CRV gives boost to vital dairy farming

Transcription

1 ENGLISH EDITION JANUARY 2011 BREEDING FOR LONGEVITY This article answers the most frequently asked questions concerning longevity. 3 HOOF TRIMMING The first of a series of four articles about hoof health. It explains the five steps of hoof trimming. MARATHON Marathon is a son of Shottle and comes from the Marilyn family. Breeding bull Support also descends from this family. 6 7 O-Man, Shottle and Canvas important sires of sons CRV gives boost to vital dairy farming TOP CRV SIRES ON NVI Following the release of the December 2010 proofs, CRV s top available sires ranked on NVI are: ARNHEM [NL] CRV s strategy to make breeding durable performing cows possible has paid off. This index run there are many bulls that are performing well in this area that have made their mark. Producers who are looking for longevity and health will be satisfied with what they find. The first newcomer of the proven sires is Delta Malaga (+151 NVI). Malaga is a son of the deceased Jordan. Jordan is the highest tested Novalis son. Malaga s maternal grand dam is Jocko. The inheritance pattern of Malaga is filled with traits that have a positive effect on longevity, like good udder and claw health (102 and 104 respectively) and a strong conformation (106). He breeds cows that have good independent life skills, cows with an average stature, strong udders (106) with good feet and legs (107) and locomotion (105). Delta Logan (+164 NVI, Win 395 x Willis) brings fresh blood. He is very suitable for producers who are looking for robust cows (107 dairy strength), protein (+0,25%), fertility (102 fertility and 105 calving interval) and calving ease (106). Delta Atlantic (+246 NVI) keeps his top position as the highest available young genomic tested bull. This Ramos son, from CRV s highest ranking O-Man daughter, Etazon Renate, scores excellently in the field of health (110 SCC), fertility (103) and longevity (+709 days). The InSires Ludiek Bluejay (+236 NVI) and Delta Emerald (+245 NVI) link health and longevity to excellent conformation. Bertil son Bluejay scores 111 conformation and 107 cell count. Goldwyn son Emerald inherits 400 days of longevity, as well as a 109 cell count and 112 conformation. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 HOLSTEINS 1. Atlantic (InSire) Impuls Gofast (InSire) Bonanza (InSire) Goli Diamond Cricket Impress Improver Surprise +171 Impuls, the highest Dutch tested proven bull of the Netherlands Klaartje 108 is a daughter of outcross bred Klimmer, who descends from the same family as Gogo and Laarman CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 RED HOLSTEINS (RED-AND-WHITE BASE) 1. Fiction RF Spencer Fidelity Kodak Arnold Kylian Lincoln RF Canvas RF Ditmar Asterix P (InSire) +159 Marietje 104 is a daughter of the fast rising Kodak ALEX ARKINK

2 2 PROOF NEWS HIGHLIGHTS ENGLISH EDITION JANUARY 2011 Continued from page 1 New Shottle sons After a successful start as a sire of sons in the Netherlands in September 2010, Shottle is in the limelight again. The first Shottle son is Barnkamper Marathon (+142 NVI). He is related to the breeding bull Support from the same Marilyn family (see our sire special on page 7). Southland Belle, who gave birth to the proven bull Southland Lincoln, is also dam to the second new Shottle son, Southland Manitas (+ 111 NVI). And this Shottle son has something special as well. He is a red factor carrier and inherits a superb conformation (110 total). Due to their nice temperament and favourable cell count scores, these sons of Shottle produce daughters that are pleasant and easy to work with. Malaga daughter Rieneke 38 of K. A. van Zoest, Driebruggen, The Netherlands Manitas daughter JSB Carola 2 was showed at the Holland Holstein Herds show MY CHOICE FOR PROFIT CRV starts business in Canada O-Mans for every breeding goal The immensely popular Woudhoeve 1042 Impuls (+229 NVI) is the highest O-Man son in the Netherlands. He inherits +1,204kg of milk with +0.09% protein. With this production proof he is the only O-Man son that inherits more than 1,000kg of milk with a positive protein percentage. His half brother De-Su O-Man Goli (+197 NVI) increases his longevity (now +422 days), which sees him enter the top 10 in the ranking. Ralma O-Man Cf Cricket (+191 NVI) maintains his position as health expert. The combination of a cell score of 114, a calving interval of 110 and 435 days longevity is unmatched. Furthermore, he scores a stunning 111 on conformation. Proven progenitor Delta Paramount (+165 NVI) is still going strong. Born nine years ago and with 11,854 daughters in his proof, his conformation score is still 110, which is extraordinary. With its maples, endless corn fields and world famous agricultural system, Canada has always been a popular destination for emigrants from all over the world. Many Dutch citizens have tried their luck on the other side of the ocean. Among them were many Dutch dairy farmers. After settling in their new country most of these farmers still keep close contact with relatives and colleagues in the Netherlands. Thanks to improved communication methods and cheap air travel, the relative distance between the Netherlands and Canada became smaller. During my visit to the province of Ontario, the Dutch roots of many of its citizens were very obvious. Also, Dutch genetics are still of interest to many dairy farmers. After many years of representation by Canadian AI companies, CRV will now Niek Vos be present in this important market with its own sales outlet called CRV Canada. CRV decided that CRV Canada would start its activities in the province of Ontario. And since summer 2010, CRV s Business Unit Global Sales and Development (BU GS&D) has been represented by an official agent in Canada, Pieter Schuurmans. New Canvas sons The new proven red sires Delta Lilac (+124 NVI) and Lowlands Leopard (+125 NVI) are thorough ambassadors for Canvas. Both bulls excel in milk yield (2,144kg and 1,651kg respectively) and independent life skills like calving ease, longevity and conformation. With a total score of 111 Lilac is Canvas highest son conformation wise. In April 2010, BU GS&D started a project to establish CRV Canada. Together with CRV s Marketing and Innovation (M&I) department, plans were made to find out what products the Canadian dairy farmers really needed. For this project I was asked to conduct a customer research among different dairy farmers in Ontario. On the basis of this customer research a sufficient product portfolio for Ontario and Canada will be composed by BU GS&D. Together with BU GS&D and M&I we developed an interview guide for this research and used a new research method to evaluate the outcomes. The absolute best Topspeed Kodak (+186 NVI) is true to his prefix, because after a rise of 17 points at the August index run, his NVI score rose again this index run. He has 77 daughters in his second lactation and he wins on longevity (now +569 days) and feet and legs (105). With this great results he follows the wake of Delta Fidelity (196 NVI), who rose in NVI as well. Fidelity now has 120 second calvers in his proof and they produce well because his breeding value for milk yield increased by 60kg. A very popular sire at the moment is Aalshorst Pleasure (+143 NVI) from AI Kampen. He is the highest Talent son in the rankings. He inherits a good fat protein ratio of 0.09 to And he scores 110 on conformation. His good health and longevity traits (449 days, 104 cell count) make his proof very complete. New red-and-white breeding bulls Lowlands Klimmer (+150 NVI) descends from a good cow family. His grand dam Chystal Topspeed Giny 3 was honoured with EX91 points at the age of 15. She is the model of longevity and durability. Klimmer inherits great claw health (111) and high protein (+0.21%). His dam shows great production strength as well. As a three year old she produced 10,011kg of milk with 5.42% fat and 4.18% protein in 305 days. And, an added bonus, Klimmer is outcross bred (Taco x Pablo). Lowlands Fender (+167 NVI, Gogo x Lightning) makes the change from genomic bull to breeding bull with a rise of 31 points NVI. Fender is sire to InSire bull Camion van de Peul (+183 NVI), who is a successful InSire bull himself. Camion scores well on all health traits, particularly cell count (110). In June and August of 2010, Pieter Schuurmans and myself conducted this research for customer demands in Ontario. Together we visited 60 dairy farmers and completed on farm interviews. This provided us with very valuable information for a successful approach to the Canadian market. Many different views and philosophies about farming, and particularly breeding, were heard. Interesting was that many of the interviewed farmers were Dutch emigrants and had different breeding philosophies to their native counterparts. One of the things I found is that farmers are looking into ways of improving their operations rather than just expanding. Farmers are looking at other options to invest their money. Buying farmland, improving efficiency, investing in genetics, improving cow comfort, and gaining efficiencies by investments in automated milking systems or other automation processes. The farmers in Ontario are looking for a cow that fits the desired type of cow that we are trying to breed here in the Netherlands, a productive, well-balanced cow, which is healthy and profitable to the dairy farmer and has a long herd life. CRV Canada will use the outcomes of this research in its marketing efforts. The excellent reputation of Dutch breeding, with high producing cows that are healthier and last longer than anywhere in the world, can help to reach Canadian customers and provide them with products that fit their breeding goals. CRV Canada intends to deliver their products throughout the whole of Canada as soon as possible. New is the option of Internet sales. The first official web shop has been established by the BU GS&D for the Canadian market and is going live very soon. With farmers focus on more economical production methods in Canada, I believe CRV will be the right choice for profit, also in Canada Niek Vos, 4th year student Livestock Management Van Hall Larenstein, Wageningen For detailed proof information please visit our website at

3 HIGHLIGHTS ENGLISH EDITION JANUARY 2011 LONGEVITY SPECIAL 3 Everything you want to know about longevity Breeding for longevity pays off As early as the 19th century, American salesmen came to Holland to buy Dutch cows. And still the Dutch cows are famous around the world. They excel in longevity and life production. Last year Dutch cows produced more than 30,000kg of milk on average. Time to reveal the tricks of the trade. CRV often receives questions about from farmers about longevity what it means, how to use it and about its economic value. Highlights answers the most frequently asked questions. What does the breeding value longevity mean? Longevity measures the productive life of a dairy cow, which is the difference in days between her first calving and her final milk recording. The breeding value for longevity is based on direct information the actual lifespan of a sire s daughters and on indirect information, such as pedigree information and predictor traits. The predictor traits used in the breeding value longevity are udder depth, locomotion and somatic cell counts. The breeding value longevity is presented in number of days in which 0 days is the average. A longevity score that is 100 days higher means that the number of productive days of the daughters increases by 50 days. Why would I use the breeding value longevity to select bulls? There are already so many characteristics to take into account. The life span of a dairy cow indicates how long a cow has been able to prevent being replaced due to a shortcoming. In other words, how satisfied her breeder is with her. A cattle breeder considers many traits when determining their culling policy. Roughly, these traits can be divided into production, fertility, health and workability. As cows are kept for the purpose of producing milk, replacement based on an unsatisfactory production is called voluntary culling, and replacement based on other traits is called involuntary culling. In practice, the reason that a cow is culled is seldom due to only one of these two. A cow that is not in calf following insemination and with a low milk Longevity in practice production is more likely to be culled than another cow that is also not yet in calf, but that has a higher production of milk. The actual life span of a dairy cow depends upon the cattle breeder s decision to have it culled. Daughters of bulls that score high on longevity stay on the farm longer than their herd mates. This means that they score average or better on all the traits that influence the replacement policy or that they compensate their weaknesses with other very strong traits like a desired production level. High longevity means fewer involuntary culls, less labour and reduced vet costs. So, breeding for longevity means breeding for cows that are a pleasure to milk and put money in your wallet. How does breeding on longevity relate to breeding on economics? A low longevity means a high culling rate. We know that a high culling rate is financially damaging. Also older cows, produce more on average. With a good breeding strategy, aiming for longevity, the culling rate can be reduced. Let s take a herd of 100 dairy cows that have an average productive life 1,220 days (from first calving to culling) for example. The farmer uses bulls with +300 days longevity. Every 100 days longevity above 0 increases the longevity of the bull s daughters by 50 days. So, the effect after one cow generation in this herd will be an increase in the productive life from 1,220 to 1,370 days and a decrease of the culling rate from 30% to 27%. This is the effect of using bulls with high indexes for longevity for just a year. How come Dutch cows have such high life productions? The average 305 days production of blackand-white Dutch Holstein Friesian cows was The influence of longevity on a farm s profit is significant. We can see just how significant it is by looking at the following example. We compare two dairy farms with different culling rates. Farmer A Farmer A milks a 100-cow herd with a calving interval of 13 months. The culled cows have an average lactation length of 6.5 months. The culling rate is 40% and longevity is low. The dairy herd produces an average of 7,351kg of milk per cow per year. To keep the herd at the same size, 112 cows have to start a lactation every year. The milk production is not optimal because the cows have short lactations. A lot of heifers are being brought into the herd to maintain herd size. This means rearing more young stock, more work and increased costs. Farmer John Farmer John also milks a 100-cow herd with a calving interval of 13 months. On his farm the culling rate is 30%. The cows have an average lactation length of 10.5 months. Farmer John s cows produce for four months longer. The average production is 8,399kg of milk per cow per year 1,048kg of milk per cow per year more than Farmer A. The profit? You can calculate the difference in milk income based on the price in your country. If we put it at 0.30 per kg of milk, then farmer John earns no less than 0.30 x 1,048kg of milk = per cow per year more than his colleague. This is more than 30,000 for the whole herd! And there s even more profit. Farmer John has also the advantage of lower heifer rearing costs. He raises 12 fewer heifers every year. Raising a heifer costs about 1,100. Therefore he saves another 13,200 thanks to the higher longevity of his herd. And that profit also returns every year. Conclusion: Selection based on longevity is extremely profitable. kg milk The Dutch breeding value for longevity is a figure that indicates how satisfactory the daughters of a certain bull function. It is a measure to rank bulls for the ability of their daughters to resist culling 31,000 29,000 27,000 25,000 23,000 21,000 19,000 17, year at culling lifetime production 30,000 8,832kg with 4.25% fat, 3.45% protein and of the red and whites it was 8,228kg with 4.48% fat and 3.55% protein in The average life time production of Dutch cows is 30,482kg with 3.50% protein (figure 1). Dutch breeders pay lots of attention to durability and longevity. Therefore the high life production of Dutch cows is a result of high quality genetics and decisive management. The past few years the actual improvement of longevity and life production is bigger than the genetic improvement. This underscores the attention of Dutch breeders for these traits. How does CRV incorporate longevity and life production into its breeding programme? Over the years, the breeding goal for dairy cattle has changed from a sole focus on production to attention for production, longevity, health traits and type. The typical cow on which CRV bases its breeding goal is a healthy cow with efficient production from a healthy udder and constant fertility, which combines longevity with good feet and legs and functional type. To reach this objective, different breeding values have been developed for a large number of traits. NVI combines information from breeding values to classify animals based on the breeding goal. The starting point in defining NVI is the breeding goal, and relations between breeding values are also taken into consideration. From Figure 1 Life production and longevity year at culling longevity 2010 February 2007 onwards Dutch and Flemish sires are ranked according to this overall index. Traits in NVI have been given weight in such a way that a desired gain per trait is achieved. Table 1 Breeding value longevity CRV s test bulls year black and white red and white ,400 2,300 2,200 2,100 2,000 1,900 1,800 In the development of NVI the economic values for the three production traits have been maintained in the way they are employed in the Inet. For the other traits weighing factors generating the desired gain have been calculated. For longevity, fertility, somatic cell count, udder and feet and legs, target values have been identified to achieve the desired gains. Consolidation of fertility and improvement of the other traits constituted the starting point. The importance of longevity in NVI is 20%. CRV s bulls score very well for longevity. In Table 1 the average breeding values for longevity of CRV s test bulls per year are shown. Every year the average breeding value increases a sign that longevity is a high priority for CRV. days

4 4 HOME AND ABROAD HIGHLIGHTS ENGLISH EDITION JANUARY 2011 Ole Larsen wins NRM-quiz [DENMARK] Ole Larsen proudly shows the first heifer calf by Cricket, which was born at Bakkegaarden. And it will definitely not be the last one; we have more than 40 pregnancies by this bull. It is obvious that we re dealing with a passionate breeder of dairy cows. The first young stock of the CRV bulls including Surprise, Bertil, Classic, Paramount, Butembo, Barclay, Jag and Spirit are performing well in the so-called nose of peninsula Jutland in Denmark. Ole Larsen has been herd manager at Bakkegaarden dairy farm, which belongs to the Danish family Mogens Jensen, since His father Knud Erik is a former president of Arla and his three sons own two pig farms and one dairy farm, comprising a total of 550ha of land. Farm activities are carried out with help from three full-time employees on the dairy side and by two full-time staff who are responsible for field management. Modern dairy management Following the construction of the new cow house in 2007 there is now space for 330 dairy cows and 310 young stock. Dairy cows are housed in three groups: first/second lactation cows, fresh cows and all the remaining cows. The cows are fed a ration comprising one third grass silage and two thirds maize silage, which is mixed with crushed grain, soy beans, rape seed and beet pulp. The barn has a slatted floor and, for optimal cow comfort, cubicles are filled with sand. Hoof care management plays a central role in the management and a rigorous programme is in place. All cows are treated three times a year: 40 to 80 days after calving, 150 to 185 days after calving, and 90 days before calving. In the 2 x 24-point direct exit milking parlour the cows yield 10,900kg of milk with 3.85% fat and 3.30% protein. Remarkable is the time that the cows are dry for. First lactation cows get a dry period of 10 weeks, older cows have eight weeks. This leads to fewer problems at the start of the next lactation, because cows have even more time to recover from, for example, a poor condition score, Ole explains. Valuable young stock Young stock is the most valuable asset; it has to lead to an optimal profit for the farm in the future. A thick layer of straw in the calf hutches already indicates that Ole leaves nothing to chance. Within two hours after birth, all calves are given four litres of colostrum. Until eight weeks of age calves are fed three litres of natural milk twice a day, which is kept warm in a storage bin. Hay and concentrates are offered from one week of age on. After two months bull calves are sold to a feeder and from this moment on heifer calves obtain ration of the first/ second lactation group of dairy cows. Future with CRV Ole had already used CRV semen before his first visit to The Netherlands during the NRM CRV has diverse bloodlines and the production figures, particularly protein percentages, of Dutch cows are high, says Ole. It fits perfectly with our breeding goal: cows that take care of themselves, with good feet and legs and udders, and that have a lot of capacity for the optimal use of our home-grown feed. At the moment Ole uses conventional semen from Classic, Cricket, Paramount, Romeo, Forward and Lacey and the InSire bulls Lewis, Sidney and Toto. InSire bulls are new bulls with different pedigrees and a high genetic level, says Ole, explaining his decision to make use of these bulls. SiryX semen from Wilson, Olympic and Yankee is used with an eye on the future development of the farm. It is not necessary to expand cow numbers at the moment, but when it s possibile we will be ready to do it, he adds. Proudly Ole shows the first heifer calf of Cricket, which was born at Bakkegaarden. And it will definitely not be the last one we have more than 40 pregnancies by this bull Top yield in Uzbekistan Foreign visitors to the NRM had the opportunity to test their knowledge about CRV and its products by taking part in a quiz. As well as a souvenir, all participants had the chance to win a 32-inch Full HD digital LCD-TV. Ole Larsen from Denmark was the lucky winner of the first prize. During a visit to his farm, Miranda Wiltink (area manager from BU GS&D) and Arie Rombouts (managing director BREEDnCARE, Denmark) presented him with his prize [UZBEKISTAN] Inter Milk is the name of a new large dairy unit in Uzbekistan. The Uzbek authorities and other shareholders of the company have deliberately opted for Dutch heifers on the farm. One of the reasons for this is that they offer a high fat and protein percentage in their milk. The heifers are sired by renowned Dutch proven sires, both red and white and black and white. There are daughters sired by Olympic for instance, the Addison son that has already sold more than one million units of semen. The protein and legs transmitter Kian, worldwide the most used red-and-white bull ever, is well represented too. There are also daughters sired by Fabian, Apina Fortune, Obelisk and Paramount. A month after freshening, the heifers produce 22kg of milk per day with 4% fat. This results in a projected annual yield of more than 7,000kg of milk in 330 days. A modern free-stall barn has been built for the dairy cattle. Despite hot summer temperatures (around 36º C) the climate in the barn is good, due to the insulating sandwich panels that form the roof

5 HIGHLIGHTS ENGLISH EDITION JANUARY 2011 HOME AND ABROAD 5 CRV bulls are the basis of Danish durable top producers The proud van Vulpen family with their six 100-tonne cows [DENMARK] The longevity of CRV bulls isn t limited to the Dutch and Flemish borders. They can also show their skills outside the home borders. Recently the Danish cow nr 1036, belonging to Simon van Vulpen, was honoured for exceeding the magic figure of 100,000kg of milk. She is not the first cow at the farm to reach this goal. Already 12 herd mates have preceded her and six of them are still present at the farm. In August 2010 they had already produced 666,777kg of milk between them. Pictured, from left to right, the six durable top producers are: cow nr sire current life time production conformation score 904 Lord Lily 110,743 VG Marconi 119,497 VG Labelle 101,652 GP F16 125,374 GP Celsius 108,158 GP Leadman 101,353 VG 86 Simon van Vulpen is very much focussed on high lifetime production because he knows that s the way the earn a lot of money. Currently, he is pleased to be milking daughters of Loe Martin, December and Classic. Durable bull dams Topspeed Giny is dam to several breeding bulls like Klimmer, Laarman and Jatra [THE NETHERLANDS] Topspeed Giny is dam to several breeding bulls like Gogo, Klimmer, Laarman and Jatra. Many of her daughters are contracted by AI companies. Topspeed Giny recently celebrated her 15th birthday and was re-classified EX 91 with 91 type, 91 dairy strength, 89 udder and 92 feet and legs. As a true Celsius daughter, she can also keep up with the competition as far as production is concerned. In her current lactation she has produced 10,319kg of milk with 4.80% fat and 3.66% protein in 438 days. Due to her unique lifetime achievements she was rewarded with the nomination as a so-called star cow with three stars. Another bull dam with unique results is Jubel daughter Caudumer Hinke 34. She was classified VG 89 with a stunning 92 points for feet and legs. She was number one in the 2007/2008 Dutch production rankings and her best record so far, as a nine-year old stands at 19,286kg of milk with 4.50% fat and 3.46% protein in 337 days. With this record she out produced her herd s average by 81% and her lifetime production has now reached 140,000kg and she is still going strong. Her breeder, Sietse Henk Haydema, says: We ll probably never breed such a cow again. She produces so easily and she s an extremely strong cow. As well as her great conformation and extraordinary production, Hinke 34 also has great breeding capacities. Five of her sons are being tested at CRV and her daughter Hinke 41 (s. Lightning) produced 120 embryos in eight flushings. Several of her sons went to AI companies and several of her daughters have become bull dams. The Hinke family is characterised by very good type with a lot of length in the body and strength in the front. Their production is of a high level, including milk components. It s definitely a family that we will hear more about in the future. Pleasant Pleasure tour [THE NETHERLANDS] The red-and-white Talent son Pleasure descends from a very well-bred cow family that has already provided several AI bulls. CRV organised a tour through Holland that visited 10 Pleasure daughters. Eight of them were in their second lactation and two were in their first. The daughters seem to develop very well during their first lactation. One of the participants of this tour, Bruno Deuting, managing director of the cattle breeding organisation of Salzburg, Austria, says: The animals we ve seen are of average height, very well balanced and with a fitting body depth. It was striking to see the width in their bodies and their nicely sloped rumps. The well balanced and strongly attached udders were wide in the back and had strong central ligaments with a narrow teat placement. Pleasure is best used on very dairy type of cows that don t have enough strength and body width. Well-balanced Pleasant daughter Rolien 6352 Caudumer Hinke 97 is one of Hinke 34 s great granddaughters ALGER MEEKMA

6 6 COW MANAGEMENT HIGHLIGHTS ENGLISH EDITION JANUARY 2011 Keep feet and legs healthy with regular hoof trimming Five steps of hoof trimming From both an economic and an animal welfare point of view, foot disorders are a serious health problem in dairy cattle. The high incidence, severity and duration of foot disorders account for their importance so CRV pays attention to important issues around claw health in a series of four articles. Because routine trimming can prevent a lot of lameness in dairy herds, this first article explains the five steps of hoof trimming. F oot disorders and the resulting lameness cause serious economic losses for the farmer. The economic consequences of foot disorders are costs due to milk production losses, loss of weight, culling, prolonged calving interval, increased labour costs and vet costs, as well as treatment, and discarded milk. Estimates of costs of lameness vary per country and according to circumstances. But a Dutch study of Bruijnis and others (2010) showed that under the milk quota system in the Netherlands, costs due to foot disorders for a farm with 65 cows averages US$ 4,899 per year, an annual loss of US$ 75 per cow. An American study from 2010 by Cha and others showed that a case of sole ulcer costs US$ and a case of digital dermatitis US$ The main contributor to the total cost per case differs largely between the diseases. For sole ulcer this was milk loss (38%), treatment cost for digital dermatitis (42%) and the effect of decreased fertility for foot rot (50%). Tabel - Costs per lameness case in euros *) drop in milk yield 150 euros (based on a 5% drop in yield) loss in weight 30 euros veterinary costs 10 euros calving interval 13 euros extra labour 14 euros culling 37 euros total 252 euros *) Based on Dutch circumstances Hoof trimming Hoofs may be trimmed preventively or curatively. Preventative trimming is better although it will not prevent all cases of lameness. Exceptions will occur now and then. The intervals at which cows need trimming depend on farm conditions. Trimming must be carried out by someone who understands the conformation and function of the feet and claws and who knows what the effects of housing conditions are on the horn growth. Horn growth Cow sheds often have concrete floors that affect to a degree the growth and the wear of horn. Diseases like laminitis and interdigital dermatitis cause an over growth of horn. Lameness occurs in the hind feet more frequently than in the forefeet and in between 95 and 99% of cases, the outer claw of the hind feet is affected. The reason is the horn of the outer claw grows faster than it wears. Growth and wear of the hind inner claw are more balanced. The extra horn extensor tendon shin bone fetlock joint long pastern bone pastern joint short pastern bone perioplic horn pedal joint pedal bone wall corium sole solear part of bulb bulb growth in the outer claw is caused by the way cows walk on hard and sometimes slippery floors. In the forefeet lameness is less frequent. If it does occur, mostly the inner claws are affected, usually due to the little height difference between the feeding passage and cow passage. The cow reaches forward in order to eat. This exercise may lead to overburdened and slightly twisted claws (see pictures). Also foreleg posture (hereditary) can be a cause. In this case the feet are pointing outwards from the knees. In long claws the heals bear too large a proportion of the weight. This places too much weight on the end of the pedal bone and may cause a sole ulcer eventually In long claws the heels bear too large a proportion of the weight. This also places too much weight on the end of the pedal bone and may cause damage to the typical site of the corium (bruising), resulting in a typical sole ulcer. Cutting back claws to their normal length and restoring the right angle may prevent sole ulcers. See picture. Typical sole-lesion starts after long pressure on the outer claw If the soles of the claws are inclining, the weight bearing border (wall) seems to support most of the weight. This puts a great strain on the stabilizing function of the tendons and the digital cushion inside the claw. The pedal bone will press harder on the typical spot of the corium. Trimming the sole surfaces so that they are flat and perpendicular to the axle of the foot will prevent overburdening of the typical ulcer site. Wall ulcers Wall ulcers in the rear part of the claws are also likely to develop on an inclining or overburdened outer claw. In the rear part of the claw the suspension is bigger, the horn softer and the connection between the wall and the sole weaker. This connection is called the white line. The white line is like putty and not very strong. If soles are inclining the laminae (folds) at the rear part are hardly there and the wall cracks easily. In these cases laminitis is also often involved. It is considered the main cause of wall ulcers. When the outer claws are overburdened the cow will adapt hocked stance and there is pressure on the outer wall in the rear part of the claw. The same applies for claws that are too long; the greater part of the weight is on the rear part of the soles. Again too much strain on the wall; separation is the result. CLAW HEALTH SERIES dew-claw navicular bursa navicular bone deep flexor tendon digital cushion corium CRV pays attention to issues around claw health in a series of four articles. Part 1: Five steps of hoof trimming Part 2: Important bacterial diseases Part 3: Laminitis Part 4: Management issues around claw health The five steps of trimming The procedure of trimming in five steps described here refers to hind feet. For trimming forefeet read inner claw for outer claw and vice versa. It is very important that the healthy claw performs well. Therefore it is the first claw to trim (if necessary). The length and the angle of the claw are of the utmost importance. The healthy (inner) claw then provides an example for the more affected claw. The first three steps serve as routine or preventative trimming and the last two are curative trimming steps (to treat defects). The claw of an average Holstein cow is 7.5 cm long and the sole is about 0.5 cm thick. In routine trimming protection is the most important factor. So be careful not to over trim the claws. 1 Cut back the inner claw to a length of 7.5 cm from the coronet, where the horn starts. The cut must be perpendicular to the sole. Trim back the sole to a thickness of 0.5 cm at the tip of the toe and leave the thickness of the bulb or heel as was. Save the height of the heel. 2 Cut back the length of the outer claw to the same length as the inner claw and trim the sole to an equal height as the inner claw (if possible). In case of a buckled toe (laminitic claw) it is not always possible to reach the same height in the toe. The heel or bulb is more important, because it bears most of the weight 3 Trim the claws into a slightly hollow shape, starting 2.5 to 3 cm from the toe towards the heel. This is done to check the typical site for a sole ulcer and secondly this will keep the space between the claws clean and airy (preventing interdigital dermatitis). 4 In case of defects like sole ulcer and or wall ulcer this claw must be trimmed down further. This creates a height difference between the healthy and damaged claw and the weight bearing is partly transferred to the healthy claw. The damaged claw can heal more quickly. In case of too little height difference a block may be applied to the healthy claw to raise its height. In case of bruising of the sole a height difference can be made, but don t trim the sole too thin. In step two the excess weight is removed and this is normally enough relief for the claw. 5 a Remove loose horn and hard ridges on the claws. Be careful in the inner claw: here only the fissures in the heel are removed, any further loose horn is not a problem. Removing it will affect the stability and the height of the claw. 5 b In the outer claw loose horn and ridges have to be removed in the last two thirds of the sole surface. 5 c And finally, check the feet for digital dermatitis. If necessary treat it with antibiotics or a hoof gel.

7 HIGHLIGHTS ENGLISH EDITION JANUARY 2011 SIRE SPECIAL 7 A new star from the Support family Barnkamper Marathon [THE NETHERLANDS] When the name Barnkamper precedes the name of a bull, the first reaction is: from the Support family? Yes indeed, Marathon is a cousin from the same Marilyn family. A high milk yield and good legs are typical for this family, says breeder Leo de Jong. Shottle adds even more independent life skills. M arathon is also an offspring from the Marilyn fundatrix: Barnkamper Marilyn. This daughter of Mascot, registered at 89 points, came to the Netherlands as an embryo from her American cow family, and stodd out with her superb lifetime yield of 73,463kg of milk at 4.27% fat and 3.50% protein. In her fifth lactation she achieved a fantastic yield of 13,165kg of milk at 4.35% fat and 3.67% protein in 351 days. She was a very easy cow to handle, but she was always one of the first to enter the milking stall, Leo recalls. Marilyn was able to further expand her influence in two other lines. The line from which Marathon, Support and also Forward (sire: Doolhof December) originated starts at the daughter of Cash, known as Barnkamper Marilyn 5, who also is also registered at 89 points for her conformation. Her pedigree includes 10 VG and excellent generations. Giving more than 31.5 litres of milk per day, she achieved more than 1,880 production days, adding up to nearly 60,000kg of milk at 4.53% fat and 3.57% protein. The other branch of the Marilyns Pedigree of Barnkamper Marathon Barnkamper Support (s. Bullcrest Patron Sabre) Barnkamper Marilyn 27 VG89 (s. Newhouse Ronald) Barnkamper Marilyn 59 (s. Ricecrest Lantz) Barnkamper Forward (s. Doolhof December) runs via a daughter of Celsius from fundatrix Marilyn. This Celsius, good for 89 points, also steered a successful course: after Fatal, Sierra and O-Man, son of Shottle Barnkamper Mandell arrived, who has meanwhile also become a breeding bull. He also has two extremely sought-after half-sisters from Bolton. In addition to 85 and 88 points for conformation, they completed a heifer lactation more than 10,000kg of milk; they have a high genomic breeding value and are popular bull dams. Talk about breeding power Condition retention Back to the line from which Marathon was generated. Marilyn 5, the daughter of Cash, calved a special daughter, Barnkamper Marilyn 27 (sire: Ronald), who had a special son herself, Barnkamper Support. This son of Sabre has been one of the most frequently used bulls at CRV in the past few years. This makes sense, since his daughters have proven they can produce a great deal of milk, that they have fine udders (with razorsharp suspensory ligaments) as Barnkamper Marilyn 20 VG88 (s. Looking Major) Barnkamper Marathon (s. Shottle) Marathon s dam, Barnkamper Marilyn 20, is also Support s half-sister well as unusually strong legs. They also retain their condition well. And along with this complete package, the daughters of Support are cows that are easy to manage. Leo de Jong talks about one of the Marilyns qualities: Marilyn 27 can easily yield between 50 and 60 litres of milk at the beginning of her lactation, but she will also start to regain weight quickly. Support s Ronald dam was also awarded 89 points for her exterior, whereby she scored 88 for the frame, 89 for the udder and 89 for her legs. It s a very nice balance that s resulted in a lifetime yield that has added up to nearly 90,000kg of milk at 4.39% fat and 3.44% protein. The cow is 12 years old by now and also carrying her eighth calf. This is fairly unusual after all, since she was flushed frequently for the many AI contracts, and after that one never knows if the cow will carry another calf. The fertile Marilyns are thus capable of this. Marathon is the next generation. His dam is Support s half-sister Barnkamper Marilyn 20 (sire: Looking Major). The condition is also remarkable in this case. She weighs more than a tonne, Leo says about the cow, which has been dried off and is carrying her fifth calf. She is extremely heavy, big and impressive in appearance. And like all Marilyns, productive as well. Her lifetime total added up to almost 50,000kg of thick milk at 4.54% fat and 3.67% protein. As a heifer she already achieved a 305- day list of 10,284kg of milk at 4.33% fat and 3.60% protein. And talking about going the distance she virtually achieved the same feat in her sixth year with 10,561kg of milk at 4.34% fat and 3.60% protein. Shottle sisters are popular Not only did the union of Shottle and Marilyn 20 produce breeding bull Marathon, but also five full sisters who all easily score VG for their conformation. Three of these Shottles are also used frequently as bull dams. Barnkamper Marilyn 193 calved as a heifer at exactly two years of age and achieved a 305-day list of 10,819kg of milk at 3.90% fat and 3.43% protein. Furthermore, she was awarded 88 points for her exterior. Sister Marilyn 195 was given 86 points and yielded 9,873kg of milk in 305 days, at 4.40% fat and 3.38% protein. Wonderful achievements that are highlighted by their high genomic breeding value, which also provides the Shottle sisters with many opportunities as bull dams. They were already deep and wide as heifers, and could easily handle the yield, Leo explains. They continued to grow very well and will still be sharp when they have their third calf. They are strong milk cows. Barnkamper Marathon (Shottle x Looking Major x Newhouse Ronald) Barnkamper Marathon does exactly what can be expected of his lineage. As a son of the often-praised Shottle, he gives his daughters some extra muscle. They mature into cows that can easily handle the yield and are tough. Moreover, the Marilyns add an abundance of milk and fine legs, which are THE trademarks of the Marilyns, who have meanwhile produced various breeding bulls, such as Support, Forward and now Marathon as well. Not only does the son of Shottle come from good stock, but he also provides a complete and very balanced breeding value himself, whereby nothing falls by the wayside. His daughters also have high milk yield, strong udders and, with their robust exterior, can easily handle the yield. Production Kg milk % Fat % Protein Kg Fat Kg Protein Inet Longevity Functional Traits Calving ease Somatic Cell Score Milking Speed Persistency Temperament Conformation Frame Dairy strength Udder Feet & legs Final score Stature Chest width Body depth Angularity Condition score Rump angle Rump width Rear legs rear Rear legs side Foot angle Locomotion Fore udder attachment Front teat placement Teat length Udder depth Rear udder height Central ligament Rear teat placement Barnkamper Marathon rel. 85 % daughters 92 herds 81 rel. 78 % daughters 24 herds Leo de Jong: Two thirds of our livestock are Marilyns NVI 142 The sign at the entrance of the De Jong family s milking barn in Beusichem leaves little guesswork as to what cow family is housed there: the 5 x 3.5 metre sign prominently displays Marilyn 4 (s. Celsius). By now, about two thirds of our livestock are generated from the Marilyns, says Leo, who runs the farm together with his wife Artje and daughter Linda. A great deal of volume, a lot of milk and good legs are what all Marilyns have in common. The cow family ended up in our barn as a result of our purchase of Mascot embryos from the American Miss-Fay-Ark Rotate Mary, a daughter from a Bova by Rotate registered at 91 points. The daughter of Mascot developed into a cow registered at 89 points and she produced a considerable number of progeny that could be further expanded in the barn thanks to successful flushing results

8 8 TRAIT LEADERS Lass Canvas RF Predestine Omen Fantast Lilac Leopard Lincoln RF For complete proof information please visit H IG H LIG H T S E N G LISH E D IT ION J A N U A RY Go-Ahead Bonanza Big Winner Discovery Diamond Bonanza Content Jag Logan Set-Up Atlantic Stan Boston Belfast Brewster Omen Ireland Lacey Cricket Romeo +114 Lindberg Paramount Elgin Manitas RF Adam Puntdroad Kian Klimmer Benjamin * Puntdroad Kian Lambiek Kodak Arnold Camion Lambiek Fiction RF Lambiek Sonlight Classic Paramount Pole-Position Improver Butembo Blackstorm Cricket Stan Big Shot Gofast Marathon +112 Cricket Atlantic Franchise Fiction RF Romeo Kylian Fidelity Twister +112 Twister Classic Lilac +112 Camion Kodak Kris oo f Healt h H Frame Pole-Postion Fiction RF Atlantic Cricket Improver Stilist Go-Ahead Improver Butembo Impuls Spencer Twister Taco Klimmer Taco Kian +107 Sires marked with a yellow dot are InSire sires. InSire sires are genomically selected Terbeek 2. Her sire Paramount is CRV s #1 feet & legs CRV Global Sales & Development proudly presents: Highlights is a publication of CRV BV. CRV is a Dutch-Flemish farmers co-operative with six business units (Global Sales & Development, Central Europe, Oceania, North America, South America and Western Europe). Highlights is published four times a year and is available in two languages: English and Spanish. Editor: Marieke de Weerd. Chief editor: Bertil Muller. With cooperation of Piet Kloosterman (PTC+ Oenkerk) and Fokko Tolsma (page 6). Printer: Senefelder Misset, Doetinchem, The Netherlands. ISSN Subscriptions Highlights is distributed free of charge to customers of CRV. For subscriptions and other information, please go to our website: or contact: CRV, P.O. Box 5073, 6802 EB Arnhem, The Netherlands, Phone: , Fax: , sales@crv4all.com Material appearing in Highlights is copyrighted and may not be reproduced without permission of CRV. Future events January 29 CRV Cow-Expo Zwolle, The Netherlands