Regulations set the minimum barn space per cow, and these requirements vary by breed. For Jerseys, the requirement is 6.6 square meters, where they produce an average of 124.5 kilograms of fat and protein per square meter per year per year. Holsteins, by regulation, must have at least 8 square meters of barn space, where they produce 111.6 kilograms of solids. The difference corresponds to Jersey cows producing 11.6% more per square meter. This efficiency makes Jerseys particularly attractive for farmers looking to maximise output from limited housing space.
"This shows that small cows certainly do not produce less milk," said Peter Larson.
Smaller cows last longer
Recent herd data analyses shed new light on the relationship between cow size and long-term productivity. New data from Cattle Feed Intake System (CFIT) cameras across several herds indicate that larger cows excel primarily in their first lactation. In the second lactation, performance evens out, with large and small cows producing similar yields. By the third and fourth lactations, smaller cows outperform their larger counterparts.
"Large cows simply use more energy for maintenance. The largest cows are good to start with because they are more ready to produce milk than smaller cows, but we can see that they do not remain the most efficient," explained Peter Larson.
The results are preliminary, but they challenge the perception that large cows always equal high performance.
Jersey also fits well into modern dairy production goals. The small cows take up less space, eat less feed and deliver more milk per kilo of dry matter than other breeds.
Click "+" to read more about Cattle Feed Intake System (CFIT)
Cattle Feed Intake System (CFIT) is a state-of-the-art system where 3D cameras monitor and measure the feed intake on cows in commercial herds over their lifetime – without disturbing the daily routines and cows’ natural behavior.
CFIT uses 3D cameras and artificial intelligence to identify the cows, estimate their weight and quantify how much they eat.
Each cow is identified from pictures of its back, using deep learning with artificial intelligence. The cameras record the cow's distinct pattern of colors and body shape.
To quantify the amount of feed that each cow consumes during a day, the cameras take pictures of the surface of the feed. One picture before the cow goes to the feeding table to eat, and one picture after she leaves.
By subtracting the two images, we can quantify the amount of feed that the cow consumes at every meal 24/7 year around.
The CFIT data is used to calculate the Saved Feed index. With the Saved feed index, you can breed for more feed-efficient and climate-friendly cows – without compromising on the production, health, and reproduction performance of your cows.
