New lifetime production record
In the past year the lifetime production of Dutch dairy cows has gone up by more than 1200 kg of milk and amounts to 31,553 kg of milk per culled cow. This is evident from the CRV mpr statistics for the 2018-2019 financial year.
Highest lifetime production: 71,514 kg
The company with the highest lifetime production is owned by the Hoogeveen family from Holwierde. They removed 12 cows with an average lifetime production of 71,514 kg milk with 4.28% fat and 3.48% protein.
Incidentally, more records were broken in the past milk control year. The average production of the cows rose to 9155 kg milk.
Highest production: 14,843 kg
The company with the highest production belongs to Siemen and Jan Siemen van Berkum from Elahuizen. Their 275 dairy cows achieved a production of 14,843 kg milk with 3.77% fat and 3.53% protein.
218 cows with more than 10,000 kg of fat and protein
In the Netherlands, from 1 September 2018 to 1 September 2019, 218 cows managed to pass the magic limit of 10,000 kg of fat and protein. That is 12 more than the year before. It means that every year more than 200 new “ten tonners” join the group. The red and white bull Kian produced most of these cows, closely followed by Stadel. For the black and white bulls, Hidden Future leads the list, followed by Win 395.
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A heifer calf from the highest protein cows
An average production of more than 10,000 kg of milk with 3.72 % protein does not fall from the sky. "Consistent breeding for percentages works," is the experience of Willem Ard Reijm from Dronten. With “Fokken op maat”, the “StierAdviesProgramma” and “SiryX sperma”, he puts breeding for "thick milk" in the highest gear.
Thick-milk bulls
The printout of the “StierAdviesProgramma” (SAP) of Willem Ard Reijm from Dronten mentions popular thick-milk bulls such as De Leenhorst E-Profit (+0.54% fat and +0.46% protein), Double W Ranger (+0.37%) fat and +0.20% protein) and Delta Magister (+0.13% fat and +0.35% protein). "My father has consistently bred for contents and that is more attractive than ever," says the dairyman. In Dronten, in partnership with his wife Wilma, Reijm milks 135 cows, which are responsible for a rolling annual average of 10,600 kg milk, 4.45% fat and 3.72% protein. ”In November last year, we supplied on average 4.75% fat and 3.97% protein," Reijm gives as an example. "That is milk in which your spoon will stay upright, so to speak."
Sexed semen
Where father Reijm could only hope for the birth of heifer calves from his highest protein cows, his successor is virtually assured of it. "We have been using SiryX-semen from CRV for at least ten years already," he says. "We inseminate about seventy percent of the young heifers, thirty percent of the heifers and twenty percent of the cows with sexed semen," explains the farmer. "This way we only continue breeding with our best animals. And because most heifers will get a heifer calf, we have a much lower chance of heavy births. "
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Demand for dairy continues to increase worldwide
Up to 2023, the global demand for dairy will increase by 2 to 3 percent on average, is the expectation of the largest bank in the Netherlands, the Rabobank.
Most growth in dairy consumption is expected in areas such as Asia, the Middle East and in parts of Africa and India. These are areas where both population and income are growing, and with it the need for imports of dairy products in these regions will also grow.
According to the bank's dairy analyst, not enough dairy is produced to meet demand. He expects a worldwide "gap" of 6 million tons of milk, despite the expected growth in the dairy countries.
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18% calves have too few antibodies
Blood tests in calves have shown that almost 18% of clinically healthy calves have too few antibodies in their blood. It means that the colostrum supply leaves something to be desired. Newborn calves must receive at least 6 liters of colostrum in the first 24 hours in order to build up sufficient resistance.
A little less than half of the farmers check the quality of the colostrum they give the calf. Nearly 60% of the farmers give the calf the first time one to two liters of colostrum within the first two hours of birth. Another 25% gives the calf two to three liters the first time. Livestock farmers who participated in the study indicated that lack of time is the most important cause of less than optimal colostrum management.
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CRV bulls accomplish excellent lifetime production with high components
A healthy and efficient herd stands at the base of an excellent lifetime production. Genetic progression is the key, and consistent breeding brings results. CRV offers you an extensive sire selection for improving your herd with an excellent lifetime production and high components.
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Next year CRV will measure feed intake of more than 1600 cows
In 2020 CRV will collect the feed intake data of more than 1600 cows. This data will be used to work towards ultimately reducing the cost price of milk production and increasing the sustainability of dairy farming.
5000 more cows
Over the next five years, CRV intends to add a further 5000 cows with feed intake data to the reference population. This will take the reliability of the genomic breeding value for feed efficiency of the InSire bulls to around 60%. ‘As we expected, considerable variations in feed efficiency have been revealed, from 1.2 kg of milk per kg of dry matter intake to 1.8 kg of milk per kg of dry matter,’ says Pieter van Goor, breeding specialist and in charge of the project.
Feed costs account for more than 50% of variable costs
Two years ago, CRV became the first cattle improvement organization in the world to start large-scale measurement of the feed intake of dairy cows on working farms. CRV is convinced that targeted breeding still has huge potential to improve the feed efficiency performance of cows. The costs of the feed ration account for more than 50% of all the variable costs involved in milk production. For this reason, breeding efficient cows is vitally important. This means cows that utilize their feed intake better for milk production.
Savings of two eurocents per kilogram of milk
Estimates suggest that improving the feed efficiency of dairy cattle could lead to savings of approximately two eurocents per kilogram of milk in feed costs. That equates to around 10% of the feed costs. Another benefit of a more efficient utilization of the feed ration is the positive impact on the environment, as it reduces emissions of greenhouse gases and uses fewer scarce resources.