VikingGoldenCross - crossbreeding for seasonal calving

How much does it cost when a cow doesn't get pregnant in your seasonal calving herd? What if you could increase your conception rate, boost your lifetime production and reduce the costs and amount of work per cow?

VikingGoldenCross is a 3-breed rotational crossbreeding programme combining VikingHolstein, VikingRed and VikingJersey.

The combination of the three VikingGenetics breeds gives you:

• Healthy, fertile, ideally sized grazing cows that are easy to manage and equipped to walk long distances
• A +9% higher relative conception rate compared to two-way crossbred cows in a pasture-based production
• Higher fat and protein percentages and a higher lifetime production
• A better dairy form and beef value by adding VikingRed as the third breed

VikingGoldenCross is used by progressive farmers in New Zealand, Australia, the UK, Ireland and other countries. The concept is especially suitable for seasonal calving herds.

Based on decades of data collection and a focus on breeding for health and performance, VikingGoldenCross is your accurate and structured crossbreeding solution.

One of the great advantages of breeding VikingGoldenCross is heterosis—the increase of favourable characteristics of a hybrid organism over the characteristics of its parents.

Heterosis is the opposite of inbreeding. It happens when you cross two unrelated breeds.

Research has found that heterosis especially improves traits like vitality, fertility, health, survival, lifetime production and longevity.

In crossbreeding, the first generation is called F1. Instead of backcrossing the F1 as you would in two-way crossbreeding, you introduce a third breed.

The heterosis stays at 100% for the first two generations. Then it drops when the first backcross happens (mated to the original breed) to give the F3. After a few generations, the heterosis levels at 86%.

By using the three-way cross in VikingGoldenCross, you can achieve a steady heterosis of 86% compared to 67% with a two-way cross. This means that you get a healthier and more fertile herd for seasonal calving.

Another study by Dairy Australia has compared the performance of two-breed and three-breed crossbred herds.

Using data from nearly 7,000 cows with over 25,000 lactations on pasture-based farms, they found that compared to the two-way cross, the Holstein/Jersey/Red cross showed significantly higher lifespan and better fertility:

• +4 %-points in conception rate (1st service)
• +8 %-points in six-week in-calf rate

The three-breed crossbreds showed no significant difference in volume of milk, but outperformed the two-breed cross for milk solids production.

The steps to be successful with three-way crossbreeding in your dairy herd:

• Contact your VikingGenetics representative and create a long-term plan together
• Only use bulls from VikingHolstein, VikingRed and VikingJersey for optimal results
• Be consistent and stick to the plan – crossbreeding generates long-term results

Enjoy the easy, long-living, profitable cows in your VikingGoldenCross herd