From the June Holstein World Exclusive
By Joel Hastings
Aggressive use of top genetics builds a herd high in
production, conformation and marketability
“Our philosophy has always been to concentrate on proven
cow families and pedigrees, putting the numbers in our favor. It’s a fast-moving industry, so to stay in
the game, we try to cast a wide net from our genetic pool,” Mike explains.
“We’re not afraid to sell our top animals,” he says,
explaining they will use the second-tier females for donors. A good example was their consignment to the sale
held in Paso Robles, managed by The Cattle Exchange. Ms Terra Linda Mod 188-ET was the high seller
struck off at $170,000 to Peak Genetics in Wisconsin. This heifer is a +2898 GTPI Modesty from
Sandy Valley Yder Cayenne-ET, a +2598 Yoder from a Larcrest family the Santos family
had purchased from the Bauers in Wisconsin.
Mike, Jr. tells about what’s behind this family now
being developed in the Terra Linda herd. He writes, “Sandy-Valley is one of the most recognizable
prefixes in this industry and their females and males speak for themselves as
they litter the lineups of all stud companies. We admire and respect
Sandy Valley and their accomplishments throughout the industry. I wanted
to reach out and purchase some Sandy Valley genetics and try to build a family
branch at our operation.
“Sandy-Valley Ydr Cayenne was purchased in the beginning of
2016 from Sandy Valley Farms. We began IVF'ing her at 10 months of age
and used a variety of bulls such as Modesty, Jedi, Expresso, Helix and
AltaKermit. With varying results on each sire, we started to have calves
born, and when genomic results started coming in we immediately knew MS
Terra-Linda Dairy 188 was special. With nearly 2900 GTPI and almost 1000
NM$ we knew we had a special heifer.
“Immediately we debated our options whether to keep her or
market her in a national sale or sell privately. With the Fun in the West
Sale in Paso approaching we were contacted by Dave Rama and his staff and they
wanted to sell her in this sale. We decided to consign her to the sale
and let the chips fall where they may. It was a very exciting day sale
day and we couldn't have been happier with the way things turned out. We
were very grateful for Peak Genetics buying her and the contending bidders who
pushed her to $170,000. Dave Rama and his staff did a great job.
“With selling the high heifer from Cayenne we still had a
nice group of heifers from her with four females over 2700 and two males over
2760 from Cayenne. Cayenne's 2771 GTPI AltaKermit is the highest
AltaKermit in the world after the April run by over 90 points, so that is
a really unique heifer for us to continue working with. Mr Terra-Linda
Mod 211 at 2792 GTPI, the 24th highest NM$ bull in the breed, was sold to ABS
and Mr Terra-Linda Mod 190 at 2763 GTPI is tied for the 12th highest fat bull
in the breed and was sold to Genex. We look forward to those two bulls’
success in the industry.
“Cayenne has another nice Modesty
daughter who is 2785 GTPI with 954 NM$ that will be exciting to work down the
road. We are
awaiting pregnancies from Modesty and Pharo from Cayenne and she is a carrying
a Blowtorch calf due Sept. 30.”
Breeding Program
Mike
explains he’s using a careful breeding program that starts with registering and
genomically testing every heifer calf, then using top genomic bulls, sexed
semen and an IVF repro program. The RFID
ear tags which allow tissue sample collection are purchased through the
Holstein Association which also provides the genomic testing.
Right now, the sires being used meet the following
guidelines. The GTPI is at least 2700 or
higher, with 140 combined fat and protein, 1500 milk, high udder composite, two
points on type for most all sires, and plus DPR. Mike puts a heavy emphasis on cow families
and would like to see every female in the bull’s pedigree EX or VG. He’ll use a group of 10 or 12 mostly genomic
bulls for a month, along with a few special proven bulls such as Montross, and
may use a bull with good repro results a bit longer.
Sexed
semen is used on the virgin heifers for all services, which also helps with
calving ease, and for first service on the first lactation cows. Conventional semen is then used on second
service and beyond for milk cows.
Monthly, some 20 to 25 of the top genomic heifers along with a few milk
cows are selected for IVF with embryos implanted in virgin heifers at the lower
end of the genomic scale. Donors
typically will be above 2600 GTPI and/or 800 Net Merit. These genomic results
have attracted the interest of the AI units who provide some pre-release semen
for selected contract matings.
Conventional flushing is always used every two weeks with four donors
each session.
The goal is a high-producing herd of trouble-free cows,
with capacity, good udders and strong feet and legs. He’s not particularly bothered about tall
cows, the current concern in some circles, as long as the animals have width
and dairy strength and openness of rib to consume roughage and produce lots of
milk. Feed efficiency is a very
important number Mike monitors. He likes
the productive capacity of the Holstein breed and thinks they outperform
everything else. “I’m a Holstein guy,” he concludes.
The formula
certainly seems to be working. Terra
Linda has ranked high in the Tulare County DHIA four straight years, and was the
top herd in 2016 with an energy corrected milk average at 32,753 lbs. The herd averages 3.7% fat and 3.3% protein
and currently is producing right at 102 lbs. a day. High quality milk too, at 125,000-130,000 SCC. The herd is milked three times a day in a double-25
parallel parlor.
The
Terra Linda herd is on the Holstein Association’s Complete program and so
classifies regularly with 675 head GP-80 or higher, along with 300 Very Good
and six Excellent cows in the herd that is 45% first lactation. Mike shoots for an average of 24 months at
calving, finding that this seems to give the heifers a better start than if
they come in at 22 or 23 months.
More Top Animals
Mike took time to tell us about
some of the top families he’s currently working with in an email quoted here:
“I will list a few heifers
we are working that we are excited about. We are working [with] a Modesty
out of Sandy-Valley Carrotcake, a VG-87 Supersire that goes back to the
Larcrest Cosmopolitan cow. She is +2703 GTPI and +852 NM$ with 105 lbs.
of fat. Really an exciting heifer to be working [with].
“Another heifer we like is
a Jedi out of Seagull-Bay Mogul Divinity which goes back to the famous
Wesswood-HC Rudy Missy (EX-92), from Steiners in Ohio. This Jedi heifer
has over 2500 lbs. milk and 164 lbs. CFP. Another Jedi heifer we like is
out of Sandy-Valley Balisto Paradise (VG-85), who also goes back to Rudy Missy.
She’s a well-balanced heifer with 2717 GPTI, 805 NM$ and great health
traits.
“Another heifer we really
like is a Delta who is out of Peak-Charm that goes back to the Larcrest cow
family. She’s a really nice heifer and is around 2700 GTPI and 842 NM$
with very good health traits. We really like our Deltas so far and we
think this heifer can make some nice calves.
“One other heifer in our
program we like is a Yoder out of Seagull-Bay S Jillian (VG-87) that that goes
back to the famous Ammon-Peacy Shauna cow. We really like the Yoders and
her pedigree, and she works very well. She’s a 2650 and close to 800 NM$
heifer that has a balanced profile. These are just a few of our older
heifers we are working that we really like.
“We have many others by Jedi,
Modesty, Montana, Silver and Delta in our program so we just wanted to
highlight some our favorite donors.
“We have some exciting
younger donors on the way, and to name a few, [one] is a Modesty who is a 2785,
and 870 NM$ Modesty out of a Montross that goes back to Coldsprings Durham
Isleen (VG-88, GMD, DOM). The Montross dam is a very nice two-year-old
already scored 83 just fresh with more points in her later in lactation.
“Sandy-Valley Yoder
Cayenne has another nice Modesty daughter who is 2785 GTPI with 954 NM$ that
will be exciting to work down the road. Another young heifer we are
excited about is a 2810 Delta out of a very nice Kingboy that goes back to the
Ralma-Juror Faith cow family.
“With over 70 heifers
above 2700 GTPI and 75 heifers over 800 NM$ is hard to narrow down the
favorites but these are few that we are excited about for their offspring in
the future,” he concludes.
Merchandising to Commercial Producers
In addition to selling off the top end, Terra Linda will
sell several hundred commercial replacements each year, which explains the
higher inventory of heifers here, more than is required for the herd. Mike believes buyers pay a premium for the
quality of the registered heifers in his herd even if they don’t want the registration
papers. Commercial dairymen value the
high production and good functional type.
He will sell 100 service bulls to area dairymen each year, also, with
similar credentials.
A Family Dairy
Grandfather Manuel Santos moved onto this dairy in 1972,
followed by his son, Mike, and wife Kerri.
In 1972 Manuel Santos Jr. split with his brother John Santos to form
Terra Linda Dairy, the current facility being operated on today. In 2010 Mike Santos Sr. along with Craig and
Mike Jr. purchased the John Santos Dairy and made it a heifer ranch for surplus
heifers. Today Mike, Jr., age 36, a Cal
Poly grad, and brother Craig, 33, operate the dairy and farming with 15
employees. Mike, Jr. and his wife,
Leslie, have a daughter, Noelle, age 2.
Craig and his wife, Laure, have a son Carter, 7, and daughter Presley,
4.
Mike, Sr.,
and his wife, Kerri, continue as partners in the operation. It was Mike who first brought registered
Holsteins onto the place, buying cattle from the late Doug Maddox at RuAnn,
working with them and getting his sons involved even as the commercial herd
expanded.
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