Jenck Farms, LLC perennially has the top producing herd in Oregon

TILLAMOOK, Ore. — Jenck Farms, LLC has been the top dairy herd in Oregon since 1976, the result of a visionary breeding program that started in 1962.

Let’s get right to the farm’s current daily production average with 350 Holsteins on test: 88 pounds of milk per cow, 4.7% butterfat and 3.3% protein.

“For us its all about components — pounds of fat and pounds of protein,” said Joe Jenck, who operates the farm in partnership with his brother Donnie and son  Brian. “The industry benchmark is 7 pounds of components combined,” noted Joe, adding “it’s remarkable how much we’ve gained in just the last five years.” The focus on solids had been set even before Joe, 60, was born.

“Dad was always breeding for components,” he affirmed. “When semen cost $2-$3 per straw, he was willing to spend $5 to get a better bull and a better cow. He consistently bred for high components and was also pretty open to trying different things in our feeding program.

“Feed the bugs in her stomach; if the bugs are all happy, that’s the whole trick with a cow,” Joe continued. “We are not big grain feeders; we are heavy forage feeders.

“A cow is meant to convert forage to milk, that’s why a cow’s stomach is the way it is. And if you get good forage, boy, can you produce milk!

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