Clint Cummings, of Wyndham.
"They do fantastic production and they are placid, great to handle and work with. Striving to breed a better cow gives you something to look forward to, a reason to get out of bed, rather than just milking the same old cow."
"You milk what you love and we love the black-and-whites. My parents had them so it is in my blood. They are big, happy and capacious."
"It has a lot of income streams — bull calves can be sold as beef animals and don’t need to be bobbied. When a cow ends up leaving the farm, you get a far better return on her than a smaller cow. They have pedigree, so you can follow bloodlines as a hobby — it’s not racing cars or following the horses, it is a hobby of following your cows — that’s the appeal."
"They are the best all-round breed because of production and inputs and if you want a beef bull to finish off after AB [artificial breeding], then you’ve got a good beef animal, where if you put a beef bull over some other dairy breeds, you’ve got a lighter animal. We’ve always been Friesians and always will be."
"They last a long time, they have longevity, their udders last and they are good for walking. They are a good all-round cow."
"The animal is more than just milk, as they have a bull calf for beef. They are nice, big and friendly cows."
"The are the best converter of grass to milk. Unless you are using sexed semen, half of them are going to have bull calves and a bull calf out of a Friesian cow is worth so much more money. It is added value. I’m black-and-white through and through."
"It is a multi-purpose breed, as there is a market for the unwanted bulls and you need fewer animals, as they are a bigger cow, so when it comes to per-animal costs, you have more production per animal and your animal costs are the same."
