WINCHESTER — Dundas County dairyman, Ken Rose, has done what many farmers talk about doing but hardly ever do – combine high-end type with championship production. Officially, he has the best producing Ayrshire herd in Ontario and unofficially the best all-round herd in Canada.

His Fairburn Blackeyed Susan is All-Canadian three-year-old while the eight cows he took to the Royal last fall all finished in the top five, with one winning her class. He has had so many all-Canadian cows and premier breeder awards from the Toronto Royal he has lost track.

But what distinguished his herd for high-end producers is high milk production and his ability to turn his cows into money makers. Each cow, based on 54 records, produced $5,821 worth of milk and components. Last year, his cows produced an average of 9,937 kilograms of milk, 407 kilograms of fat and 328 kilograms of protein.

What’s more, his Rosayre Heligo’s Jess and Lake Verde Prudence lead every Ayrshire in the province on test with Dairy Herd Improvement, producing 16,254 kilograms of milk and 15,647 kilograms respectively.

"I have big cows," he says, explaining his high milk production. "I keep an eye on the components (fat and protein), and I take off good hay."

He takes off his first cut the end of May or early June baleage), when the grasses are most tender and sweet. "The cows eat more of it and stay healthy," he says. Most of the 100-acre hay crop consists of grasses without a legume mix: Reed canary, Rye Grass, Orchard and some Timothy. A field here and there will have 20 per cent alfalfa mixed with the grass.

In addition, he feeds dry ground corn and a custom top dress four times a day. "The feed is always fresh," he says.

After his barn burnt in 1997 and he lost all but 20 of his cows, he had to rebuild his herd. "I bought high-end, as good as I could afford at the time," he says. "I chose really good type." That and a spacious new barn, designed for cow comfort, have paid off. When he finishes milking, all the cows are lying down. "Cows don’t produce milk standing," he notes.

His herd is now known throughout the world for quality. The third week of April, he sold 51 embryos to Finland. The Finns like the big cows and the combination of high-end type and high production found in Rose’s cows.

He qualified as an official judge 10 years ago and now judges at the biggest shows across Canada. Sometimes he spots a great cow in the show lineup and buys her after the show.

"I’m a businessman," he explains. "I run the farm as a business, I make decisions that make money and everything is for sale."

He operates the farm with his wife Shirley, who also works off the farm as supervisor of the X-ray Department at the Winchester Hospital. His son Jeremy, 16, and daughter Geena, 13, are both excellent showpersons and have won classes at the 4-H Regionals and competed in the Royal.