herd-cows-heifers-14.html
VikingNews UK 01 2016
15 / 24
vadsbo mjölk ? breeding for the invisible cow viking
holstein
? much more than a
holstein
in january, vikinggenetics
holstein
breed coordinator, claus langdahl, visited vikinggenetics australia and held presenta- tions where both farmers and industry people attended. the title of the presentation was ?leaders are those with followers ? 30 years of selection for
health
traits?. viking world a r o u n d t h e claus langdahl and tony and mette dinnitis, australian farmers happy with their viking
holstein
s. by ann norgren, vikinggenetics australia facts: vadsbo mjölk is a subsidiary to vadsbo växtodling, owned by eight farmers employees: 22 employees includ- ing administration and mainte- nance
cows
: 60% vikingred, 40%
holstein
production: 9,100 kg ecm rotational milking parlor, 60
cows
. two times milking. other: 2500 ha, 300 ha grazing organic farming. 8% clinical mastitis age at calving: 25 months calving interval: 12.0 months at number of straws/pregnancy; the im- portant figure for us is calving interval. we start with the
cows
as early as pos- sible after calving and want all
cows
pregnant as fast as possible." it is very important that
cows
are not too big. ?big
cows
seem to not last very long?, henrik says. ?we want the herd to be even, so when choosing bulls we look for taller vikingred, and smaller
holstein
. breeding advisor, eva hult- man, from växasverige has just intro- duced the new mating program in the computer and marie is very happy with the new version. since the production is organic,
cows
need to be on full pasture for three months and another two months outdoor. this means high quality of pasture and routes to and from pasture and good feet & legs are extremely im- portant. future ?we are right now expanding to 1400
cows
, but after that it is hard to increase without making a lot of rebuilding ? like more calving pens, new calf barn etc. the work now is to tune in every cor- ner?, henrik says. ?in breeding, it is im- portant to stick to your goals, even if you have some problems in the herd from time to time,? marie says. table 1. comparison interbull breeding values, dec. 2015 country dnk ger nld aus usa can protein 104.2 101,4 102.5 97,7 102,1 101,0 udder
health
101.2 95.4 96.6 95,7 99.6 95.8 fertility 98.2 92.8 95,7 91,2 97.4 92.3 calving ease (mat.) 101,8 98,0 97,9 - 101,9 97,0 calving ease (direct) 100.2 94.5 97.0 93,9 96.6 97,0 frame 103.2 109.4 109.4 106,1 112.1 116.8 udder 103.2 102.4 103.0 96,9 108,0 106.7 ntm +5,3 -5,3 -1,1 -4,2 1,9 -5,3 hoof
health
index the hoof
health
index created a lot of interest and discussion among the audi- ence. hoof
health
is a problem in many
holstein
herds and most countries do not register this trait. viking has done this for almost 10 years in sweden, den- mark and finland and since 2011, the hoof
health
index is included in the nordic total merit index (ntm), making it possible to improve this through breeding. claus showed how hoof
health
has a high correlation to longevi- ty, but also daughter fertility and other diseases, but not such a strong correla- tion to feet & legs, which means that it is a completely different trait compared to the feet & leg index. viking countries have a unique registration system the information from claus made it clear for people in australia to see the different direction viking has been breeding our
holstein
s for over 30 years and the depth and reliability in the viking system. farmers in australia have already seen first generation with improvements in daughter fertility and general
health
. viking
holstein
is more than a
holstein
the figures in the table below from in- terbull (dec 2015) shows a comparison between the main
holstein
populations around the world and it shows clearly that viking is the leader when it comes to
health
traits and the most economi- cal
cows
. february 2016 | vikingnews 15
milk-rakuuna-fiorenzo-16.html