How dairy cows differ as you travel about the world

 After a week visiting farms in the Netherlands, I can confidently say that Dutch AI bulls sire more femininity (related to natural fertility)  and generally have a better spread to the hip and pelvic structure (allowing a longer functional life for udders housed underneath)   than we see in many of the cows on USA dairy farms where breeding is only on Genomic rankings.   The Dutch have plenty of replacements.

The physical trend among ranking Genomics here is a more “masculine” cow, thus heavier-boned, bigger in size and scale, less naturally fertile (Ov Synch dependent), often too straight in hind legs and progressively stiffer in joints  (a consequence of “faster maturity” ) , “bully” in behavior, and more dependent on high levels of supplements to meet milk yield targets.    

In spite of a decade of sexed semen availability, we now have the most costly and scarce replacement supply ever.    How much is the narrowly focused gene pool to blame for this?    Call us if this is starting to bother you…        (989) 834- 2661. greg@michiganlivestock.com 

Selection to improve natural fertility in your herd

If there is one trait that has more impact than any other on the voluntary culling of dairy cows today, it is failure to breed back.  The trend of lower natural fertility has been a long time coming:   The oldest national AI stud  (at one time they had 1800 inseminators submitting breeding receipts, used to calculate sire conception rates)  reported that in their first 30 years using frozen semen, conception average fell 1% per year  (from 70% non-returns to 40% non-returns).

The AI industry used to explain this away to dairymen as, “well, the heavy milking cows take longer to breed back”.    But looking at genetic trend across those years (prior to Genomics) Holstein cows were only increasing production at a rate of 100 pounds per year (500 pounds per generation “genetic base change”) which is less than 2 pounds of milk per lactation day.   Surely nutritionists could overcome this?

Fertility rates are negatively correlated to increased peak production selection
In the dairy world prior to 1970 the majority of cows were fed forage based rations, which often meant some seasonal pasturage.    Dry hay was the primary forage, supplemented by corn silage at least in the winter (to replace pasture grass).     In those days, higher production cows tended to have “flatter” lactation curves, and cows who milked the most did from lactation persistency.

1970s dairy extension researchers changed the lactation profile of cows by selection, in favor of cows who made more milk from corn and oilseed supplementation.   This has led to dairy forage supplies on expansion dairies being corn silage based, rather than pasture, dry hay, or haylage.   The cows who set the highest “peak” daily production when fresh were the cows who made more milk from corn (and oilseeds) than they did from hay and/or grasses.    So Dairy Extension taught sire analysts and nutritionists to favor cows who set higher peaks, even if it meant they shed most of their body condition to meet the negative energy balance that causes.  

Useful measurements available today
A weakness in linear trait data is that the graphs lead you to believe all traits may have the same heritability.    This in fact has NEVER been true.    Sire conception rates are around 4% heritable; daughter conception rates around 6% heritable;  those levels are not high enough to change the genetics of your slow-breeding cows around to better fertility in your replacements.   IF you use OvSynch (timed breeding) reproduction, the heritability of  Daughter Pregnancy Rate (PTA- DPR) is closer to 15% heritable, but there is no data to suggest this also applies to natural heats.    If you choose to follow “aAa” you will find that aAa 5 Smooth bulls’ daughters have healthier body condition and avoid negative energy states, thus show better natural fertility response.            

A week in the Netherlands, visiting outstanding dairy farms, celebrating the 75th anniversary of the “aAa” Breeding Guide (Weeks’ Analysis)

“aAa” was the first of what are called “mating services”, begun 25 years before the AI industry developed linear mating and indexed ranking to assist in semen sales.   It remains an independent program, without subsidy from the AI industry, Breed associations, or University extension.  “aAa” survives because it is totally based in the biology of physical traits gene transmission, and considers your cows will give half their genetics equally into each mating with any bull, thus matter in mating.

Travelling with three other USA, one New Zealand and twelve European analyzers, we visited six outstanding Dutch dairy farms  (Jersey, Fleckveih, and Holstein)  to practice the “aAa” techniques and provide extended training to newer analyzers.   I am now the second-longest tenure “aAa” approved analyzer.

How often does any product or service in modern agriculture last this long unless it has proven its value?     If you have not tried it yet, it is not too late to ask for a demonstration of what it can do and how easily you make it work.

K I Samen --  the highlight visit at the end of our week

K I Samen  is the second largest of four AI centers based in the Netherlands.   The Triple Hil Sires organization is their USA distributor.    Unique to “Samen” was their own commercial dairy farm, in which they tested all their bulls and maintained a few cow lines to produce AI sons.    In the Triple Hil Sires bull book you will find the Samen bulls  (Holstein, Red and White, Lineback and one Jersey)  available here.

To me, the highlight sires were VDS Slash  (aAa 153= Dairy, Smooth, Open)  who is a grandson of their famous  “Big Malki”  bull;   Mostwanted Red  (aAa 651= Style, Smooth, Dairy) who is complete outcross to American Red & White lines;  Plataan Florus  (aAa 156= Dairy, Smooth, Style)  their first proven “Slash” son.   All three of these living bulls are both A2A2 for “Beta Casein”  and BB for “Kappa Casein”, the best possible Casein combinations;  all three are  “plus”  for both butterfat % and protein %.    “Slash”  is perhaps their best choice for ease of calving on heifers.   KI Samen bulls  as a group  had some of the best rear legs and rumps we see in AI.

Dairy AI studs keep evolving

  Mich Livestock Service, Inc    “For the Best in Bulls”   “High Energy Forage Seeds”
PO Box 661  (110 N Main St)  Ovid,  MI  48866   ph (989) 834-2661  9:30 am–3:30 pm
www.michiganlivestock.com     email: greg@michiganlivestock.com 

Introducing  A G 3  to the world of Holstein and Jersey breeding

David Dyment of Dundas, Ontario (Canada) who has a lifetime of experience in Holstein dairying and showing, began to acquire interesting bulls five years ago.   This began with a proven Jersey sire, Avonlea Chip’s Chocolatier, a “Joel” son of the EX 96 “Chocolate Chip” cow from Canada -- and gained momentum with a young Red & White bull Avant-Garde-I Latenite P Red, combining polled, A2A2 Beta Casein, Red and complete outcross to the famous “Apple Red”.    Now that his oldest daughters are milking, David’s confidence in this Red Holstein bull has been justified.

Evolution of  No Bull Solutions  focusing on the truly “elite” performance cows

No Bull Sires has not one, but two sons of the amazing world record cow bred by Selz- Pralle Dairy in Wisconsin, the only cow in world history to make two mature-age lactations with over 70,000 pounds of milk (carrying calf, with only 55 days dry between).    There are now milking daughters from the oldest of these --  Joliam DR Gamechanger (aAa 615) -- doing well from exceptional udders, and bred heifers who look promising from the younger, Joliam Galaxy ET (aAa 432) one of the fanciest “Delta Lambda” sons, and who is also rarer today in that he is of 100% registered Holstein USA ancestry (almost turns him into an “outcross” today).

We now stock and feature bulls from these unique newer genetic sources.    This enhances our AI lines from Triple-Hil Sires,  Masterpiece Genetics,  AI Total,  Blondin Sires, New Generation Genetics (Brown Swiss), Sustainable Genetics (Jersey) and CRV (Fleckveih) focused     on polled sires, A2A2 and BB sires, higher B’fat% and Protein% sires, and aAa variety.

 

Soil is easily degraded, but also easily rebuilt

The “Dust Bowl” of the 1930s is a part of American farming folklore, when we first realized we were squandering an irreplaceable resource of fertility.
Millions of tons of topsoil flow down the continental river systems as a result of an emphasis on row crop yield maximization over crop and animal yield optimization and integration of grassland pastures within farming zones.

You can do your part to preserve soil, increase its fertility, and preserve affordable future yield capacity by rotating row crops with hay and pasture crops, allowing your animals to access your fields, and managing residues to the benefit of water and nutrient utilization.

If you need help with these concepts, give us a call.

Mich Livestock Service, Inc      “For the Best in Bulls and Energy Dense Forages”      since 1978
phone (989) 834- 2661         email: greg@michiganlivestock.com        

Building soil structure using bale grazing

Many years ago, Joe Bontrager of Holton, MI did a demonstration of winter bale grazing on his organic dairy farm.     Instead of piling up manure in his barns, the cattle will fed mostly outside on round bales unrolled in strips across pastures.

While cows were out there, it just seemed to many of us that a lot of hay waste went on doing this.    Cows ate most of the hay, slept on the rest, and litter from manuring and urination was scattered over hay as they moved about.

But Joe’s farm, like so many in Michigan, had sandier soils that could dry out if it did not rain regularly in the grazing season.      How did the bale grazing affect this?

On a return visit to Joe’s the following spring, we noted that the pasture where he had unrolled bales had darker green strips where the hay had lain in the winter, vs a “normal” light green between the strips.     Obviously, hay not consumed by the cows was “consumed” by soil biology which drew it into the topsoil and added to beneficial organic matter content.

The biggest benefits to higher organic matter soils is (1) they hold water better, as a capture of both snow melt and rain;  (2) the topsoil can “feed” more microbial life, which provides nutrient transport from soil into the plant root zones (to feed the root systems);  (3) the topsoil will attract more worms and will have more root channels, which aid in maintaining aerobic (air feed) activity in the soil.

Because you have cattle, you have many options to build up lighter soils.

Seven keys to profitability (an interview with Jim Gerrish)

Jim Gerrish besides his ranching operation is a prolific writer and popular speaker.    He was the 2025 Plant and Soil Sciences “Distinguished Alumni” Award winner from University of Kentucky.  In accepting this award he mentioned that the average cow-calf operation only returns 1.5% on investment.    To do better than this, he said the emphasis on individual animal performance is not as important as overall land management.     

His summary points are:
Ranching is a land-based business. 
Find your optimum point between stocking rate and individual rates of gain.
You can have too many cattle.
Excess forage creates opportunities;  carrying too many cattle can stunt future pasture yields.
Do not calve in the winter.
Winter calving creates the highest feed energy demand when feed is the most expensive.
Water makes grass grow.
It is funny how crop farmers will spend thousands to irrigate $900 per acre of grain corn, but cattle farmers will hardly spend anything to irrigate $4000 per acre of carcass beef.
Time management matters more than spatial management.
Overgrazing is a function of poor time management.    It will happen when grazing periods are too long or when recovery periods are too short.    Grass benefits from optimal photosynthesis.
Focus on what you can control.
Manage your grass harvest.    Manage your cow reproduction.    Manage your beef marketing.
Have no fear of wasting grass.
Residual grass left in a pasture is never wasted.    A four inch tall residue can regrow a ton of feed in 40 days.    A two inch stubble will take 64 days.    This is huge by the time grazing ends.