The Martin family, based in County Down, Northern Ireland, have reaped the rewards of crossbreeding since incorporating Norwegian Red genetics into their herd back in 2018.
This change to their breeding strategy has helped to improve their milk solids, longevity, health status, calf survival and fertility across their 450-cow herd.
Changing to a crossbreeding strategy
Looking to improve the overall health status of their herd, James Martin and his family began exploring the opportunities available within crossbreeding.
Through various discussions, stringent research and visits to local farmers who had also been crossbreeding for a number of years, James, his father Sam and their Genus ABS Breeding Advisor, Brian McCarron, came to the collective decision that Norwegian Red genetics were the most suitable choice for the family farm.
“When we first began looking into the breed back in 2018, myself and Brian went to farms which had introduced Norwegian Red into their herd. One of the key things which stood out to me was when I asked one the herd owners about his vet costs.”
“He said the vet had been out last week for the horse but he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been out on farm. After battling with our herds overall health status over the years this really spoke volume.”
With this in mind, James and his family decided to go all in and used Norwegian Red across his entire Holstein herd. He added: “This was a huge decision for us, but the confidence Genus ABS had in the breed really helped to make the decision easier.”
Selecting bull traits to suit your system
In terms of bull selections, James advises people to ‘keep it simple.’ For them, this meant keeping to a selection of the same two or three bulls for the first two years and deciding not to introduce a third cross into his criss cross breeding strategy.
When selecting suitable bulls, James and his family prioritise balance, milk, and temperament.
The current Holstein bull in use on the herd is Sherdon Elevated Red, a sire renowned for his calving ease, short gestation and well-balanced linear including chest width and stature. This bull also has the added benefit of being polled, which, although the family don’t prioritise, is an added bonus.
The Norwegian Red sire currently in use is Sognnes, a bull which excels for production, including butter fat and protein as well as transmitting strength.
Benefits of the Norwegian Red cross
Since implementing crossbreeding, the Martin family have also found the unique story behind the Norwegian Red breed to also complement another aspect of their farm business such as their popular on-farm milk vending machine ‘Ballydown Milk’ which produces gently pasteurised milk, yogurt, and ice cream using milk from their herd. This goes down a real treat with the locals.
James and his family have also been using Genus RMS, our Reproduction Management Systems, since 2017, using exclusively Redx and Sexcel® to generate their dairy heifer calves. This, coupled with the tremendous success of the Norwegian Red breed, has led to a reduction in replacement rates, meaning the family now have surplus heifers to sell for the first time.
Since crossbreeding, James is also now consistently maximising all of his milk bonuses for Bacto and somatic cell count. The family milk twice a day and are achieving an average of 9200 litres with a rolling butterfat average of 4.52% and protein of 3.35% meaning he is maximising his milk price.
Looking into the future, James and his family are proud to now be able to stay put with their current strategy and are not looking to change anything. A true testament to the success of their crossbreeding strategy.
If you want to adopt a successful crossbreeding strategy, contact your local breeding advisor today using the tool below, or call us on 01270 616681
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