milk-cows-holstein-11.html
VikingNews UK 04 2015
12 / 24
norwegian dairy farmers prefer
holstein
and
jersey
in norway, the majority of the
cows
are the local red breed nrf. but more and more norwegian dairy farmers prefer
holstein
and
jersey
cows
in their herds. i n september, rune bauge, undheim in norway, took a new barn for 60
jersey
cows
and young stock in use. the farm has had
jersey
cows
for at least 50 years ? and it pays off. to the question why he chose
jersey
, rune says that it is primarily due to the improved economics in
jersey
cows
.
jersey
milk is paid 76 euro cent / liter, which is 21 euro cent more than the price for nrf/
holstein
milk. in norway, a dairy herd has a maximum quota of 900,000 liters, but since the quota is liter, it is possible to produce more kg ecm with
jersey
than with nrf
cows
. at the same time, you can have more
cows
per hectare, and in many areas in norway, land is a limiting factor to the production. ?the good feed efficiency and easy temper of the
jersey
cows
are another advantage? rune points out. ?in addition, they work well in the lely a4 milking robot and after three weeks only two
cows
need help. they find their own way to the milking, and we already have 2.5 times of milking per day?. due to the good economy in
jersey
cows
, the demand for
jersey
livestock is high, and the norwegian
jersey
associa- tion has a two-year waiting period for
jersey
livestock in their sales list. the prices for heifers in calf are 1600-2700 euro. due to veterinary regulation, import of live cattle to norway is not possible so the only option to increase the herd is im- port of embryo and use of sexed semen. vikinggenetics is the only supplier of
jersey
semen in the norwegian market, and viking also offers special advising in norwegian
jersey
herds by breeding advisor peter weinkouff. in 1999, steinar & reidunn todnem, south of stavanger in norway, started crossing their nrf herd with
holstein
s. since then they have used viking
holstein
sires. ?during the latest 12 months, our 75
holstein
cows
have produced 11,100 kg milk in average. at the same time, the quality of the ud- ders has improved significantly, which is a huge advantage in a system like ours with milking robot?, steinar points out. the breeding goal is directed towards optimal economy and function in the free-stall barn. ?we use breeding advisor peter weinkouff from vikingdanmark, who has huge know- ledge on
holstein
?, steinar explains. ?peter visits us once a year and uses a computer based mating program ? ?vik- mate ® ?. this program takes our breeding goal into account and at the same time keeps the inbreeding at an acceptable level?. ?in general, we select bulls based on ntm, which has high weight on health, fertility and hoof health ? all impor- tant traits in our herd. furthermore, production and function- al traits have high focus. unfortunately, geno is not a mem- ber of nav, but we have been promised that we can have nav breeding values for our animals. in this way, we can compare them with other
holstein
animals in the nordic countries.? steinar and reidunn use sexed female semen (x-vik) sys- tematically for the first insemination in heifers and
cows
in good heat. ?the prices on
holstein
livestock and heifers in calf are good. therefore it pays off to use sexed semen, and we are happy with the pregnancy results?, steinar explains. in 2015, rune bauge, undheim, inaugurated a completely new barn for his 60
jersey
. torbjorn garborg succesfully uses vikingred is his nrf herd. here he is with an r david daughter. 12 vikingnews | december 2015
jersey-cows-holstein-13.html