2023 A Review of our Herd
What’s new at Sir Echo Farm
It has been a while since we have had an active website and have missed sharing our updates!
In general, we have been focused on getting our numbers down in the last three years and continue with that effort. It is a different type of herd then what we have had over the years. We will continue to limit ourselves to 10 max milkers by June of each year with about 2 per age group generally. With the cost of feed and the fact that we now spend our summers in northern Arizona this smaller herd fits better in our lifestyle. Truth be told, it is much more of a challenge to continue the genetic development with so few but we are still enjoying it so much!
We attended the National Show in 2021 in Louisville with a small number of milkers and were pleased with the results!
We have tried to continue with our 23 straight years of having our herd appraised and were happy to have that opportunity in 2021 and 2022. October appraisal in 2022 was with does that were well into their 10th month of lactation and drying up, so not as accurate of a picture as we would have liked but we always try to participate so we did. DHIA successfully completed for the 24th year!
We are planning to attend the National Show in Redmond this year with a small group of milkers and maybe some Juniors!
With a little success in 2022, both in AI and ET efforts, we were able to return to the genetics we used to start our herd in 1997 with the Imported Swiss Semen of Sento and Balz. We used those bucks in the Fall of 2022 as much as we could as well as a young AI herd sire, Sir Echo Lince, out of our incredibly impressive Sir Echo Lightening EEEE92 x 4 who was in the lineup as 2nd pl Aged Doe in 2021 as a 10 year old!
Anyone who has worked on a genetic development plan for many years knows it takes a very long time to reach goals and for us this was always part of our plan.
So we are thrilled to have the opportunity to once again share parts of our 24 yr journey with these beautiful animals.