Crossbreeding: Finding the Cow that Works
This blog, www.dairycrossbreeding.com, will focus on how the Norwegian Red breed will fit as the second or third breed for the crossbreeding you will be doing in your herd. Each blog posting will be brief and will answer questions that many of you are asking. Your blogging back to us will help us to more directly address needs and herd management goals.
The Norwegian Red is being offered in many countries across the globe as an ahead-of-the-curve solution for many problems facing dairy cattle populations today. It’s like the Norwegian Red farmers’ cooperative, Geno, started building a fertile, healthy, robust and productive cow in the 1970’s to address critical needs of the dairy industry in 2011!
Geno Global technical advisors and distributors stand ready to answer your questions and provide you with the best Norwegian Red genetics available.
Joan Cooper, Webmaster
On behalf of Geno Global and
dairy crossbreeders worldwide.
We used some of the most fertile HF bulls 20 years ago like VIC, TSX abd BRI, you can still see their superior fertility and positive Body Condition scores today on the ICBF website. Some of the present “fix it all” HF bulls have similar fertility figures to the bulls that didn’t fix our herd fertility problems 20 years ago, so why should they work today?
We were unable to tighten up our calving interval until we started exclusively using Swedish Red bulls in 2000. The improvement in fertility was dramatic with a present day calving interval of 283 days and a 6 week pregnancy rate of 81%. Milk yield is similar to before but solids have improved, the cows now produce 450kgs MS/head on 250kgs of meal/cow, based. Based on the production from the 1st and 2nd calvers (3 way cross’s) this year we will soon see the herd production exceed 500kgs MS/hd and infertility rates of 5%.
dear sir, i would like to buy bullsemen for a small dairy faram in pk.norwegian crossbreeding genetics sires.of braut.eggtroen.haga.holmas.naxbie,raastad.so kindly send me the price for each itam in danske kr pr strw.hoping to hear you soon.
I just came across your nice crossbreeding blog and really enjoyed above comments. Having practiced crossbreeding for the past 20 years and trying to overcome mountains of prejudices from the purebreeding community, it is real exhilarating to hear about all the positive experiences from other cross-breeders…
Tried to pack my 20 years of crossbreeding experience in tropical Africa into following sites:
http://www.livestockkenya.com/index.php/cattle/285-sylvia
and
http://www.makitosha.com/cows.htm
These will give you some ideas about all the challenges that can be overcome by crossbreeding.
Thank you very much for this site!
i love geno crossbreeding cows hope to buy some day for my small dairy in pakistan.looking to calves if get a chance.
Hi Moises, I love your slogan, “Crossbreeding the Best Choice!” What have you found in your experience to make crossbreeding the best choice for your farm business? What “profit indicators” do you feel are important? I’m sure Fertility is very important to you.
Most dairy cattle breeders agree that “the fertility levels in our herds, the world over, are not what breeders would like them to be.” This is a direct quote in an article published by “The Bullvine – news, views & reviews for the progressive dairy breeder.” Find the article “Fertility – You Get What You Breed For” at http://www.thebullvine.com/management/fertility-breed/ This article holds out hope that “we need to find some way to put reproduction efficiency back into the Holstein cow. And do it by selection rather than by cross-breeding.” However, the article also points out continued high use of Holstein bulls in the U.S. and Canada with below average genetic merit for female fertility. The last sentence of the article are “Now is the time to put the genetics for female fertility back into our modern Holsteins. It is not a “Perhaps or Maybe”, it is a “MUST”!”
Or, make “Crossbreeding the Best Choice!” Thanks, Moises, for your comment based on current reality!
Hello, Since you have included your email address, I can email you with contact information about some U.S. farmers with 3-way crosses (3 breeds are Norwegian Red, Jersey and Holstein). I do not know if they will have females for sale or how many. Thanks for asking, genojoan@comcast.net Webmaster of http://www.dairycrossbreeding.com blog