Jelbart’s Caldermeade herd to sell

THE Caldermeade Dairy and Cafe, which was owned by the Jelbart family has sold, after around 12 months on the market.
The entire milking herd of around 340 Holstein Friesian autumn calvers will be dispersed at a sale on Friday, October 6 at 10.30am at VLE Leongatha.
Tim Jelbart said the quality of the herd was a reflection of his late father Max’s dedication to using the best genetics to breed the best cows.
“Dad was an industry leader and passionate about dairying. He started dairy farming in 1981 with 140 cows and now we milk 1400 cows between two farms,” he said.
Tim said Max’s passionate commitment to the dairy industry was outstanding and was heavily involved on the boards of Murray Goulburn, Marcus Oldham College and Australian Dairy Farmers.
Max was also a president of the South Gippsland Branch of United Dairy Farmers of Victoria and a life member of the Nuffield Farmers Scholars Australia.
“He was always willing to try new things, which meant he was always using top quality genetics to try and push production and longevity boundaries,” Tim said.
“He knew how to grow grass, everyone was always amazed at how much grass he could grow.”
The herd is currently averaging around 33.5 litres per day, with 3.8 per cent fat, 3.5 per cent protein and a cell count of 100,000.
Sire groups selling include Medallion, Delsanto, Christmas, Gold Crown, Cardinal, Buddha with cows rejoined to Medallion, Royalman and Challenger.
Tim said each cow has been pregnancy tested, has full herd test records and three generations of pedigree reports.
The Jelbarts have been improving their herd through AI and Genetics Australia since the early 1990s.
For the past 25 years Gerard Brislin has worked with the Jelbart family as an adviser across the breeding program at Caldermeade Farm and Pound Creek, sharing ideas and thoughts with Max, whilst also being challenged by Max’s inquisitive mind.
“Across the 25 years we have seen lots of changes in the world of dairy genetics, but the thing that hasn’t changed was ensuring we maintain a strong focus on maximising productivity and economic returns against investment made around genetics,” he said.
The Caldermeade herd is positioned in the top five per cent of the Holstein breed nationally when analysing herd records and data against the industries recognised economic index the Balanced Performance Index.
“You don’t just buy genetics, you invest in genetics and in the future of your dairy herd and this is very evident around the sale of this herd next month,” Gerard said.
“It has been a privilege to have played a role in developing this herd to where it is today.”
Gerard strongly encouraged commercial dairy producers to get along and secure genetics that rarely come on to the open market.
Tim said the decision to sell the Caldermeade farm was made to consolidate the family business to focus on the original farm at Pound Creek.
Tim said it was positive to see the iconic Caldermeade property had passed from one family business to another, which will continue to run the cafe and retain the existing staff.
“We owned the farm for 11 years and its sale will allow us to refocus on the Pound Creek property, where we milk 1000 cows and employ 15 staff,” he said.
For more information on the sale, see the advertisement on page 40 of today’s Star, the online catalogue and the Caldermeade Farm herd dispersal Facebook page.

For sale: from left, Genetics Australia’s Gerard Brislin with 11425 sired by Gold Crown averaging 34.6L, BPI 152 and Tim Jelbart with 984 sired by Medallion averaging 32.4L, BPI 108.

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Posted by Sarah Vella on Sep 19 2017. Filed under Rural News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry