The question is simple. How did two young dairymen turn a herd that had begun testing only three years ago into Ontario's highest producer?

Swiss farmer Leo Baumann, 39, came to Canada 11 years ago armed with a vast dairy experience and a share from the sale of the family dairy farm. In Switzerland, he had been awarded the prestigious title "Master Milker" by his agricultural college.

Three years ago, he moved from western Ontario and purchased Lilies Dale Holstein Farm in Lyn, north of Brockville. Single and busy, he stopped cattle registration for one year but renewed it again when he employed Rob Mallette, who competed in Canada's premier 4-H dairy show, the Hays Classic. Rob brought to the farm a deep knowledge of genetics and a penchant for record keeping. 

Leo excels in feeding and managing the herd and business. Together with the feed specialists of Lanark-Leeds Distributors and the farm veterinarians, Dr. Brian Willows and Dr. Rob MacGregor, he and Rob have achieved what most dairy farmers only dream about.

The Lilies Dale herd this spring was named the highest producing herd in Ontario. And this was in 2005, a year when production on most farms dropped substantially. 

On Lilies Dale Farm, the yearly production for the 68-cow herd increased by 800 kg to nearly 13000 kg. Average BCA (Breed Class Average) with twice a day milking was 292.7. BCA for milk was 300, 280 for fat and 298 for protein. BCA is an index that compares cows' milk production.

FEEDING

Feeding and feed production are among the strong points. Five medium size cement silos enable Leo and Rob to store the roughages separately, based on time of harvest and species composition. 

Alfalfa-grass mixtures are grown on 210 acres, and each year between 30 and 40 acres are reseeded with a mixture of 85:15 alfalfa and orchard and timothy grasses. The silage is excellent and smells god.

The milking cows consume 55 per cent of the TMR (Total Mixed Ration_ dry matter in the form of roughage. First and second cut alfalfa-grass mix represent about 55 per cent of the roughage dry matter; corn silage contributes 35 per cent and ensilaged barley about five per cent. 

The concentrated part of the ration consists, on DM bases per cow per day, of 7.5 kg fine ground high moisture (HM) corn, 2.4 kg of commercial pellets, supplied by Lanark-Leeds. Pellets contain 41.5 per cent protein, animal fat, vitamin and mineral mixture and hulls. The TMR also contains 0.85 kg of cottonseed per cow. Lanark-Leeds representative Mark Schokking advises the farm on ration formulation and feed analysis.

Dairy cows are fed twice a day with fresh TMR. At noon the cows get TMR mixed in the morning. In the summer, the farm will start feeding three times a day with fresh TMR.

COW COMFORT

The comfort of cows plays a great role in high production. Tunnel ventilation provides enough air for a total exchange of air in the barn every 30 seconds. The windows on the south side of the barn are covered with curtains, which reduce warming during summer. High volume water bowls supply plenty of fresh water. On hot days, the cows are sprinkled with cold water.

Stalls in the new part of the barn are very comfortable (4.5 ft to 5.10 ft wide). They're covered with rubber pasture mats. To enable the cows to stand more easily and stretch, they have raised the neck rail to 48 inches and provided three-foot neck chains. 

HERD HEALTH

Leo learned how to look after his herd's health by carefully watching the veterinarian treating his cows. In addition to common task suck as hoof trimming, pregnancy checks and insemination, he implants embryos, and employs preventative measures to avoid metabolic disorder such as ketosis, milk fever and even twisted abomasum. 

His specialty is a homemade medicine, which he calls: "Swiss Cocktail." It consists of warm water, glycol, electrolytes, milk replacer powder and yeasts. It is applied to cows which are candidates for ketosis or milk fever within half an hour after calving. 

The results of all this work? The first year on DHI their record was 12,100 kg of milk per cow over 305 days. The second year it was 12,900.