Tuesday, April 24, 2012

  Most milk produced in a lifetime: Canadian cow sets world record

EMBRUN, ON, Canada--Smurf, a 15-year-old Holstein cow has produced more than 57,000 gallons of milk (that's 216,891 kg or 478,163 pounds) - and is still producing - at " La Ferme Gilette " in Embrun, Ont., setting the new world record for the most milk produced in a lifetime, according to the World Record Academy: www.worldrecordacademy.com/.

  Photo: Smurf, the record breaker cow.
  ( enlarge photo )

The Guinness world record for the Most milk extracted in two minutes was set by Gunther Wahl (Germany), who extracted 2 litres (3.52 pt) of milk from a cow on the set of Guinness World Records: Die GroBten Weltrekorde in Germany .

Guinness World Records also recognized the world record for the Most milk extraced in 30 minutes: 35.5 litres, achieved by Jose Maria Serna Fernandez (Spain) on the set of 'Guinness World Records', in Madrid, Spain . Jose Maria used four cows during the 30 minutes. His son was on hand to help him massage the udders and change buckets.

  "That's the equivalent of more than 1 million glasses of milk," Smurf's owner Eric Patenaude, a sixth generation dairy farmer, said.

  The average dairy cow yields about 35,000 kilograms (33,981 liters) of milk in a lifetime, or less than 50 liters per day.
  Smurf produces approximately the same daily amount, but has lived three times longer than most dairy cows.

  It's her "longevity and consistency" that won her the prize, which also earned Smurf "Udder Accolades" from a local newspaper, said Patenaude.

 "That's how she's produced so much milk." It also helps that she's got good genes: Smurf's father was a stud named Emperor from Wisconsin and her mother, Murphy, was also a "good milker," said a herder at La Ferme Gillette in Embrun, Ontario.

  "For us, it's kind of like winning the Stanley Cup," says Eric Patenaude, a sixth-generation dairy man who works at the farm.

  Eric Patenaude said good health is the key to Smurf's lactating success. Smurf will deliver her 11th calf in May and she's never developed any lactation, fertility or foot trouble like other cows her age.

  Smurf turns 16 in September and is expecting her eleventh calf in the coming weeks. So far she has only had one female offspring to continue on the milk-making tradition.

 "She's a trouble-free cow," Eric Patenaude said. Louis Patenaude, Eric's uncle, said when most cows reach the end of their lactation life cycle, they're shipped out to be butchered, but not Smurf.

 "They end up being ground meat, sausage and baloney and whatever cuts of meat they do with older beef," Louis said.

 "When she dies, she'll be buried on our farm."

   Related world records: 
Smalles Cow: Swallow

Largest collection of cow-related items: Denise Tubangui

Most expensive cow: Missy

Largest Tripe Soup: Scandia Sibiu

Tuesday, April 24, 2012 4:04 PM