Fertile VikingRed cows in Argentina

Meet a very special cow that saves feed in Argentina

We believe that this grand daughter of the famous bull B Jurist, is a great example of a cow that saves feed. She is producing at least 1,000 litres more than her herd mates on the same feed.

In our pasture-based system, productions are normally a lot lower than in stabled systems where cows besides hay and silage, receives quite a few kilos of grain and / or concentrates.

Our cows are outside grazing all year round and though the receive silage of maize, with quite a bit of corn and thus extra energy in their silage, their feed is pasture based: mainly alfalfa during the hot summer months and oats or barley in the winter.

Aiming for excellence

Our aim is to try to produce as much first-class milk as possible, with cows that are healthy and in great condition and with as low a cost as possible.

When the climate allows for a good growth rate of the pastures, our VikingRed thrive on this pasture life, cows producing well into their 8th, 9th lactations - some even more.

However, without the extra energy of grain or concentrates, productions normally stay around 20 - 25 litres for the first-calvers and 30 - 35 for the older cows, some exceptional older ladies reaching 38 or even 40 litres.

So when this special cow, a second-calver, peaked in her second lactation at 42 - 44 - 40 litres, it really took us by surprise. She is sired by a son of Buckarby and with Jurist (from the Botans farm in the North of Sweden) as her maternal grandsire.

First-class cow

To top off she enjoys excellent udder health. She still produced 28 liters in her last official milk control with a somatic cell count of only 33,000 CS and will be dried off next month, to have her third calf, by VR Feton. She will be getting in calf in the first insemination.

She will close her second lactation with more than 9,000 litres in 305 days. This might not sound much to those who keep their cows stabled and feed them energy rich rations.

However, in our low-cost, pasture-based production system, it´s simply outstanding, and especially so for such a young cow. She is producing at least 1,000 litres more than her herd mates on the same feed.

Longevity in focus

Another asset of our VikingReds is that they often reach a ripe old age in excellent condition and just keep on producing.

Today we are milking 350 cows and of those:

26 are in their lactations number 8 to 11, with one exceptional old lady who just had her 13th calf.
21 are in their 7th lactations (most of them pregnant again),
26 are in their 6th lactations
32 in their 5th. This makes for almost 1/3 of the herd being in their 5th lactations - or more.

The fact that our cows are very fertile and mostly calf regularly every year and the VikingRed calves being healthy, enables us to sell a surplus of around 60 - 70 heifers every year, another important advantage of our VikingReds.

Text by Elisabeth Avendaño, Farm Estancia San Felix, Argentina.

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