A Holstein cow by the name of Smurf broke quite the amoozing record with her incredible milk production.
That’s because Smurf, from Ontario, Canada, could produce 37.7 kg (83 pounds) of milk daily, earning her the record title for the greatest milk yield by a cow – lifetime.
That’s 35.4 litres (150 cups) of milk per day!
Over the course of her life, Smurf yielded 216,891 kg (478,163 pounds) of milk.
“She was a once in a lifetime cow! A really hard worker, never sick. Had a personality of her own,” said her owner, Eric Patenaude.
You would think after so many times trying to pet her she would like it, but she never caught on to liking being rubbed. She just wanted to eat, lay down and make milk.
Smurf, who passed away in 2014 at the age of 18, was milked three times a day.
“All of her milk went in a big tank and would be mixed with all the other milk from all our other cows,” said Eric.
“That milk was then shipped to a processing plant.”
During the milking process, the milking unit is brought up to the cow.
She is then pre-dipped with a disinfectant and pre-stripped to stimulate the milk let down.
After 90 seconds, the cow is then wiped clean, and the milking unit is attached.
When the cow is done giving all her milk, the unit detaches on its own and a post-dip is applied to the cow to prevent infection.
Eric says Smurf was able to yield so much milk due to longevity and genetics.
“She had superior genetics,” he said.
Her whole family tree was known to live long and produce lots of milk.
Eric also said Smurf stood out from the other cows at La Ferme Gillette Inc. Dairy Farm because of her ability to get back into gestation easily, which would allow her to continue producing milk.
Eric says Smurf was very loved and was raised in a cow palace where everything was tailored to her.
“She had her own stall, with ample straw and a very comfortable mattress. She had food all day long which was refreshed twice a day,” he said.
“And when came milking time she would get up, walk right up to the milking machine which was installed by one of our technicians and when done she would eat, and return to lay.”
Eric says he knew Smurf would break the record for the greatest milk yield by a cow – lifetime based on her milk recording throughout her lifetime.
“All cows are milk recorded. She was the one that stood on top,” he said.
So, we thought it would be fun to have her record recognized by Guinness World Records.
Eric says learning Smurf had achieved a record title felt like winning the Stanley Cup.
“Some only achieve this once in a lifetime,” he said.
“I don’t think we’ll ever achieve this again.”
He also says he and his family are all extremely proud to have bred, owned, and raised a cow like Smurf.
“We are extremely thankful to GWR for having welcomed us into their family. We are hardworking farmers who love what we do,” said Eric.
We take great care of our animals and land, and for this to come naturally by doing what we love to do every day is pretty awesome!
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