GIMLI, Man. – Bucky is producing 40 litres of milk a day.
It isn’t a world record, but it’s pretty good for a 15 1/2-year-old dairy cow.
She is also expecting her 11th calf.
“That would be quite something,” said her owner, Gimli dairy producer Cliff Narfason, who breeds for longevity and is proud of Bucky’s career.
“Everything just clicked and she turned out to be a great cow,” said Narfason, who milks 45 cows and sells replacement heifers.
A good dairy cow that isn’t pushed can max out its milk production at six to seven years of age in its fourth or fifth lactation.
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After they begin declining, most dairy cows are quickly shipped by producers who don’t want unproductive animals filling their valuable stalls.
Narfason said most U.S. dairy farms focus on maximum milk production with short-lived cows. Rich feed rations and bovine somatotropin produce high milk volumes, but wear out a cow’s mammary system.
A dairy cow stays on an American farm for an average of less than two lactations, he added.
Canadian comparison
In Canada, where supply management bridles some of the fervour for maximizing short-term production, the average dairy cow’s career is 2.5 to three lactations. That is much shorter than the average work life of Narfason’s cows, but it can make sense if the focus is only on milk production.
“They don’t have to keep so many cows around, so their feed cost per litre of milk is probably a bit better,” he said.
Narfason is a breeder, so he aims for both good milk and calf production. He’s willing to live with slightly lower milk production in exchange for a longer productive lifespan, which gives him more replacement heifers either for himself or to sell.
His dairy cows last an average of 4.3 lactations, but besides Bucky he also has a 13 year old, two 12 year olds and three 11 year olds.
The herd contains two of Bucky’s daughters and three granddaughters.
Narfason encourages longevity by offering less feed than the cows can eat.
“We just don’t feed as many pounds as some guys do to really try to push out the big records,” he said.
Visitors are often shocked to discover Bucky’s age, which gives Narfason a chance to tell them her life story.
“She’s really something special,” he said.
