 800 head. In the last couple of years more cows were added to reach a four-digit herd size.
“In the early years, while we were trying to build the herd money was tight. We had a few cow families that we focused on and some other registered cows that were more commercial,” Jan says.
Embryo transfer (ET) and in vitro fertilization (IVF) aided the herd in making genetic progress. An aggressive lutalyse and ovsynch program help get cows cycling early. The most recent addition in December 2015 to the breeding program was an activity monitoring system that has helped determine heats.
One of the cow families dates back to the original Holstein cows purchased locally from another New York dairy in the 1970s.
“I’ll always live with the fact that this was the first family that got us into marketing genetics to AI studs and embryo buyers,” Jeff says.
Genetic diversity is maintained by working with eight to 10 different cow families and utilizing the best bulls available. For sire selection Kings-Ransom Farm uses almost exclusively high ranking, young genomic sires instead of proven bulls.
“We really try not to just choose those bulls blindly by taking the highest bull,” Jeff says.
Pedigrees are still important to the selection criteria. Type traits matter and udders are at the top of the list closely followed by feet and legs.
Approximately 10% of the herd is bred for high type in the show ring for Jeff and Jan’s kids. Many of those calves are sold to customers looking for show stock.
A few of Kings-Ransom Farm’s cattle were featured in the initial genomic database for Holsteins.
While admittedly slow to adding genomics in their own selection process, the King brothers have seen the value for selecting breeding females with genomics.
At least two generations of cattle both on the bull and female side have been selected using genomics.
Nearly all heifers are calved in as ET recipients. This leaves a lot of 1st or 2ndlactation cows available and each year 150-200 surplus head will be sold to other dairies.
A third to half of bull calves are raised on farm and genomic tested for the possibility of being sold to an AI stud. Genomics have helped some of top genetics to be sold internationally, too.
“The overall profitability in our young cattle is impressive. We really think that is a result of selecting those good genetics and shortening that generation interval,” Jeff says.
Besides finding profit from their genetics, the family has helped differentiate the operation with bottled milk and home delivery.
The delivery business for bottled milk was started six years ago by the family operation under the label King Brothers Dairy.
This year, the King brothers restarted a family tradition of on-farm bottling that began in the 1910s with their grandfather. That original business ceased in the 1960s, but there are customers who still remember getting milk from King Brothers Colebrook Dairy.
Bottling and home delivery has helped reach consumers who are now becoming neighbors.
“We live in an area where the fields like to grow houses quicker than corn,” Jeff says.
Jan describes their surrounding area of Saratoga County as a bit upscale in terms of clients. Albany, the state capitol, isn’t too far away either.
Milk quality is a must for the bottling side of the business. Somatic cell count ranges between 80,000-120,000 cells/mL and cows average 87-90 lb. of milk production per day. The brothers attribute their milk quality to both their sand bedding and employees’ attention to detail.
Bottled milk varieties include: fat free, reduced fat, whole milk and chocolate milk. Half-and-half and heavy cream are available, as well.
In addition to raising cattle and bottling milk, the brothers farm 2,900 acres primarily for corn silage, alfalfa and grass haylage. Soybeans are raised on 100-200 acres for cash crop and to rotate crops.
“The main reason we are farming is to produce high quality forages so that we can have a herd of cows that produces high quality milk,” Jeff says.
Corn silage grows more consistently than the hay crop, so a majority of the diet consists of corn silage. The brothers try to harvest corn silage in a 20-30 day window and have at least 50% planted in brown mid-rib varieties to increase palatability of the ration.
Sometimes the ration reaches 80% corn silage versus 20% haylage. Today the ration is 60% corn silage, 40% haylage. The ration is never lower than a 50% for corn silage.
For now the focus will remain on bottling milk and selling top genetics. Down the road the brothers could see adding additional products to their manufacturing facility like butter milk and ice cream.
