BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

MAKING EACH GENERATION BETTER THAN THE LAST

“Our goal is to produce all-around high-quality cows that are healthy, efficient, high-producing animals,” says Mark Qual, a third-generation dairy farmer from Lisbon, North Dakota. He and his family manage a 1,400-cow dairy and a 7,000-acre grain farm, consistently utilizing cutting-edge technology and looking for ways to improve the businesses.

Shortly after returning from World War II, Mark’s grandfather established a small dairy and grain farm, just south of Lisbon, North Dakota. The second generation included three sons, two of which are still active members of the farm’s management team. Today, Qual Dairy Inc. and Qual Grain are owned, managed and operated by Mark, his father Alan, uncle Rod, brother Jon, and two cousins, Tyler and Nathan. Together, the family manages about 22 employees between the two businesses.

Cow-side goals and sustainability

The 1,400 Holsteins that make up Qual Dairy’s milking herd are milked via a 60-stall robotic rotary parlor. The herd is currently made up of 41% first lactation, 29% second lactation and 30% third and greater lactation cows. “Our goal is to produce all-around high-quality cows that are healthy, efficient, high-producing animals,” says Mark. “We want animals that produce high quality milk and meat while using resources in the most efficient way possible.” Fitness traits affecting animal longevity are very important to Mark, so he pays close attention to Herd Health Profit Dollars™ (HHP$™) and Dairy Wellness Profit Index® (DWP$®) when selecting sires for the dairy’s lineup.

“The different weighting that was used to make the HHP$ index is closer to the strengths that I am looking for in creating better animals,” says Mark. When compared to other industry indexes, HHP$ includes a greater balance of improvement in both fat and protein yields as well as emphasis on mastitis resistance, udder conformation traits and the Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding’s evaluation for feed efficiency. “It will definitely be a main index that I use when considering sires going forward.”

Along with HHP$ and DWP$, Mark keeps an eye out for sires with Select Sires’ FeedPRO® designation. “We want our animals to be as efficient as possible, especially with the high costs of various feedstuffs,” says Mark.

The current sire roster for Qual Dairy includes a mixture of proven and NxGEN® sires – 7HO14454 LIONEL, 7HO15913 KAHN, 14HO15932 CUMULUS, 250HO15988 SOYSAUCE, 7HO16078 SEAR, 7HO16126 LAFFEY, 14HO15876 KELBY, 7HO15937 ESQUIRE and 7HO16103 CHEW-P. All these sires are above +$975 HHP$ and +$900 DWP$, and nearly a majority qualify for the FeedPRO designation.

The Select Mating Service® (SMS®) and Select Reproductive Solutions® (SRS®) teams at Minnesota/Select Sires play an important role in facilitating genetic change at Qual Dairy. The SMS team is responsible for mating the cows and heifers using the sire lineup that Mark compiles, while the SRS team examines data from the dairy to analyze how the reproductive performance can be improved. “Both teams are always available if I have any questions or concerns, and they are huge assets to our reproductive successes,” says Mark.

Mark has plans to continue expanding the herd internally in the coming years, so creating healthy, longer-living animals is essential to him. Mark says that while there will need to be some updates made to facilities around the farm, the genetic goal will remain the same: keep making each generation better than the previous one.