Fertility and milk solids – backed by research
The dairy levy board, Dairy Australia, along with the University of Melbourne has compared the performance of two-breed and three-breed crossbred herds.
Using data from nearly 7,000 cows with over 25,000 lactations on pasture-based farms, they found that compared to the two-way cross, the Holstein/Jersey/Red cross showed significantly higher lifespan and better fertility:
- +4 %-points in conception rate (1st service)
- +8 %-points in six-week in-calf rate
The three-breed crossbreds also showed no significant difference in volume of milk, but outperformed the two-breed cross for milk solids production.
£15,000 extra profit
By utilizing three breeds for your crossbreeding programme, you can expect more than £15,000 extra profit per year in a 240-cow herd with a total production of 1,200,000 kg milk per year.
That extra profit is from improvements in production of milk solids and fertility-related traits alone:
- £11,400 from higher fat and protein content per kg of milk
- £4,235 from fertility related traits
Total financial benefits are expected to be even higher when various direct and indirect cost reductions are accounted for, e.g. lower vet costs, lower culling rates, less work per cow and other.
The estimation of extra profit of £15,635 in financial benefits under UK conditions is based on:
- The ADHB data milk price calculator with the average of three different manufacturing contracts
- The Australian pasture-based crossbreeding study, where three-way crossbreds including Reds had higher milk solids and better fertility than two-way crosses between Holstein and Jersey
Key findings of Australian pasture-based crossbreeding study
|
Parameter |
Two-way cross (Jersey/Holstein) |
Three-way cross (Holstein/Jersey/Red) |
|
Production |
||
|
Milk (litres) |
6,010 |
5,950 |
|
Fat % |
4.24 |
4.37 |
|
Protein % |
3.41 |
3.54 |
|
Fat (kg) |
252 |
257 |
|
Protein (kg) |
204 |
210 |
|
Total fat & protein (kg) |
456 |
467 |
|
Fertility |
||
|
Conception rate (1st service) |
47% |
51% |
|
Pregnant by week 6 |
63% |
71% |
The results of the crossbreeding study were published by Dairy Australia in ‘InCalf Symposium 2017 proceedings’
