Dairy Crossbreeding

by Dr. Ted Burnside, Technical Advisor, Geno Global

One of the frequently asked questions in our visits with Dairy Farm Operators, Managers and Owner – Operators  is, “How do I decide what breeds to use in my rotational dairy crossing program?”  We believe this decision is an important one, and it requires some thought and careful evaluation.  From time to time we notice attempts to compare the merit of breeds using the average milk production of different breeds, even in different countries. This approach is not very sound or practical.  Geno Global, the USDA, the University of Wisconsin, and the Norwegian Agricultural Research Council are working jointly to make comparisons of different dairy breeds and breed crosses in large commercially oriented farms which are dedicated to research. Data are accumulating, and being analysed carefully by University scientists, to make within herd comparisons which are meaningful.  We will eventually have facts for farmers to use in decision making about which breeds to cross. Some very exciting facts about breed crossing are also emerging in Canada, the Republic of Ireland and even in the hot climates of Iran and Israel.  In the meantime,  here are some basic ways to make  good sound decisions on which breeds to incorporate into your crossing rotation.

1)      Always base your decisions on which breed to use on  performance of large breed or crossbreed groups and within herd comparisons.  If the cattle are fed and cared for in a similar way, you can then make accurate decisions.  We recently visited for a half-hour with the management team of a large western dairy operation.  They had made a decision to crossbreed using the Holstein and Jersey breeds by comparing a pen of 100 each of purebred Holstein heifers in first lactation to a similarly-aged pen of Jersey X Holstein first-calvers, balanced by calving date.  The Crossbreds produced just ½ lb /heifer  less milk/day, than the Holsteins, but took 7 lb./cow/day less dry matter in feed consumption and settled in calf using 1.25 fewer A.I. services/heifer.  We had within herd data on Norwegian Red x Holstein crossbreds compared to purebred Holsteins and on the basis of our properly analysed comparisons, Norwegian Red was chosen as the third breed for a three-breed rotational crossing program.  This is a very sound method of making decisions.  Large herds can design and execute comparisons in-house, and we are more than willing to help you to design the trials you need, and to assist you in analysing and interpreting the results.  We are working with over 50 herds across the USA right now!

2)      Consider your milk market!  Producers who are looking at fluid sales tend to favour high production breeds like Holstein, Brown Swiss and Norwegian Reds.  A Penn State University study of  USA DHI data from Brown Swiss crosses on Holsteins compared to purebred Holsteins on a within herd basis showed the crosses were as productive as the Holsteins and superior for fertility and somatic cell counts.  Similar data are now emerging in a Canadian 70-herd crossing project which will compare 1000 Norwegian Red crosses on Holsteins to  several thousand purebred Holstein herdmates.  Based on these data Norwegian Reds and Brown Swiss breeds should cross on Holstein and give you similar fat and protein yields with much lower incidence of mastitis, superior fertility and higher liveability of calves, heifers and cows.  If for some reason you don’t like Brown Swiss, then a two-breed crossing program which we call TWOPLUS can get you high production, and greatly reduced costs of production for fertility, disease and calf and cow liveability.  A two-breed vs. three-breed cross reduces the maximum heterosis or hybrid vigour by about 20 %. Hybrid vigour for production is only 5%, so going down to 2 breeds may cause a loss of production of only 1% and if the two breeds used have much greater numbers of proven sires to choose from and a much superior A.I. progeny testing system and/or a more sensible breeding goal,  these factors will dwarf the 20% difference in hybrid vigour.

3)      If you are in a cheese producing market for your milk, then Holsteins, Jerseys, and Norwegian Reds can give you a medium sized cow with production, high solids,  easy calving and improved fertility and cows that will last!  Using a two-breed crossing program with Jerseys and Norwegian Reds may be your choice if you want small cows as specified by a Texas dairyman recently.  This may also work well if your free-stalls are too small to accommodate Holsteins or Swiss crosses.  Consideration of the physical plant where the cows work and the market you are gearing up for are very important practical points in deciding on breeds for crossing.

4)      Consider the breeding goals of the candidate breeds in relation to your cow herd’s current breeding goal! For Example; if you have been selecting for high production on your Holstein herd, but can no longer live with depressed cow fertility, sickness, and cow and calf losses, you should be looking for the breed which attaches the highest or nearly highest selection pressure to the traits that need improvement most in that Holstein cow herd! Namely, female fertility, disease resistance and  calf and cow viability!  You guessed right! Norwegian Red breeding goals ‘Complement’  Holstein breeding goals admirably!  In crossbreeding parlance we look for breeds that have ‘complementarity’! 

Table 1  Shows that the Norwegian Red  breeding goals really are strong where the Holstein goals are relatively weak and vice versa.  This is a good example of breeding goals that ‘Complement ‘ each other!

Holstein Indices like TPI and LPI put a lot of emphasis on milk and solids production,  and conformation other than the udder, but little on disease resistance, using SCC as a predictor of mastitis incidence, and relatively little emphasis on female fertility. They are just starting to focus on calving ease and stillbirth levels of newborn calves.  In Canada we are just starting to measure incidence of disease.  We have found there is real genetic  variation in disease incidence if we get enough daughters per sire to measure it accurately!  Norwegian Red cattle have been selected with heavy emphasis for these traits for 8 to 10 or more cow generations!  That is why Norwegian Red (NR) sires cross well with breeds like Holstein, Jersey and their crosses.  The NR sire brings into the cross genes which are complementary to the genes carried by North American Dairy cattle breeds!

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Table 1.  Comparison of Breeding Goals  - Emphasis in %’s for Different Traits

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  Traits                                    NRF  Breeding     Holstein    Holstein 

                                                             Goal                 TPI                 Net Merit     

Production                                    28                   45                       46

Mastitis Resistance                      21 (SCC)          5 (SCS)                9

Female Fertility                            18                    8                         9 Udders                                         15                    10                       6

Legs & Feet                                   6                       5                       3

Temperament                                2                       -                        -

Resistance to Other Diseases       2                       -                        -

Milking Speed                                1                       -                        -

Calving Ease / Stillbirths Lower    1                    2/1                     6

Misc.- Growth Rate/Meat             6 (Type/       13/10 (Size/      4/17 

                                                            Prod. Life)           Prod. Life)

5)      Consider if the progeny testing programs for each breed are powerful or relatively  weak!  This dictates if you have ample choices for good sires!  We can make these comparisons by asking a few questions like for example:

How many milk recorded cows in the breed ? For Norwegian Reds – 250,000 milk recorded cows! For Finnish Ayrshires -  about 200,000 milk recorded cows.  For Swedish Reds  - 135,000 milk recorded cows! For Danish Reds – 50,000 milk recorded cows!

How many young bulls progeny tested each year, giving us more scope for selection? For Norwegian Reds – 130 young bulls/year!  For Finnish Ayrshires – 125 young bulls/year;  For Swedish Reds – 75 young bulls/year! For Danish Reds - 50/year!

How many daughters  in first official proofs for  each sire proven, which tells us how accurate the proofs are ? For Norwegian Reds – 250 daughters /sire; For Finnish Ayrshires -  160 daughters/sire;  For Swedish Reds – 160/sire;  For Danish Reds – 100/sire.  Note that all of the Scandinavian Red breeds have much higher numbers of daughters/sire when they get an official proof. Thus, selection for traits can be more accurate than within North American Dairy Breeds which usually get only  50 to 100 daughters in first official proofs.  Genomic selection may help us to get more accuracy in production and conformation but not for the health and fertility traits!  More on that later!

In Summary: You guessed right again, if you chose to use Norwegian Red sires!  The Norwegian Red Progeny Test program is much more able to deliver superior proven sires with accurate proofs that don’t change!  Norwegian Red sires are from the only breed significantly improved for female fertility (1.7 A.I. services/conception), lower calf losses (2.7% of calves die at birth) and mastitis resistance (10-12% incidence/year and low incidence of ketosis and other common problems!  They can also dehorn your calves genetically!  Contact www.genoglobal.no  for sire proofs and advisor information!