The Portena family of Monkton were platinum-level winners at the recent Dairy Cattle Reproduction Council Excellence in Dairy Cattle Reproduction Awards program.
Winners were announced during the U.S.-based organization’s annual convention held Nov. 12-14,2024 in Arlington, Texas.
Why it matters: Getting more cows pregnant on first breeding can contribute to significant cost savings on dairy farms.
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Gina Portena, who is responsible for the reproduction program at Windulan Holsteins, told Farmtario that the award validates the commitment she and other team members have made to getting reproduction right.
She said reaching the reproductive parameter goals recognized in the award program gives her the confidence to step away from a more traditional approach and consider breeding some lower-end cows to beef genetics or boosting female calf numbers to market replacement heifers.
Portena had been doing all the breeding herself at Windulan, ensuring that cow monitoring, genetics selection and breeding took place in the same way and at the same time every day. When she married and had a baby over a year ago, the family added another team member to help her but consistency was maintained. She still keeps a sharp eye on all reproductive reports.
The farm has two adjacent locations: one with 135 milking cows and the other with 570.
Portena said a big part of staying on top of things is having comprehensive and effective herd management software. Theirs is from milking system manufacturer GEA.
“Pretty much everything we do is done at the same time every day,” she said. “Being very consistent with everything we do seems to have paid off.”
The Verhoef family maintained their status among the continent’s elite reproduction managers in 2024, securing gold-level recognition – the second of four tiers in the competition. Four years ago the Belmont-area farm also won gold recognition, a year later won silver, then in 2023 won the top level, platinum.
Farm co-owner Reinoud Verhoef told Farmtario that a well-rounded strategy for reproduction and other management factors has contributed to their success, as has consistency.
“Every day is the same, from the feeding to the three times per day milking to the breeding,” he said, adding that the family contracts out all field work so they can focus on the barn. “Even with the cleaning, it’s the same every day.”
Hoof trimming, heat detection, double ov-synch treatments and breeding are all done in-house, with the veterinarian providing pregnancy checks during regular herd health days.
“It’s the team around us more than anything else,” Verhoef noted. “Our kids are very much involved in the farm.”
Reinoud and Klaartje’s daughter and her husband recently started a second dairy farm nearby, while their son and his girlfriend both work on the home farm part-time while also working off-farm in the dairy support sector.
Windulan Holsteins was nominated for the program by Genex, which submitted the farm’s reproductive statistics to the DCRC. Portena was then sent a questionnaire that she filled out to explain how the family manages its breeding and genetics selection.
The Verhoefs were nominated by Alta Genetics. Last year, when they won platinum level, they attended the ceremony in Salt Lake City, where they got to mingle with many American award-winners.
Verhoef noted that in Canada, most of the nominations come from genetics suppliers, and in the U.S. it’s also common to see nominations come from vet clinics or nutritionists.
Probably the biggest factor in setting a path toward top-level reproduction at Verhoef Dairy was the transition about 10 years ago to the double ov-synch hormone protocol on first breedings of all cows after first lactation.
That was followed by construction of a new barn about seven years ago — a four-row barn with head-to-head stalls on sand bedding. Verhoef said the carefully designed barn allowed for more space per cow, better lighting, and a more stress-free and effective sorting system to allow for procedures to be done with the cow constrained in a headlock.
The new barn also allowed introduction of Nedap activity monitors.
Other Canadian dairies recognized during the awards were Stewardson Dairy of Thedford (silver) and Ferme Dessaint of Sarsfield (bronze).
A news release from the DCRC said the awards program “recognizes dairy producers whose herds excel in getting cows safe in calf” and that “judges considered many criteria when reviewing finalists’ applications, including pregnancy rate, voluntary waiting period, interbreeding intervals, heat detection, conception rate, value of reproduction and culling rate.”
