Ricky Jenkyn runs Fox River Angus, a Black Angus stud in Axedale, near Bendigo. He’s facing the same challenges as others across the country with floodwaters swamping his paddocks and trashing fencing and a lot of other infrastructure.
But he’s had some significant wins too and once he gets through the current challenges; he’s focussed on increasing his stock and growing the stud.
“I’ve been doing a lot of embryo work breeding bulls with the right genetics,” said Ricky. “If I can get a few extra embryos to hold, I’m going to be much better off running the stud. This isn’t a cheap exercise.”
Ricky recently attended a presentation led by Animal Innovations & Management (AIM) CEO, David Ginter, and Senior Technical Sales Specialist (Senior TSS) Rob Coburn, at McKean McGregor Livestock in Strathdale, Bendigo.
He said he learned things in that session that have changed the course of his farming and made his growth goals seem more achievable.
Following the presentation, Senior TSS Rob visited Ricky’s farm and suggested he include the Grazemax Ultra product in his cattle’s feeding regime, in part to help address some of his cows’ issues with the lush, green grass feed going straight through them.
“The Grazemax really helped to tighten things up,” said Ricky. He said there was also “a huge, visible change very quickly in the cows’ overall health,” including the sheen of their coats after shedding their winter layers.
But the most significant outcome: “I just got my pregnancy test results and I had every embryo and every AI (artificial insemination) joining hold – that’s 100% conception.”
“That’s practically unheard of – I’d have been ahead of the game with 60% success but 100% is incredible.”
Ricky said the presentation by AIM’s David Ginter really opened his eyes.
“David mentioned that green grass is full of nitrogen, which is an embryo killer. I just wasn’t onto that. I’ve been feeding green grass and I’ve got calves feeding off their mums, thinking I’m doing the best for them but really, I’ve been doing them an injustice,” said Ricky.
With Grazemax Ultra in the mix “I’m running the green grass for longer and using a lot less hay – I reckon I could see a 20% lift (in cattle numbers) and that’s huge.
Even if I can run an extra 10 more breeding cows, there’s a win. It comes down to getting the green feed to last longer and getting the best out of it. Land is shrinking so we’ve got to get the most out of everything we’ve got.”
Said Ricky: “I was super impressed with David and Rob. They weren’t trying to sell product; they were just telling exactly what problems their products could help with and how, and they could back it up with numbers and performance from trials and other people’s experiences. It wasn’t a sales pitch.
And it’s great that AIM has people who physically come out to the farm and see what you’re dealing with first-hand.”
