Han Hopman

June 2023

Herd reports

Morrill in New Hampshire Multi-faceted Family Farm with a Special Focus on Red Holsteins

Beautiful red & white descendants of Tri-Day Ashlyn, Gaige Highlight Tamara, and Rancon Carla Factor-Red – they can be admired in the far northeastern part of the US, on the...

June 2023

Herd reports

Bosgoed in the Netherlands: Three Decades of Consistent Crossbreeding with Holstein-Jersey-Brown Swiss

Brown Swiss, Jersey, Fleckvieh, Montbéliarde; the use of “Dairy Breeds” on Holsteins is taking place in a variety of forms in the Netherlands. The Bosgoed family in Denekamp, close to...

May 2023

Cow Families

141 Years after her Emigration from Boksum to New YorkThe Family of America’s Historic Record Cow Pietertje is Still Performing in Friesland

No wonder that she became world famous: Pietertje 2, the Friesian cow that emigrated to America and there set a world record for production that stood for no less than...

May 2023

Herd reports

Golden-Oaks: The embryo market hasreally picked up again

Golden-Oaks has been an important name in Holstein breeding for generations. Located in an urban setting close to Chicago, Golden-Oaks has been a successful dairy operation and breeder of elite...

May 2023

Herd reports

Big Holsteins: Already 103 cows with over 100,000 kg/220,000 lb by Breeding for Persistency and Late Maturity

With 103 cows >100,000 kg/220,000 lb milk and 29 cows >10,000 kg/22,000 lb fat+protein, the farm of the Knoef family (Big Holsteins) in eastern Netherlands is a true model of...

May 2023

Herd reports

Ruegruet Holsteins: Still one of the most interesting addresses in Switzerland

When we visited Ruegruet Holsteins almost 20 years ago, we found one of the most exciting addresses that Switzerland had to offer. Hardly any other farm had invested with similar...

February 2023

Management

Van de Plashoeve: Source of Dutch Blue for Beef-on-Dairy

With 45 active AI sires at thirteen different breeding companies in their homeland and abroad, Morsink Dutch Blue is a significant source for the Beef-on-Dairy sector. For more than twenty...

April 2022

Sires Report

Elite Sires of Sons Captain & AltaZazzle:Both Bring Good-old ME Tony Back into View!

Last month we mentioned them in HI’s editorial: the junior Genosource Captain and Peak AltaZazzle are far and away the most influential sires of sons in America’s gTPI top-100. Together...

April 2022

Management

Excluding Genomics: Would That Give Us a More Accurate Measure of a Proven Sire’s Genetic Merit?

Recently a breeder contacted Holstein International with an interesting question…’Once a bull gets a number of daughters in production why don’t they just remove the genomics from his proof altogether?...

April 2022

Management

Calf Diarrhea: A Prevalent and Also Solvable Phenomenon

On many dairy farms, calf diarrhea is a frequent source of frustration. Additional work, higher costs, reduced revenue, and even dead calves are all reasons for this. The best remedy:...

April 2022

Cow Families

Decrausaz O’Kalibra The All-Time World Champion

O’Kalibra! The name alone commands respect and her unbelievable career certainly deserves it. She is a three-time Swiss Expo Supreme Champion, two -time HI World Champion, European winner and… All-Time...

April 2022

Cow Families

The Next Generation

Sommentier. A small village in the Swiss canton of Fribourg, in the western part of Switzerland. Perhaps you have never heard of Sommentier before… but you have certainly heard of...