Despite Drought, Australia’s Donnybrook Holsteins
Boosts Production 10 Percent with P-One Program

The 500 cows at Donnybrook Holsteins near Shepparton, Victoria, Australia, are feeling better and producing more.  Fewer stomach upsets and less acidosis have translated into 10 percent more milk and an increase of one point for both protein and butterfat – pretty amazing figures for a herd suffering through a drought.

“They’re producing better than the three previous years,” notes Neil Trevilyan, Donnybrook Holsteins owner.  “If this was a normal season, we could be about 20 to 25 percent higher.  I think Priority One is the main reason for the improvement.”

Trevilyan started using the P-One Program in August 2006 at the beginning of the calving season.
 
“We decided to try Priority One because of herd health problems in previous years,” he says.  “I felt they weren’t digesting their feed properly.  We could tell by the manure that they were having a lot of upset stomachs which led to twisted stomachs (LDA’s).  We had about 20 percent of the cows that weren’t in top gear the last three years.  Now it’s only about 1 percent and those have been because of things like calving problems.”

Trevilyan notes there is much less grain passing through the cows and manure is firmer.  Body condition has also improved.   The vet bill is less, too.  Though he won’t know until they pregnancy test in May, Trevilyan expects improved fertility due to healthier cows.

Trevilyan feeds Priority DCP in the lead feed before calving and Priority One in the grain fed during milking. The grain mix includes wheat, barley, corn, canola meal (bypass protein), lupins (like a pea; a protein source), and minerals.  The cows graze year round and are supplemented with hay when necessary.

Value Added

Improved health is important for any herd, but especially for the high-value animals at Donnybrook Holsteins, 90 percent of which are registered.  Trevilyan has 200 cows classified Very Good and merchandises both females and males.  Many bulls are sold locally and he has exported both bulls and females for A.I. to China, Iraq, and Egypt, Israel, Thailand and New Zealand.

During his 28 years of developing the herd, Trevilyan has exhibited several champions at International Dairy Week, the largest annual dairy cattle show and sale in the southern hemisphere, and has been named Australia’s Premier Breeder twice. 

Improved herd health and higher production also are welcome changes at a time when Trevilyan and his family will need every animal as they prepare to expand to 2,000 cows at a new 100 unit rotary milking facility in Mt. Gambier, South Australia.  All three Trevilyan children, Carly–26, Marc–24, and Nikki–20, as well Nikki’s partner Brad–23, will be part of the new dairy operation, scheduled to begin in August 2007.

P-One Program Counters Rising Feed Costs

Faced with rising costs for water (up from $50* per megaliter to a peak of $950 and now $500), grain (doubled to $320/ton), and Lucerne (same as alfalfa; sells for $400-$500/ton compared to $160/ton last year), one might question how Trevilyan can justify a feed additive.

“If I have to pay such high prices for fodder, I need to get the best use of it,” Trevilyan explains.  “Priority One enables the cows to digest their feed better.  I’m always trying new things to improve the business – I stay with the things that work if they’re economical.  I’ll be using the P-One Program at the new farm because I think it definitely helps in tuning the cows up.  For anyone wanting to improve what they’re doing or if they’re having problems, I think P-One is well worth considering.”