Being named a Master Breeder isn’t a new experience for the Sprunt family.
After achieving Holstein Australia Master Breeder status about five years ago, the family has added the same title for their Kaarmona stud with the Jersey breed.
“I was quite taken aback and chuffed when notified about it; I don’t think of ourselves in this realm,” Rohan Sprunt said.
“We just like breeding good efficient, profitable cows with udders we like to milk.
“We were fortunate enough to attain the Master Breeder award in the Holstein breed some years ago, but to awarded Master Breeder status in Jerseys is truly humbling.
“When I think of Master Breeders in Jerseys, I think back to those great iconic studs such as Francliff, Belgonia and the like.”
Kaarmona was started in 1965 by Rohan’s parents John and Jennifer. It was named from their home farm location at Kaarimba and where John grew up in Ardmona.
Now fourth generation farmers, Rohan and his brother Graeme leased the farm from their mother in 1994 to start their business venture and later bought the property in 2000.
“We still have at least one cow family — Arkona — that Dad worked with,” Rohan said.
“He won the World Conference Champion Cow with an Arkona cow at Tatura in 1976 and we’ve still got descendants of that cow.”
In 1994 when Rohan and Graeme returned to the farm, they started with 100 cows, including more than 70 newly purchased Holsteins. Now the herd is 400 with only 100 Holsteins.
“We had retained about 20 Jersey heifers that went to an older brother’s place when the family got out of milking for a while,” Rohan said.
“When Graeme and I came back, we got the 20 heifers back and started breeding up from there.”
They purchased BIE BB Babe in 1994. “Her mother was imported to Australia from the US as a live animal by the Bie Syndicate in Gippsland,” Rohan said.
“I thought it was a unique opportunity to get into a new family to Australia. She was an outcross in genetics for a lot of bulls. She ended up having 14 Excellent daughters in Australia, one of the highest on record.
“We’ve now surpassed Babe number 400 going back to her. She was probably the best we ever had; she was a true brood cow.”
Babe is now one of the most prolific cow families in Australia and the highest BPI young bull in Australia is a Babe bull, Kaarmona Jeronimo Brady (ET).
Other prominent families in the stud include Marie, Sandy, Impish, Belle, Maggie May, Nellie, Charo, Lovelies
Kaarmona has supplied bulls to the AI market for a long time.
“This award is not just about us — it’s for the foundations set by our predecessors and for our industry connections,” Rohan said.
“We’ve worked with AI companies along the way, particularly in a long association with Genetics Australia going back to bulls like Valerian, a proven bull that came from this farm.
“We have also used World Wire Sires’ mating program for at least 20 years, whereby we select a bull team, no matter who markets them.
“We really value the industry relationships we have established along the way and the improvement to our business that they have helped us to achieve.”
The stud has done well at on-farm challenges, scored an Honourable Mention for a Babe cow at International Dairy Week in 1995 and a cow they purchased, Brunetta Brook Marie Ex92, was HM Champion Cow IDW 2000 and then Reserve Champion Cow IDW 2006. A granddaughter of Marie was second at IDW and later sold for $21,100.
Kaarmona Parade Babe 2, Ex93 was HM Intermediate Champion IDW 2008, won Best Udder at the IDW Jersey Show 2010 and was also a two-time overall Champion of the Great Southern Challenge.
The stud has had multiple 93-point cows and at least 50 per cent of the current eligible herd have been classified as Excellent.
The brothers look for strong cows with good udders, positive milk with high components and fertility.
“I’m really focusing on fertility and mastitis resistance at the moment and I’m trying to get away from short teats,” Rohan said.
Next week: The Bacon family’s Brookbora Jerseys from Tennyson.
