Management
Daughter Proven Red Holstein Bulls: Using the Sparse Elite to the Maximum
In the article “The Background and Future of the Most Significant Red Holstein Populations” in HI’s Red Review issue 08/2018, the decreasing number of Red Holstein inseminations in the Netherlands...
Intelligent Barns: What Does the Future Look Like?
The topic of “intelligent barns” flags up many questions. With milk price struggling, is the investment worth it? How will automated technology affect my workforce? Where is the “intelligent” market...
Longer rather than shorter calving interval - How breeding goal is becoming a topic of conversation
For generations the breed has been working to reduce calving interval length. The quicker a cow becomes pregnant again, the better the economics. There is a global consensus on this...
Natural: Independent and Multifaceted Source of Elite Czech Genetics
Since the recent April release, Natural is the proud owner of the two highest Czech Holstein bulls: Zetor and Zologram-P, while their colleague Attila also shines in the top-5. On...
Worldwide breeding index 2019: Focus on fat, new traits and additional indexes
Several years have passed since the last calculation of the worldwide breeding index (2013), which Holstein International did regularly since 1996. Enough time, which national breeding associations and other organizations...
Electronic Cow-Management: Trust the Data and Breed the Cow as the System Recommends. It Works!
As herds get larger and livestock handling systems become more mechanized, time spent on heat detection for each individual cow continues to dwindle. However, next to top nutrition and elite...
Hoof Health: Improvements Possible Via Breeding
Problems with hoof health (lameness in cows) is among the biggest irritations of dairy farmers – the costs of lost milk production, additional labour, veterinarian visits, involuntary culling, and lower...
Extreme Weather is on its Way: Alleviate the Impact of Heat Stress
Soon the stifling heat of summer will be with us and that can adversely affect the production levels of high yielding dairy cows. Here we look at some of the...
Roger Turner: The Busiest Man in the Genetics Industry?
With a unique selection criteria, that includes the requirement of all bulls to be A2A2 and have no haplotypes, a look into Jetstream Genetics’ ethos makes interesting reading. Still a...
LPI and Pro$: The Inner Workings of Canada’s Total Merit Indexes.
Canada has two main total merit indexes. The Lifetime Performance Index (LPI) has been the recognized measure of Canadian genetics for decades, while the Pro$ was added as an alternative...
Robots and Sire Selection: Breeding “a Robot Cow”
Over the forecast period of 2017-2023, the robotic milking market is projected to grow at an annual growth rate of 9.78%. Yes: We can expect a lot more robot dairy...
Management: Natural Ways of Disease Prevention
Antibiotic resistance and reducing the amount of antibiotics used in livestock production – it’s a topic all livestock producers have heard over and over during the past decade. Of course...