Record number of 100- and 10-tonners in 2019
In 2019, the number of cows that achieved a lifetime production of more than 100,000 kg of milk and 10,000 kg of fat + protein is higher than ever. The main supplier is Sunny Boy, followed by Tops, Eastland Cash and Etazon Lord Lily.
A total of 2464 cows in the Netherlands and Flanders crossed the 100,000 kg milk limit in that year. This brings the total number of hundred-tonners to 40,480, of which the lion's share (38,597 cows) in the Netherlands, with 1883 in Flanders.
More than 3400 ten-tonners
The number of ten-tonners is also increasing rapidly. Last year, the counter touched on the 3400th cow with 10,000 kg of fat + protein. In 2019, 230 cows managed to obtain a certificate for 10 tons. That is slightly less than in the top year of 2016, when 239 cows reached the limit of 10,000 kg of fat + protein.
Sunny Boy main supplier
Skalsumer Sunny Boy leads with 1826 hundred-tonners and 292 ten-tonners as the bull with the most ten- and hundred-tonners. It is striking that the top-five father animals are the same in both lists. At a considerable distance after Sunny Boy, the black and white bulls Tops, Eastland Cash and Etazon Lord Lily are following. Stadel, in fifth place, is the highest red and white bull in both lists with 630 hundred- and 92 ten-tonners.
With 288 daughters producing 100,000 kg of milk, Delta Olympic is the most successful black and white bull of the past five years. With the ten-tonners, this applies to Lord Lily with 40 descendants reaching up to 10,000 kg of fat + protein.
Table 1 - Most common sires of hundred- and ten-tonners in the period of 2015-2019 (source: CRV Cooperative)
Name of bull Nr. of 100-tonners
Stadel 372
Kian 339
Delta Olympic 288
Hidden Future 227
Laurenzo 2 211
Sand-Hill D. Nevada 204
Katshaar Kirby 185
Himster Grandprix 170
Art-Acres Win 395 140
Eastland Cash 131
Delta Canvas 121
Proud 112
Delta Linfield 108
Noorder Dustin 104
Name of bull Nr. of 10-tonners
Stadel 81
Etazon Lord Lily 40
Kian 38
Eastland Cash 34
Etazon Slogan 30
Proud 27
Archibald 23
Newhouse Ronald 20
Noorder Dustin 17
Dixellen Design 16
Hidden Future 16
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Fewer fluctuations, more resilience, healthy and sustainable cow
A fluctuation in milk production is different from one cow to the other, according to production data from around 200,000 animals that have been studied by Wageningen Economic Research and CRV. The fewer the fluctuations, the more durable the cow.
The information comes from robot companies, where the production was accurately recorded several times a day. The difference in milk production has to do with differences in response to stress. One cow is more sensitive to this than the other, the researchers observed. They indicated that the resilience of cows differs, and that to a large extent it is genetically determined. Cows that showed stable milk production also appeared to have a good genetic predisposition to udder health, fertility, low ketosis and a longer lifespan.
The differences in the fluctuations in milk production can therefore also be used to breed cows that are healthier and live longer. The production data of the robot companies are an important tool in this regard. Subsequent research will examine whether a breeding value for "resilience" can add anything to the existing breeding values in breeding for problem-free cows.
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New record export agricultural products
In 2019, a total of 94.5 billion euros worth of processed and unlimited agricultural products were exported. That is 4.6 percent more than in 2018 and a new record. The increase is mainly due to higher prices. In 2019, the Netherlands exported nearly 4.5 billion euros worth of dairy products (excluding cheese). Germany remained the most important destination. This is evident from the first estimates of the CBS (Statistics Netherlands) and Wageningen Economic Research.
Germany largest customer
About 21 percent of the total exports went to Germany. Other important destinations were: Belgium, France, the United Kingdom and China. With dairy products, the CBS includes drinking milk from goats and cows, yogurt, buttermilk, butter and whey. No separate statistics have been published for cheese. In addition to being a major exporter, the Netherlands is also a major importer of dairy products. In 2019, € 2.6 billion worth of dairy products crossed the border.
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Cow requires more maintenance feed
The energy requirement for the maintenance of milking and dry cows has risen sharply in the last forty years. This is according to research from Wageningen Livestock Research that was carried out in climate respiratory cells in 2018.
Compared to 1975, when the basis for the energy (VEM) system was laid, milking cows for maintenance now need 16 percent more metabolizable energy per kg of body weight. The demand of dry cows has even risen by 26 percent.
Larger digestive organs
According to the researchers, the increased maintenance requirement has to do with, among other things, increased milk production. As a result, the share of digestive organs per kg of body weight is now larger. In addition, blood flow has also increased.
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Less milk, more fat in 2019
In total, Dutch dairy cows produced 13.78 million tons of milk in 2019. Slightly less than in 2018. However, in 2019 a total of more than 608,000 tons of fat were delivered, 2000 tons more than in 2018.
Last year, in most months less milk was produced than in 2018. This changed in the second part of the year. In August up to and including December, on average an extra 30,000 tons of milk were delivered compared to the same month in 2018.
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Van der Kolk family Red-and-White Breeder 2019
The Van der Kolk family from Bossink Holsteins at Wierden has been selected as the Red-and-White Breeder of the year 2019. The breeders had been successful with various cows at major shows. For example, with Bossink Gerda 64 they won the reserve championship in the middle class at the NRM. The Curtis daughter also represented the Netherlands at the European Championship in Libramont, just like her stable mate Bossink Red Lawn 7 (by Jotan). At the HHH show it was Bossink Rika 631 (by Ladd P) who became champion in the middle class. Also at the winter show in Zwolle, the Agri Fair at Wierden and the Twentse After Summer Show, the performance of the Bossink cows was excellent.
On average 87 points
With the help of their children Ruben, Renske and Julian, Gerrit and Gerina van der Kolk from Wierden are milking 95 dairy cows, 75 percent of which are red and white. The cows produce more than 10,000 kg milk with 4.21% fat and 3.53% protein. The average type score of the herd is around 87 points. Last year, five cows became excellent and one of the 2-year-olds received the maximum score of 89 points.
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More companies with milking robot
The number of Dutch farms where the cows were milked by one or more milking robots has gone up to 4378 in the past year, which is more than 25% of the dairy farms. This is evident from the statistics of the Stichting Kwaliteitszorg Onderhoud Melkinstallaties (KOM) (Foundation for Quality Control Maintenance Milking Installations).
Herringbone most used
The herringbone milking parlor is still the most used milking parlor. At the end of 2019, the cows at 5753 farms could be found in a herringbone setup to be milked two or three times a day. The number of farms with a side-by-side milking parlor remained about the same at 3919, while the number of rotary milking parlors fell slightly to 931. The only milking system that grew in popularity alongside the milking robot was the swing-over milking parlor, of which 475 are in use now.
