The World's source for Bovine Genetics
A New Record
75,275M BLACKSTAR

by Richard Chichester, General Manager

During early February, I visited the Terry Foster herd in Cleveland, NC. The purpose was to see the new "World Record" milk cow, La-Foster Blackstar Lucy 607, with 75,275 lbs. milk. Because of a technicality, the record is unofficial for publication purposes by the Holstein Association, but this did not dampen my enthusiasm. The herd is milked three times per day, and BST is not used.

Lucy is a big, strong, powerful cow with a near perfect set of feet and legs. Although dry, it was quite obvious that she had a high, wide rear udder attachment with lots of quality and a strong center support. After some 75,000 lbs. milk, her udder is perhaps a bit deep, but that is to be expected. Terry said the key to Lucy’s incredible performance is her enormous appetite.

The herd is on a total mixed ration (TMR) and Lucy spent most of her time eating while producing this record. In fact, Terry indicated she almost never laid down. He showed me the spot at the feed bunk where she always stood, taking in all the feed she possibly could. Lucy has the tremendous body capacity and width throughout to consume the huge volume of feed necessary to convert to over 75,000 lbs. milk in a year.

A review of the DHIA cow page revealed that Lucy had six consecutive months during which her daily production exceeded 200 lbs. milk, peaking at 255 lbs. during her second month of lactation.

Lucy, now a flush cow, will have several more offspring in the future. Upon inquiry, I learned that she had several 7HO4985 Amel sons on the ground. This looks like an intelligent, complementary combination to me. Accordingly, Select Sires will pick the first choice of these young bulls for future sampling in the PGA.

If just a part of Lucy’s huge appetite and feed conversion ability is transmitted by her son to his daughters, Select Sires will certainly have another high ranking sire. To have seen this World Record Blackstar daughter, and to have purchased her promising young son, was indeed a rewarding experience for me.

ONE WET COW AFTER ANOTHER

After admiring Lucy, I was invited to see the rest of the herd. It was obvious, after looking at only a couple of other cows, that Lucy was by no means the only good one there. Terry explained that their herd average on over 300 milking cows was at 31,800 lbs. milk, and it didn’t take me long to believe it, as one wet cow after another caught my eye. Lucy’s Elvin daughter, making around 45,000 milk with her second calf, was among the wettest of the wet.

The most influential sires of the milking herd are Chesapeake, Adan and Blackstar. The Chesapeakes are awesome, with their beautiful udders easily standing the stress of high production. In fact, Terry has just purchased another 100 straws of Chesapeake semen for future use.

When I observed that his breeding program was primarily based on good udders, he acknowledged that and said, "I breed for good udders, because I can get the production." That strategy is certainly working for him, since he definitely has both.
To order product contact:
Select Sires Inc., 11740 U.S. 42 North, Plain City, Ohio 43064 / Phone: (614) 873-4683 Fax: (614) 873-5751