FEATURED COW OF THE WEEK: PATCH

Patch hanging out in the barn.

I knew Patch produced a lot of milk, but when gathering information for this blog post, I figured out just how much she produces, A TON OF MILK! Meet Patch the best producing cow on the farm. She is six years of age and this will most likely be her best lactation, but it'll be tough to beat her last one, which was 38,468, having 1,435 in fat and 1,196 in protein.

In one milking, Patch produces almost as much milk as the average cow. In one day, Patch gives 160 LBS!!! Thats 70 lbs more than the average cow. She is ranked 115 in the herd index, anything over 100 is good. Patch not only produces the most milk in the herd, she is also one of the tallest cows in the herd and has very unique 'patches' of black hair all over her mostly white body.

This week Patch is the cow of the week not because she is the friendlist cow, or a farm favorite, but because she works extremely hard every single day to give the most milk that she possibly can. She is smart about balancing her time between eating, drinking, sleeping, getting in some good exercise, and socializing with other cows. Patch is a perfect example for all of us, if we eat the right foods (especially dairy products), get enough sleep, get outside and be active and still hang out with friends and family, we can give our all at everything just like Patch does.

FEATURED COW OF THE WEEK: LUNA LIGHTNING

I have been doing Holsteins the whole time for my blog, but I do live on a beef farm where I personally raise Herefords and my sisters have black and red Angus. This weeks featured cow of the week is Luna Lightning. She was born this morning around 4 AM, right in time for a thunderstorm. Her mom had the choice of having her in the barn but decided outside would be better. In Luna's first half hour of life, she saw rain and lightning, therefore giving her the name Luna Lightning.

Luna's grand dam (her grandma) is the first cow of my herd, her name is Maybelle and I purchased her with my own money in 2008. Luna's dam (mom) is Maya. This is Maya's second calf. Luna's sire (dad) is Revolution.

Luna will grow up on our farm to be like her mom and spend days eating out in the pasture with the rest of our red and black herd. Then once a year she will have a calf. The calf will be with her for about four to six months, then he or she will go to another pen to grow up and Luna will get to spend her time with just her friends.

FEATURED COW OF THE WEEK: DANCE.



Dance eating with her friends outside on a beautiful day.

Dance's story is a remarkable one. When others had given up on her, she stayed strong. She kept getting pneumonia and this time she'd been down and not milking for two weeks. She wasn't the only one fighting for her life, the local vet didn't want to give up on Dance, so he gave Ray and Cindy a visit explaining Dance's situation and that besides her sickness, she was a beautiful cow. Cindy said they would gladly take her.

The first day Dance came to Ray and Cindy's farm, she gave only 5 lbs of milk. Although Dance was very ill, she never gave up and made it through. Then on April 28th, 2011, she gave birth to a beautiful heifer, named Bobby Jo. Dance now produces about 87 lbs per day. This lactation she has produced 36,370 lbs.

Bobby Jo, Dance's daughter.



Dance is a great cow. "She's always in it for the 'Dance'" Cindy likes to say. She is one tough cookie. And thanks to Cindy's hard work of making sure she is outside during the night and inside the cool barn during those hot days, she has been pneumonia free for a year now!





*If you would like to meet Bobby Jo, she will be at the beginning of the Dakota County Fair this year in August.



FEATURED COW OF THE WEEK: HOT DOG

Hot Dog with Rachel Schroder after receiving Reserve Champion at the regional show when she was just a heifer.

She received 4th place at the state fair our of 40 calves, she milks about 109 pounds per day, and her name is Hot Dog. Hot Dog's registered name is CinRay Toy Story Party Girl, but as a calf she had a wiener belly and the name Hot Dog stuck. She actually responds to her name when called. Hot Dog has been milking for 49 days this lactation (one lactation is the 9 or 10 months that a cow milks, then after she has another calf she starts another lactation.) This is her third lactation and she is expected to produce 27,101 pounds!!

Hot Dog looking up from her morning snack for a picture.

Hot Dog had a heifer calf (a girl) on March 28th of this year. Her name is CinRay Armitage Adell. Adell is being apart of a Genomic Test. A hair sample was taken from her and is being tested to see her value. We rarely do this on the farm, but Adell's mother is such a good cow that Cindy and Ray decided to do it.

Adell posing for the camera.

Hot Dog also has another daughter named Velvet (CinRay Jetstream Velvet) and she is going to have her first calf soon this year. She was bred to Mayfield, a very popular bull right now.



Hot Dog is a favorite on the farm. She loves a good petting whenever anyone walks by. And you can't miss that almost heart on her forehead, making her even easier to love.