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VikingNews UK 01 2016
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skottorp ? 720
cows
and 11,550 kg ecm by camilla rosman, marketing manager, vikinggenetics skottorp farm is owned and run by lars-inge gunnarsson and his family, and monika andersson is in charge of the herd
. they have had high focus on easy calvings for many years and it has showed results. continuous breeding for mastitis resistance has made the cell score of 720 high-producing cows to stay below 100,000! constant focus on bulls with high ntm has made skottorp one of the most important suppliers of bull calves to vikinggenetics. breeding strategy the goal for 2016 is 12,000 kg ecm. age at first calving is 23.7 months and it is important to have them calf as early as possible. ?it is too expensive to have young stock just for fun,? lars-inge says. all heifers stay in the herd and are used in milk
production. ?we are not afraid of having high re- cruitment,? lars-inge explains. ?feet and legs are important and crucial traits for good production and we be- lieve a lot in the new hoof health in- dex?, monika says. easy calvings are very important because it helps the cow to recover after calving, she starts to eat and produce and get in calf again. today there are only 3% diffi- cult calvings in the herd. a result of this is that most of the cows get on their feet quickly after calving and start to produce milk. the herd con- sists of 80% holstein and 20% vikin- gred and the quota stays the same, even though the holstein cows are milking 1400 kg more on average per year, but the fact is that the viking reds are healthier and stronger. meat production is a large part of the total income all bull calves are kept for slaughter. another 150 beef crosses are bought in the autumn. cows that are on the slaughter list are fed for 3-5 weeks be- fore going to slaughter. there is also a herd of 150 suckling cows on the farm. milk recording is the perfect tool ?we are very rigorous with reporting everything in the herd because if you don?t, you fool yourself with the re- sults. the milk recording is very impor- tant for follow up on results and com- pare with history, and compare their own farm with other farms in same size. it is a good tool to keep employees updated and focused on being even better. it becomes a competition which is positive!? monica says. edf- european dairy farmer lars-inge is a member of the edf (european dairy farmers) ? a group of progressive and visionary dairy farmers looking for inspiration, and it serves as a platform for the exchange of ideas, experience and knowledge on an inter- national level. ?being a part of the edf group is a great opportunity, and it gives me lots of good input to use in my own herd?, lars-inge says. cows of today have the genetic capacity to milk more than this ?cows of today have the genetic capacity to produce more than they do; we just need to use their full capacity. milk is what we are paid for and we can never relax.? lars-inge says. ?no business person can do that and no ?feet and legs are important and crucial traits for good produc- tion and we believe a lot in the new hoof health index.? monika andersson one of the challenges in a big herd is the big pressure of infections, especially among the young calves. therefore, all calves are put outdoor in pens and stay healthy. 4 vikingnews | february 2016
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