Brown Swiss Crossbreeding

WHY BROWN SWISS CROSSBREDS?

INCREASE REVENUE

INCREASE FAT AND PROTEIN PRODUCTION

IMPROVE FERTILITY AND SOMATIC CELL SCORE

BROWN SWISS X HOLSTEIN VS SCANDINAVIAN RED, MONTBELIARDE, JERSEY X HOLSTEIN

PENN STATE RESEARCH

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA RESEARCH

“Crossbreeding of dairy cattle is being explored mostly for its potential to improve fertility, health, and survival of cows, and the advantages for these traits might compensate for loss in production of crossbreds compared to pure Holsteins.” 1

This quote was taken from a research paper written on a crossbreeding study in California. But, why sacrifice production when using Swedish Red, Norwegian Red (Scandinavian Red), Montbeliarde, or even Jersey bulls, when you can gain all of the health benefits, improve somatic cell score and most importantly gain production by using Brown Swiss?

Brown Swiss x Holstein crosses out produced their pure Holstein herdmates by $122 per cow per lactation for their owners 2 . We compared the production information and milk quality improvements and calculated their values using figures from July 2006 that were published in the October 10, 2006, issue of Hoard’s Dairyman. When calculating information from the University of Minnesota studies, decreases in production and no improvement in somatic cell score of all other crosses studied (Scandinavian Red x Holstein, Montbeliarde x Holstein, Jersey x Holstein) cost their owners significant revenue. Scandinavian Red x Holstein cost their owners over $52 per cow per lactation! Montbeliarde x Holstein cost their owners over $96 per cow per lactation! Jersey x Holstein cost their owners nearly $98 per cow per lactation! That’s a $200 per cow less income than Brown Swiss crossbreds!

Data released from a recent study conducted by Penn State University shows that Brown Swiss x Holstein crosses are more productive ( +4.8% protein and +2.7% fat), more fertile (13 fewer days open), and have superior milk quality (15.6% lower SCS) than their pure Holstein herdmates. 3 This compares to studies from the University of Minnesota that show Scandinavian Red x Holstein and Montbeliarde x Holstein actually have lower production (-2.2% and -3.7% respectively) than their pure Holstein herdmates. 1 While they show a similar improvement as Brown Swiss for reproduction compared to pure Holsteins, there was no improvement in somatic cell score by using either breed. 1

Some people have been concerned about the suckling ability of the newborn Brown Swiss calves. Upon visiting with Curt Hoekstra of Hoekstra Dairy in Oakdale, California, he stated,” I just don’t tell my calf feeders that they are any different, they don’t treat them any different, and they grow as well as any calves on the ranch.”

One of the main reasons for crossbreeding dairy breeds is that crossbred cows have fewer “problems”; these are simply a result of the hybrid vigor. Tom Portner of Minnesota reports, “We’ve been milking Brown Swiss crossbreds for nearly 15 years. It has been extremely rare for us to have a Brown Swiss cross with a DA or milk fever. This saves us a lot of money, time, and production“. Portner milks over 225 cows; currently only 15 pure Holsteins remain. “The Brown Swiss crosses calve year in and year out, we have had several that calve at 1-8, 2-8, 3-10, 5-0, etc, while making around 30,000 pounds per lactation. We even have one cow that is starting her 8th lactation at 9 ½ years old!”

Glenn Meikle of Utah adds, “We’re milking over 80 Brown Swiss x Holstein crosses and only five have been even a concern for breeding. I can count on my crosses to settle on the first service and if not then, definitely on the second.” Meikle milks over 400 cows and is continuing to breed his pure Holsteins to the top Brown Swiss bulls to gain profitability for his dairy.

Paul Weber of Idyl Wild Farm in Loudonville, Ohio, says, “My cull rate for the Brown Swiss x Holstein crosses is a fraction of that of the purebred Holsteins (33% lower), they just simply last longer, and when you’re trying to expand it makes a huge difference”. Weber currently milks 650 cows where the Brown Swiss x Holstein crosses out perform the pure Holsteins by +327 pounds of milk, +55 pounds of fat, and +53 pounds of protein per cow on a 305 day lactation!

Yet another successful dairy in Minnesota has increased their herd size with the addition of Brown Swiss x Holstein crosses. Les and Jo Olson have a 300-cow dairy in Southeast Minnesota and say, “We have truly welcomed the addition of the Brown Swiss crosses. They make a ton of milk and have a lot less metabolic problems. They are very agile, we never have to worry about them getting stuck in the freestall barn!” The Olsons originally had a herd consisting of all purebred Holsteins and Brown Swiss and the crossbreds fit great in the same size stalls.

Contact us today for the right bulls to use in your crossbreeding program. We can guide you to the bulls which excel for the traits you need to improve most. Let our experience benefit your bottom line!

SOURCES

[1A] Heins, B.J., L. B. Hansen, and A. J. Seykora. 2006.Crossbreds of Jersey/Holstein compared to pure Holsteins for production, calving difficulty, stillbirths, and fertility. J Dairy Sci. 84,Suppl.1.

[1B] Heins, B.J., L. B. Hansen, and A. J. Seykora. 2006. Production of Pure Holsteins Versus Crossbreds of Holstein with Normande, Montbeliarde, and Scandinavian Red. J Dairy Sci. 89:2799-2804.

[1C] Heins, B.J., L.B. Hansen, and A.J. Seykora. 2006. “The California experience of mating Holstein cows to A.I. sires from the Swedish Red, Norwegian Red, Montbeliarde, and Normande breeds”. 2006

2 Hutjens, M “Higher Components can help Pay the Bills” Hoard’s Dairyman, October 10, 2006. Pg 684. Jersey Journal,”Per Cow, Jersey Costs Lower, CY Returns Greater”. Pgs 18-19, September 2006.

3 Phelps, M.I., C. D. Dechow, A.L. Mosholder.2006.Comparison of Brown Swiss, Holstein and Brown Swiss x Holstein crosses for Production, Somatic Cell Score and Days Open. American Dairy Science Association Meetings, July 2006.