Performance Cattle Breeds For Crossbreeding - Part 2

MRY (Meuse Rhine Yssel)



Finnish Ayrshire
Origin: Scotland, Ayrshire
Average weight of cows: 573 kg (2008)
Average milk yield and components (2008): 8 561 kg milk, fat content 4.33 %, protein content 3.48 %
There are about 200 000 Ayrshire cows in Finland, and over three quarters of them are milk recorded. Ayrshire has been the main dairy breed in Finland since the 1960s and currently accounts 67 % of the total recorded cattle. About 40 % of inseminations in the Finnish Ayrshire cattle population are done with young sire semen. This is to guarantee progeny testing of a large number of dairy bulls with sufficient accuracy. Finland is one of the few countries with such an intensive use of young sires. About 125 Ayrshire bulls are tested in Finland every year. The number of test bull doses is about 1 300, which are used in milk recorded herds. Large progeny groups are the basis for accuracy of estimating breeding values for health and fertility traits. Some 50 % of cows are inseminated with best proven bulls and cows culled from dairy breeding with beef bulls to produce crossings for effective beef production. (Source: FABA.fi)

NRF (Norwegian Red)

NRF–Norwegian Red is a high producing dairy breed that has been selected for a broad breeding objective, with increasing emphasis on functional traits like health and fertility over the last 30 years. The NRF breeding objective includes milk production, health, fertility, milkability, calving ease, temperament and growth rate. Relative weights are (total = 100%)
Milk production 28
Mastitis 21
Fertility 18
Udder conformation 15
Leg conformation 6
Growth rate 6
Temperament 2
Disease other than mastitis 2
Milkability 1
Calving difficulty0 0.5
Stillbirth 0.5


NRF cows have a live weight of 550-650 kg. Genetic trends for NRF show that selection for increased production and improved animal health and fertility can be obtained simultaneously, if the breeding objective is properly defined, and if the breeding program is designed to include selection for traits with low heritability.
Health and fertility has been included in the NRF breeding program since the 1970’s. The relative weight on these traits in the total merit index has gradually increased over time. With the current breeding program we obtain simultaneous genetic improvements for milk yield, mastitis resistance and female fertility.


Levels of stillbirth and calving difficulty in NRF are low, with an overall mean (all parities) stillbirth rate of about 2%, and 95% of the cows reported to have an easy calving.
A large proportion of NRF cows are polled. Systematic selection of polled sons after polled elite sires during recent years have increased the frequency of polled animals. It is expected that NRF–Norwegian Red will become a polled breed within the next 20-25 years. (Source: GENO.no)


Simmental





Fleckvieh





Montbéliarde





Hinterwälder





Pie Rouge des Plaines





Friesian





Vorderwälder





Pinzgauer