Boyanup dairy family awarded Holstein Australia’s Master Breeder honour for second time

Sixty years after they started, a South West dairy farming family have been honoured for the second time for a lifetime of dedication breeding cattle with genetics highly sought-after around the world. Third-generation Boyanup-based Kitchen Farms, Carenda Holsteins — established by Jack and Mary Kitchen 60 years ago — was one of two West Australian 2020 Master Breeders awarded by Holstein Australia this month. Awarded the title previously in 2009, they are now one of just 15 breeders throughout Australia who have received the honour for their contribution twice. It was a proud moment for the family, who have been dairying since the mid-1950s and running their stud since 1960. The business remains in the family, with Ray Kitchen and wife Donna in partnership with his brother Mal and wife Leslie, and Mary, 91, still helping out with milking and bottle-feeding calves. “Mum and Dad started the stud 60 years ago, we’ve just bred up from some of those initial seed stock and added a few other lines over the years. It takes generations of improving your herd to be able to breed the type of animal you would like on the farm.” The family had been classifying and herd-recording since the early days, Mary said. “Jack went over to South Australia and Victoria to buy bulls, bought four heifers and a bull from SA, then more from Victoria.” “But the best cow of all, never had a heifer calf,” she laughed. Much has changed over the years, they said, most recently the ability to test the animals genomically in the past 10 years. Ray said it assisted in generating more accurate assessments of animals and determining genomic breeding values, which were getting a lot of use commercially. Carenda Holsteins’ genetics have been recognised globally, and used for artificial insemination in New Zealand, South Africa, South America, China and Vietnam. “We’re taking a hair sample, and from the DNA we’re getting a genomic breeding value for all of the animals, so we’re mating our best cows to the best bulls in the world,” Ray said. The traits the family have strived for have also changed to include heat-tolerance, feed-efficiency and hornless animals. “When it comes to breeding, we strive for good health, fertility and less mastitis,” Ray said. “A good udder, good feet, legs, rump structure and dairy strength about the animal were probably the critical important traits that we looked for, as well as good production with butter fat and protein levels. But over the years we’ve been looking more at health traits. “Some of these traits have been harder to assess, so that’s where genomics have come into it.” With calving season about to get under way, Mary will be helping out by bottle-feeding the young. “Sometimes they’ll drink quick and other times you wonder how much longer (they’ll take),” she laughed. “So it’s a time-consuming thing, so if I can do that and they can go and do something more productive, it saves a lot of time.” Brampton Park Holsteins in Rosabrook, run by third-generation farmer Brad Mountford and his family, were also awarded the title, which was awarded to 16 farms across the country. “To me, this award means we’re on the right path with our breeding program,” he said. “I’m very proud of my dad Ron, because he bred a lot of the cows over the years and he also bred the previous descendants that helped us achieve this award.”

Boyanup dairy family awarded Holstein Australia’s Master Breeder honour for second time

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