Hamming Holsteins Ltd - Canada

The Farm:

• Located in Canada
• Owners: Walter, Brian and Dave Hamming
• 110 dairy cows (Holstein)
• 2+3 row loose-housing system
• 2x10 herringbone parlour
• 2 milkings per day

Farm Location: Canada

Some information relevant to the dairy industry in Canada (2004):

• Number of farms with shipments of milk or cream:  16 970
• Average no. of cows/farm: 63
• Annual revenues from milk and cream sold off farms: appr $265,990 per farm.
• Average milk production per farm: 4,484 hectolitres. 
• Average milk production per cow enrolled on official milk recording 9,459 kilograms/lactation.
• The Holstein breed represents 93% of the Canadian dairy herds.

For more information on Canadian dairy production click here.

Source: Canadian Dairy Information Centre

Farm Management:

Hamming Holsteins Ltd is described by Walter Hamming as a “family operation” and runs over four generations. “My dad started farming in the mid 1950’s in Langley California and we bought this farm around a year ago,” says Walter.

“Our average day starts at 4am. We do our chores then one of the two boys does most of the milking and I do the feeding or cleaning. Then after an hours break we continue with more farm duties with second milking at four in the afternoon.”

Walter makes the farm’s final decisions and owns the corporation with his wife, while sons Dave and Brian constitute the work force. Walter says the daily decisions are made together with his sons and adds that they discuss what they are doing and plan to do “over lunch each day”.

Youngest son Dave says the local 4H dairy improvement programme gave him an appreciation for the dairy business at an early age. “It got us loving working with cows. I got to meet nice people when we would go to shows and I got work out of it too. I got a desire to breed good cows and I met my wife at a rodeo. I love to do horse riding and so does she.” Brian also met his wife through the 4H programme.

The farm currently utilises manual herd management and does not hire outside workers but Brian says that will change. “We have enough people and know all our own cows, but when we expand we’ll get the automatic ID and heat detection – so we can get the cows bred back quicker.” 

Nutritient Management:

In explaining manure management Brian says, “all our manure gets automatically scraped into a channel and then into a lagoon. In the spring we spread it on our corn fields and in the fall we’ll spread on our Alfalfa or back on to the corn field. We’ve got lots of acres so we don’t have trouble getting rid of our manure.”

Feeding:

Hamming Holsteins Ltd uses a one group TMR system for the whole milking herd, feeding dry matter at 50/50 grass to corn – with eight pounds of hay and 27 pounds of grain. Walter says this TMR system “works pretty well” and “is easy to use”. Dry cows and older heifers get a mix of corn and grass or alfalfa silage and 10 pounds of hay.

Until the calves are nine months old they are fed grain and 17 to 18 per cent alfalfa grass hay. Once the calves become cows of breeding age, they are fed a 75/25 mix of silage to hay ration and are fed the same when they are transferred to the breeding pen.

A nutritional consultant “helps out with crop and wheat management for spraying and that type of thing,” says Walter.

The farm utilises 330 acres to grow its own feed - with 70 acres of corn silage, 150 acres of Alfalfa and “some grass”.

Brian believes the farm’s family approach makes it easier to handle summer cropping. “When we are busy in the fields during summer - both our wives and mum can quite easily milk the cows, spray out the parlour and take care of the cows. It’s nice that way.”

Milking:

Designed to be “run by one guy”, Hamming Holsteins Ltd averages 70 pounds per day with 1.5 hours for each milking and Walter says the team is “happy with that.” The farm’s rapid exit milking system uses ALPRO™ milk recording without automatic ID and enjoys automatic pre-timing for the sort gate and other features. “It’s easy to use and it gives us good cow flow. We couldn’t ask for much more than that,” says Walter.

The farm’s current 140,000 somatic cell count and the national quota system have invariably convinced the Hamming family to expand their milking herd size. “Our herd currently produces around 11,000 kilograms per year and we are keeping our butter fat at the 3.25 minimum right now. But, to make the SCC better we are planning to milk more cows in the near future”, adds Walter.

Brian adds that the farm’s milk “pays 55 to 60 cents per litre based mainly on butter fat content” and is delivered into a common pool filled by various local farms – from which dairy plants buy what they need. “We don’t have any control over where our milk goes or the price we get for it. The plants dictate the milk price,” Brian says.

The Hamming men say the whole operation is set-up to make the cows as comfortable as possible but they agree that the angled butt panshave shown the most obvious cow comfort benefit. “Our cows don’t get swollen pins like they used to in the old barn and they’ve got more room to move. The brisket bar is also useful because it means the cows don’t have to worry about banging their heads and again, they have plenty of head room so they can relax,” says Brian.

Young Stock and Replacements:

120 young stock are kept on the farm with an average of two years at first calving. “We keep all heifer calves and steer some of the bull calves too, because of the current market for them. If we have too many heifers then we sell them as stringers, but we do raise all our own.

“Our cull rate is 10 to 15 per cent per year, with a current cull price of 1 200 USD. We average four lactations with a record of 305 days in lactation and usually a 50 day dry period. We do all our own AI breeding and we usually have lots of old cows,” Brian concludes.

Housing:

Dave describes the farm’s housing system as comfortable and functional.  “Our barn is set up with a two-row on one side and a three row on the other. Our older cows and fresh cows are in the two row barn so that they don’t have to compete to eat and have more head space. On the end of the two-row we have heifers so that we can feed grain and they can all eat at the same time, and all lay down. On the other side we have the three-row for the rest of our milking herd and at the far end of that we have our dry cows. The dry cows are placed as far away from the milking parlour as possible because they seem to dry-off better there,” he concludes.

Future:

Walter says the team have to watch their milk margins more “these days” and reckons that will remain a firm future focus. “The way the quota system is changed to be based on kilograms of butter fat, means we have to keep the butter fat margins down so that we can ship a little more milk.”

As to future ownership Walter concludes; “We moved here from California to start a new life and we are achieving that. My son’s sons like riding on the tractor and being with the cows so hopefully they will take over the farm one day.”

Published: September 2004