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VikingNews UK 01 2015
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kårtorp focus on
vikingred
?as dairy farmers we must have as much milk as possible in the milk tank! that is first priority. at present our pro- duction is 9,700 kg ecm and the goal is to deliver 10,000 kg ecm per cow in our herd
of 210 vikingred cows
. the herd was quite uneven since the herd was tripled between 2009 and 2012. be- cause of that we focused on cows with functional conformation and today we got a more uniform herd. the present focus is on production, components, milking speed, feet & legs and udder health? per tells. ?in my opinion the best cow is a cow that looks the same, lactation after lactation. she must give high produc- tion of solids, stay healthy and fertile, be small to medium size and have a good udder. i am a dairy farmer and must produce milk as efficiently as possible. my cows do not have to be show cows?, per says. all calves genomically tested at kårtorp they genomically test all heifer calves routinely. the heifers are in an external heifer housing system from the age of 3-4 months and brought back to the kårtorp herd six weeks be- fore calving. ?when testing all heifer calves, we are able to do more correct selection and focus on the genetically best animals. even though there is a cost for genomic test, calculations show we can increase the genetic progress and minimize the cost of raising heif- ers?, per says. combines use of x-vik and beef semen ?our goal is an increase of three ntm units per year in the herd. the best third of the herd is inseminated with sexed x-vik semen from top sires and by having a genomic test we are more certain to get heifer calves on the gene- tically best animals. furthermore po- tential bull dams are mated to sires of sons with the goal to sell bull calves to vikinggenetics?, per emphasizes. ?we have no intentions to breed more heifers than we need for replace- ments. as part of the strategy we there- fore use beef semen on the poorest third of the herd. we choose charolais for the cows and hereford for the heif- ers. following this strategy we both in- crease the genetic progress and the beef value of the herd. the goal is to reduce the replacement rate to below 30% meaning we need 60-70 new heif- er calves per year. this goal should be possible?, per says. the calving inter- val is 12 months and almost all heats are found with automation heat detec- tion tools. per larsson, kårtorp farm in sweden, is very enthusiastic about the vikingred breed. ?it is exciting to see how far you can push the vikingred cows when it comes to production. i think that the red cows have a far higher capacity than many dairy farmers realize! and we want to prove it!? per larsson fact box: ? 210 vikingred cows ? 3 employees ? 250 ha ? 9,700 kg ecm ? 3 gea robots per and tore larsson, kårtorp farm in sweden, are very enthusiastic about the vikingred breed the organic production is at present 9,700 kg ecm and increasing. ?i want to show that high production and the good health of vikingred cows can be combined!? per says. by camilla rosman 8 vikingnews | february 2015
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