Westlake family starts the season off right with CRV AmBreed

Paul and Rahel Westlake of Central Southland are looking forward to a great season after winning a herd improvement package from CRV AmBreed worth over $20,000.

The husband and wife team, along with their three young children were presented with the very-welcome windfall after visiting CRV AmBreed’s website to take advantage of a promotion designed to support farmers through special offers on mating and management products.  Drawn from online entries, the Westlakes will receive ESTROTECT heat detection aids, their choice of CRV AmBreed semen products, the services of a qualified CRV AmBreed AI technician, herd testing and, of course, mating advice for their 750 cow herd.  In addition to the immediate savings this season, the win will yield profitable and long lasting progeny and management tools that will compound this saving year after year.

As calving begins, the Westlakes are already thinking about mating, which will start with pre-mating heat detection with ESTROTECT heat detection patches.  The patches are a hassle-free method of heat detection that takes out the variation and subjectivity of other methods of heat detection such as tail paint or paddock checks alone, particularly in large herds.  Pre-mating heat detection will highlight non-cyclers within the Westlake’s herd for early treatment and decision-making, maintaining whole-herd fertility.

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Although kept busy with the family’s three young children, Mrs Westlake is particularly interested in breeding top quality producers for the future.  Together with their CRV AmBreed Field Consultant, Irene Saul, the Westlakes have selected a six-bull pak comprised of the top CRV AmBreed Holstein-Friesian and Jersey sires suited to their farming system and goals.  CRV AmBreed Field Consultant, Irene Saul, says that the paks offer farmer clients the opportunity to select the bulls they want at great prices.  “We offer our clients flexibility,” she says.  “And we’re always very conscious of making it easy and cost-effective too.” CRV AmBreed was the first to introduce the flexi-pak system to New Zealand farmers.

This progressive dairy herd is milked through a 54-bail rotary shed on 300 hectares with an adjacent run off on which they grew supplements last year.  In coming years the Westlakes hope to increase the use of supplements to get even more production per cow.   Mrs Saul says that CRV AmBreed’s herd testing product will help to make this goal a reality.  “Successful farming is not about guesswork,” she says.  “Our herd testing service will provide the Westlakes with the information they need to make the right decisions to build their herd quality and production.”

The breeding package was presented by CRV AmBreed’s National Sales Manager, Philip Fourie, Southland Regional Sales Manager, Mark Duffy and the Westlake’s CRV AmBreed Field Consultant, Irene Saul.  Mr Fourie said that it was fantastic to see the package go to such motivated winners.  “CRV AmBreed has always been about performance,” he says.  “Our genetics and herd improvement tools are tailored to each client’s farming system and goals and are achieving top results around the country, proving themselves again and again.”

The Westlakes too, were delighted with the win.  “This is a great package,” they said.  “We’re so pleased to have won it!”