A North Canterbury cow has been classified "excellent" for a fifth time at the age of 18.
Owned by Belbrook Holsteins at Springbank, near Rangiora, Belbrook Dynamic Vanessa EX5 was the only Holstein Friesian in New Zealand to receive an EX5 classification in 2019.
"She’s not the biggest cow in the world, but she does her thing," said Robbie Wakelin, who farms with his older brother, John.
"This cow looks about 10 years old. She just keeps plodding along and goes along with the rest of the herd and milks twice a day with the other cows."
John Wakelin was elated at the result.
“It’s been two decades since we’ve had a cow classify EX5, that was Belbrook LD Annabel EX5 in 2000. It’s quite rare. Dairy cows work a lot harder these days and don’t often live long enough to meet the required criteria.”
A Holstein Friesian cow was not eligible to receive her first "excellent" classification until she had calved at least three times.
But longevity in cows was not unusual at Belbrook Holsteins, with about 70 cows in the herd having passed the age of 10, Robbie Wakelin said.
"Our oldest one was 21-years-old as Dad had allowed her to retire."
Vanessa was the oldest cow in the Wakelin’s milking herd last season. Her production peaked at 513kg of milk solids in 2013 and she has produced 13 calves, including five heifers which have been reared.
"Usually people get rid of them when they don’t produce a calf or stop producing enough milk, but we tend to keep them for the genetics, so it’s not just about the milk," Robbie Wakelin said.
Two of Vanessa’s daughters, Belbrook TKO Veronica EX2 and Belbrook Talent Victoria EX2, have classified "excellent" twice.
