Around 120 delegates from across the world attended the VikingGenetics UK ProCROSS conference near Birmingham to learn first-hand the continuing benefits this crossbreeding programme has to offer.
ProCROSS is a three-breed rotational crossbreeding system combining Holstein, VikingRed and Montbeliarde.
The two-day event saw delegates visit two farms that are using ProCROSS cows, hearing all about the farmers’ management systems right up from feeding calves to rearing the optimum heifer.
During the second day delegates heard from a number of speakers discussing breed benefits, global milk trends, breeding strategies as well as a glance into the day-to-day running of a United States ProCROSS herd.
Farm visits to Shropshire and Cheshire
Day one included two farm visits, firstly to Nixon Farms ran by father and son team Ian and Will Nixon at Market Drayton, Shropshire.
The Nixons farm 600ac and run 350 ProCROSS cows, block calving from August to September over a 12-week period. The herd is currently yielding an average of 8,500kg at 4.3% butterfat and 3.6% protein sold to Tesco at 41p/L.
Their journey to using ProCROSS began with a visit to see the cows in the US, and convinced by what they saw, imported 80 ProCROSS heifers from Denmark in 2017.
Their decision to do so was encouraged by previous declining fertility rates and yields, plus higher vet bills, from their previous herd of Holstein cows.
After those 80 heifers calved down, the Nixons said they saw that the cows had better health and fertility, were easier calving and gave plenty of high-quality milk.
Since that time, and embarking on the three breed crosses, their herd has performed extremely well with plenty of surplus heifers to sell. They also generate more income with a higher value beef calf sired by Wagyu bulls.
The second visit was to Tom and Karen Halton at Congleton, Cheshire, who run 530 ProCROSS cows in an all-year calving system.
Their tenant farm extends to 220ha and they milk the cows three times per day. The cows produce 11,800L of milk per cow per year at 3.8% butterfat and 3.5% protein.
The Haltons started using ProCROSS cows back in 2012 and have since won a plethora of dairy awards with individual cows and their herd as a whole.
Dairy outlook
Speaking at conference in Bermingham, dairy market analyst Chris Walkland detailed current dairy markets and what they might do in the future.
Walkland gave details of how some dairy processors are expanding their factories globally, contrasted with news that more dairy farmers will exit the sector as others expand.
Some of the conclusions he presented suggested that dairy farmers were receiving more money for milk solids and that 2024 prices have been better than last year.
He also said dairy price inflation is falling fast, which should help stimulate the overall demand for dairy produce in the future.
Also speaking at the conference was US dairy farmer Kelly Cunningham, who runs Milk Unlimited, a dairy farm with a total of 3,400 ProCROSS cows, with 2,800 milking at any one time.
The farm is run together with his wife Christy, and a number of other business partners, in Atlantic, Iowa, the centre of America’s corn belt.
Kelly opted for crossbred cows back in 2018, when their liquid milk market collapsed and they took on a new buyer paying better for milk solids.
He milks 65% of the milking herd three times per day; 40% of his farm income comes from selling beef-cross calves, and his parlour goes 24/7 stopping for 40 minutes for washing.
Kelly said he has enjoyed excellent success with ProCROSS which boosted his overall reproduction, cow longevity and milk components, which have all helped increase profits.
Dairy genetics
Giovanni Bittante, a professor of animal science and genetic improvement at the University of Padua in Italy, discussed the importance of considering genetics in animal breeding programmes.
The professor delivered a deep insight into his work on the environmental impact of ProCROSS cows. He noted crossbreeding affects productivity and efficiency of dairy cows; which in turn affects environmental impact of animals.
Following some trials and research work, the conclusions derived were that ProCROSS cows exceed Holsteins in longevity, in lifetime production, and for lifetime environmental impact.
Meanwhile, Morten Kargo is product manager for DairyCross at VikingGenetics and a senior genetics researcher at Aarhus University in Denmark.
He explained that his goal is to highlight the economic and management benefits obtained from crossbreeding.
Over the years Kargo has focused on developing a systematic dairy cattle breeding structure that accelerates crossbred production cows’ performance and health improvements.
He concluded that ProCROSS herds have now the same opportunities for taking the advantage of having replacement heifers from the genetically best cows.
Also, using beef semen on dairy herds, he said, attracts increased earnings in such herds.
Final speaker, Annica Hanson, is a production adviser at Vaxa Sverige, Sweden’s largest cattle breeding co-operative. Among her work she focuses on optimising the number and status of cows for improved animal welfare, fertility, feeding, etc.
Since 2019 Annica has worked with a ProCROSS herd making its feeding and management practices more efficient. She discussed the different feeding regimes for the ProCROSS animal right through from calves to heifers to cows.
