Highlights October 2011

ENGLISH EDITION SEPTEMBER 2011

LAMINITIS

WORLDWIDE LOCAL SOLUTIONS CRV has breeding programmes for many breeds and in many countries to meet customer needs.

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BETTER COWS BETTER LIFE

Part three of a series of four articles about claw health.

CRV introduces a new slogan worldwide.

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GREAT RESULTS IN DUTCH AND AMERICAN INDEX RUN

CRV strenghtens healthy breeding The index run of August 9 shows that CRV breeding is producing many health specialist sires. Many bulls score high on traits like udder health, fertility and longevity and this results in strong and more self sufficient cows.

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n a time where farms are getting bigger and efficiency becomes more and more important, breeding more self sufficient cows is vital for many producers. CRV’s breeding programme delivers numerous bulls that meet this growing need.

Health specialists within black-and-white genomic bulls

Delta G-Force (Man-O-Man x Jordan) entered the Dutch black-and-white genomics list in April 2011 as the absolute number-one bull. And he retains this position firmly with +302 NVI. He ensures extreme high lifetime productions by combining

a high milk yield (1,166kg) and protein inheritance (+51kg) with 556 days longevity.

To top it off he transmits a very complete conformation (109 total conformation).

AI Kampen’s Heuvel Suarez (+271 NVI, O-Man x Cello) takes fifth place in this list. This bull combines great health traits (106 cell count, 103 fertility, 105 hoof health, +593 days longevity) with a good production proof (+450kg, +0,19% protein).

For producers looking for an interesting young outcross bull, CRV has Delta Gravity (+227 NVI, Gibor x Ramos). He is a true health specialist with 107 cell count and 781 days longevity. Besides good

health, good fertility is also an important quality possessed by self sufficient cows.

Delta Gravity contributes to this with his exceptional high scores for fertility (106).

Success in the United States

CRV has a Holstein breeding programme in Europe as well as in the United States.

Cookiecutter Mom Hunter (s. Man-O-Man) was genomically tested in both countries.

With his GTPI of 2431 he shows himself to be a bull of absolute world class. In the DutchFlemish Index he has a profile with high conformation (111 total conformation) and great management traits, like favourable cell count (105) and high longevity (398 days). It can’t be surprising that this bull is used as a sire of sons.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 >

TOP CRV SIRES ON NVI Following the release of the August 2011 proofs, CRV’s top available sires ranked on NVI are: HOLSTEINS 1. G-Force NEW (InSire) 2. Suarez (InSire) 3. Atlantic (InSire) 4. Impuls 5. Sunrise (InSire) 6. Emerald (InSire) 7. Bluejay (InSire) 8. Gravity NEW (InSire) 9. Hunter (InSire) 10. Gofast (InSire) 11. Elmo (InSire) 12. Bonanza (InSire) 13. Impress 14. Lacey 15. Goli

+302 +271 +258 +252 +251 +241 +229 +227 +225 +217 +215 +204 +197 +194 +194

RED HOLSTEINS (RED-AND-WHITE BASE) 1. Camion (InSire) 2. Award (InSire) 3. Fidelity 4. Spencer 5. Arnold 6. Reality NEW (InSire) 7. Benjamin (InSire) 8. Asterix P (InSire) 9. Nearby rf 10. Ideal

ALGER MEEKMA

Isaac den Uijl (left) and Gunfire daughter Jennie 51 were born on the same day

Delta Gravity, new available InSire bull

+242 +231 +222 +211 +209 +206 +203 +196 +191 +190

2 PROOF NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Clear-Echo M-O-M Heman (Man-O-Man x Goldwyn, +193 NVI) is also a promising American bull. He achieved 2283 GPTI. In the Dutch Flemish index he scores 37kg for fat and 37kg for protein and 109 for conformation.

The American genomic tested Claytop JS Predestine (2194 GTPI, s. Jet Stream) is a high milk transmitter (+2,581lb). The udder inheritance (2.19) is beautiful with good scores for fore udder attachment (2.37) and rear udder height (2.9) and udder cleft (2.53).

CRV’s red-and-white Fasna Asterix Red P (+196 NVI) offers new chances to international red Holstein breeding with his outcross pedigree (Lawn Boy x Canvas) and polled status.

He transmits good udders (108), healthy claws (105) and his calves will be born easily (110 calving ease). With this profile he is the highest Lawn Boy son in the Dutch-Flemish list. In the United States he is among the highest heterozygous polled bulls for GTPI (+1941), which makes him one of the highest available red-and-white naturally polled bulls worldwide.

HIGHLIGHTS ENGLISH EDITION september 2011

COLUMN

Outcross daughter proven bulls

CRV has several young bulls that are broadly usable because of their interesting transmission pattern and outcross pedigree. Take for example Dome’s Navarro (+169 NVI).

He confirms his capacities as a breeding bull in his second index run by rising his NVI score to +169 NVI. This Mascol son from a Melchior daughter knows how to increase his milk yield as well as protein level (+0.13%) and offers a great calving ease breeding value (109). The feet and legs of Navarro daughters are of a high quality (112 feet and legs, 108 claw health).

Mascol son Visstein Gunfire (+122 NVI) is another bull that is broadly usable due to his pedigree and his complete profile. He descends from the Anna cow family, which is known for high lifetime production and healthy udders. Gunfire himself also shows strong secondary traits (104 calving ease, 110 cell count, +355 days longevity).

Olympic sons keep rising

The sons of Delta Olympic, who proved himself numerous times amongs others by producing over a million doses of sperm, show great conformation results. Havep Nano (+165 NVI, dams sire Dustin) rises a point for total conformation to 113. With this he has the highest conformation score of all CRV bulls. His production inheritance is also fine with 784kg of milk with +0.11% protein.

Also half brother Delta Morazan (+149 NVI, dams sire Spock) already had an excellent conformation inheritance, but improves this by adding one point for frame, dairy strength and udder which brings him to 112 total conformation.

Top of the black-and-white rankings

Westenrade Lacey (+194 NVI, Win 395 x Major) rises 8 points NVI. His production inheritance improves to 309kg milk, +0.25% fat and +0.22% protein. Lacey daughters are pleasant cows to work with due to their fine character (107), above average milking speed (103) and fertility (101).

Delta Paramount (+179 NVI, Jocko x Fatal) gets more than 3,000 new daughters in his proof and still manages to increase his NVI by 13 points – a great achievement. With almost 20,000 daughters in his proof, he inherits +1,481kg milk and a total conformation of 110.

O-Man son De-Su Oman Goli (+194 NVI) retains his position at the top of the rankings. He conbines health (108 cell count) with conformation (109 total conformation), two important ingredients for a long and productive life.

New captain at red-and-white genomic bulls

In the red-and-white genomic list, Fiction son De Vrendt Reality (+206 NVI) impresses with his all round good conformation (107), large kilogrammes of milk transmission (1,067kg) and good health traits (475 days longevity, 105 somatic cell count). He is also suitable for use on maiden heifers (104 calving ease).

Camion van de Peul (+242 NVI, Fender x Goldwyn) can also be used on maiden heifers (110 calving ease). This bull takes the third place in the list and is particularly interesting because of his great fertilising abilities. Plus, he scores 110 for feet and legs and +660 days longevity.

Tobias Lerner, Fleckvieh specialist

The Fleckvieh breed – double quality My name is Tobias Lerner and I have worked for more than 15 years at CRV Germany’s Fleckvieh Station (former Meggle Besamungsstation). Since September 2010, I have been responsible for the international semen marketing for Fleckvieh from CRV CZ and CRV Germany.

It is no coincidence that the Fleckvieh breed is the second largest cattle breed in the world. The biggest advantage of the Fleckvieh breed is the dual purpose that these cows can offer. No other breed embodies both milk and beef traits in such a strong way as Fleckvieh.

The successful development of the breed is realised through intensive breeding during the past decades, such as the introduction of AI. The required progress in breeding was achieved through embryo transfer, improved breeding value estimations and international effort in progeny testing.

The main goal is to breed an economical cow with an efficient milk production and improved health traits. I would like to tell you in short something about the excellent characteristics of the Fleckvieh breed.

The average milk production of Fleckvieh cows in Bavaria is 7,166kg of milk with 4.15% fat and 3.46% protein. This milk is very suitable for cheese production and the Fleckvieh udders milk easily and are able to produce more milk with every subsequent lactation. Fleckvieh stands for complete cows with very good fertility, easy calvings, good persistency, and strong frames.

Ideal daughter Ruthje 205

Also for crossbreeding

With increasing popularity Fleckvieh is used more and more for crossbreeding around the world. The biggest advantages for crossbreeding with Fleckvieh is the low somatic cell score, higher milk solids and the ability to adapt to different climates of the Fleckvieh breed. Moreover the crossbreeds show high longevity with heifers that show lots of potential. The fit calves will grow faster and male calves are ideal for beef production, with high culling revenues and good meat quality, which also accounts for the female animals.

As a reaction on the concern about cow health and high vet costs in modern farming I asked a Dutch farmer that crossbreeds with Fleckvieh the following question: ‘What is it about Fleckvieh that satisfies you and your business?’

He mentioned the higher prices he sees for his calves and the clearly better cull value for his old cows. Some time after this farmer switched to Fleckvieh cows, he received a phone call from his vet who asked him: “Did you sell your cows? How come you never ask for my help anymore?”

Top red-and-white sits firmly

The number-one position in the red-and-white daughter-proven bulls’ ranking is taken

by Delta Fidelity (+222 NVI). Fidelity’s protein inheritance rises to +0.24% and with this he transmits a lot of milk (+777kg). His feet and legs breeding value is excellent (112). The second position is for Heihoeve Delta Spencer (+211 NVI). He already has 4980 daughters in his proof and they show great fertility results time after time. That’s why Spencer’s fertility score is 107. The number three in the list, Heihoeve Arnold (+209 NVI), still sits firmly as well.

He keeps his fertility score at 105.

After adding 29 points in the index run of April, Talent son Beukenhof 346 Ideal (+190 NVI) rises by another 33 points now. With this he takes fifth place and equals the top three of Fidelity, Spencer and Arnold. Ideal owes this position to a well balanced production inheritance (+339kg, +0,08% fat, +0,20% protein) and a great udder breeding value (111).

Topspeed Kodak (+189 NVI) is a fixed value in the top of the red-and-white rankings. He belongs at the top among the others due to his extremely high longevity score (+724 days), which means that his daughters will stay at the farm almost one year longer than daughters of bulls that score 0 days longevity.

FOR DETAILED PROOF INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.GLOBAL.CRV4ALL.COM

The first international Fleckvieh catalogue with the very best CRV bulls from the Czech Republic and Germany will be available from October 1, 2011. At the moment there is already an on-line version, which can be viewed at: http://global.crv4all.com/sires/catalogue/Fleckvieh/ In that way you can use Fleckvieh also on your farm. If you have any questions concerning Fleckvieh, do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards, Tobias Lerner Tobias.Lerner@crv4all.de

WIDE PORTFOLIO 3

HIGHLIGHTS ENGLISH EDITION september 2011

CRV has a wide portfolio of breeds and products

Worldwide local solutions CRV has customers from the United States to New Zealand and from Russia to Brazil. In order to meet the different wants and needs from all these customers, CRV has a wide portfolio of breeds and products.

CRV Lagoa tests and sells bulls from several breeds, including the Nelore, Girolande and Gir. Pictured is Nelore bull Back Up

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In New Zealand, CRV Ambreed tests bulls from several breeds including New Zealand Friesians and Jerseys. The bulls are mainly kept outside

RV has breeding programmes for many breeds and in many countries in order to match the different needs and circumstances of customers worldwide.

The Holstein Breeding programmes take place in Europe, North America and Oceania.

In Oceania, Jersey bulls are also tested. In Germany and the Czech Republic CRV tests Fleckvieh bulls and in Brazil bulls of the Nelore, Gir and Girolande beef breeds.

Each breeding programme has its own approach. For example, CRV has three breeding programmes with different breeding goals for Holstein Friesians. The European Holstein Breeding in Europe is based on the Dutch/Flemish index. The breeding programme in New Zealand produces grazing bulls. These grazing bulls fit into a husbandry system where grazing is a central element. With these bulls, additional emphasis is also given to fertility.

CRV tests Fleckvieh bulls in Germany and the Czech Republic. These are Fleckvieh bulls at the AI station of CRV Meggle in Wasserburg, Germany

Okura Lika Murmur from the CRV Ambreed breeding programme has become the undisputed breed leader for NZMI and BW. Besides an own breeding programme for bulls that fit a grazing system, CRV collaborates closely with the Irish NCBC in the Grassland Alliance For its MRI breeding programme, CRV buys the most promising bulls from breeders. The Vink family from Groot Ammers, the Netherlands, has already bred a lot of great MRI bulls.

Pictured is bull dam Vinkenhof Roza 23

The Holstein breeding programmes take place in Europe, North America and Oceania. These cows are Delta Jacoline and Maria Else Red, these are donor cows at the donor station in Terwispel, the Netherlands

SireMatch

Every farmer and every farm set up is different and requires a herd to suit. The CRV mating program SireMatch is suitable for every breeding goal, for every breed and for every cow.

So every farmer can breed the herd that fits their situation. The farmer gets reports with several sire recommendations for every cow or cow group. For the recommendations, it uses all data available and makes sure that genetic defects are excluded.

Dairy management consultants

An unique part of CRV’s portfolio is its dairy management consultants. They travel around the world to help farmers improve their management in areas such as fertility, health and feeding.

Most farmers have a preference for a certain breed.

We would like to hear from you why you have chosen your breed, with a good picture of your herd or a cow that is special to you. You can send it to sales@crv4all.com. The 25 best responses will win a poster of CRV’s wide portfolio of breeds.

4 HOME AND ABROAD

HIGHLIGHTS ENGLISH EDITION september 2011

Modern breeding technologies at Dos Aguas Farm in Spain SPAIN The Spanish dairy farm belonging to the Lopez Ruiz brothers is located in the capital of Palencia next to the Carrion River. The history of the farm goes back four generations.

On a beautiful day in 1951 the grandfather Nicolas moved to Palencia from San Pedro del Romeral, a small village in the Cantabria region, to start up a farm. The farm in Palencia started with 14 cows and grew quickly with the support of the Lopez-Ruiz family. In 1984, the farm was taken over by Nicolas’ sons Celestino and Miguel, who are the current owners of the farm. Together with Celestinos’ son Juan, they work at the farm.

Cows at the Dos Aguas Farm, owned by the Brothers Lopez Ruiz

Dos Aguas farm now comprises 85 milking cows, 12 dry cows, 50 heifers and 42 calves. The cows produce 34 litres a day with 3.5% fat and 3.4% protein.

The farm cultivates 38 hectares of land, comprising 16ha maize, 15ha alfalfa and 7ha grassland. The dairy cow ration contains 5kg alfalfa, 2kg grass, 14kg maize silage, 12kg spent grain 9kg concentrates.

The Dos Aguas herd is home to daughters of the CRV sires Sunny Boy, Milkmaster, Laurenzo, Jerom and Paramount. “We are especially interested the daughters of Hole in One and Canvas who will come into milk shortly,” say Celestino and Miguel. At the moment, four daughters of Milkmaster are producing lots of milk and one in particular stands out since she is producing 64kg milk per day, with 3.28% fat and 3.26% protein!

“The present low milk prices and high costs mean that we have to produce milk as efficiently as possible. So our objective is to breed long living cows with high production, good components and above all without any problems,” explains Celestino. The philosophy of the Lopez-Ruiz brothers is to have cows that are easy to manage, without any udder problems, and have correct feet and legs and who will last many lactations. To achieve this, at this moment sires like Goli (their favorite), Elgin, Twister and Kirkland are used. Furthermore they heavily use the sire GoFast who is a promising InSire (genomically selected young sire).

Dos Aguas farm has used sexed semen for three years. The brothers explain why: “We started with a small trial with the sire Canvas. After this trial we were convinced by CRV’s sex sorting method and have used SiryX ever since. Now, we are using Paramount and Adam SiryX.” Besides the sexed semen technology, Celestino and Migual are also convinced about the benefits of genomic selection. “Genomic Selection can be used without doubt to get the most advanced and up-to-date genetics with the most actual pedigrees out of the world’s best cow families. InSire has a good price-quality ratio’.”

The relationship between CRV and the Lopez-Ruiz family’s semen distributor has been strong for the past 10 years. “I was really lucky to be able to visit the Netherlands twice. It was impressive and informative for me to see local farms and learn about the managers’ philosophies and management and the breeding goals that they have,” says the farmer enthusiastically. “I chose to use CRV sires because I am really convinced of the reliability of their breeding values as the sires have many daughters in their proof. The results that I achieved on my farm are consistent with CRV’s figures and that counts.”

CRV Lagoa launches Fleckvieh sires Brazil Brazil’s demand for Fleckvieh sires is growing. During the annual Brazilian exhibition ‘Feileite’, more than 1,000 cows of different breeds, among others Fleckvieh, were present to be scored by the judges.

Josef Rieger from CRV Germany was the judge for the Fleckvieh show and it was the second time he has been invited by the Brazilian Fleckvieh Union. The Fleckvieh cattle on show were convincing with their high milk production, very good udders and strong frames. The quality of these animals showed that Brazil is ready for the competition when it comes to international Fleckvieh breeding.

The winner of the show was the Roboi daughter, Dinda (pictured). To meet the rising demand of Fleckvieh genetics, four Flevkvieh bulls, from CRV Germany, have been added to the new dairy catalogue in CRV Lagoa. The bulls – Wiggal, Domingo, Picco and Sokrates – are available from CRV Lagoa.

The winner of the Fleckvieh exhibition ‘Feileite’ in Brazil was Roboi daughter Dinda

Breeding for fertility South Africa Danesfort farm in the South African state of KwaZulu Natal is uniquely

located with a beautiful view on the world famous Drakensberg World Heritage Park. The farm is owned by Steve and Rob Edkins and is home to 800 dairy cows. “Two years ago we started farming here and the herd consisted of 540 Holstein cows,” says Steve. Looking at the maiden heifers it seems that they are not pure-bred Holstein anymore. “That is true,” says Steve, “our cost price had to decrease and that’s why we decided to start using Jersey genetics.” The breeding goal of the Edkins’ is very straightforward. They are looking for cows that weigh about 450kg and that are very fertile. “To achieve this goal the breed doesn’t matter,” he explains. “At the moment the Jersey crossbreds even outperform the pure-bred Holsteins.”

The cows at Danesfort farms are fed a 60% grass ration on which they produce about 6,100kg of milk per lactation with 3.8% fat and 3.3% protein. The components in the milk significantly increased by using Jerseys. Good results are achieved with, for example, the Jersey bull Manhatten from CRV Ambreed. Steve is clear on why he breeds with sires from New Zealand. “These Jerseys can do well on a ration of only grass. We can easily change our strategy when circumstances change.” Rolf Henriksen, Danesfort farms’ representative of CRV X-Seed, advises farmers who want to crossbreed with Jersey to use sires that inherit good udders, high components, fertility and capacity. “The udder is an important factor in the overall longevity of a cow,” Rolf adds. Steve’s goal, besides good fertility, is to have an average longevity of six lactations. To achieve this he uses bulls like Greenman, Everest and Manhatten.

Steve’s largest passion on the farm is the combination of grassland management and taking care of the cows. “It is interesting to see the effect of the grass quality on the performance of the cows, I try to find a balance here.” In ten years Steve hopes to have a new irrigation system and better grassland management to utilise the grass as much as possible. “For the cows our objective is to improve fertility even more and I want to decrease the size of the cows as I am convinced that smaller cows are more efficient. I will keep on crossbreeding.”

From left to right: Karel Fentsahm (area manager CRV), farmer Steve Edkins and Rolf Hendriksen (representative CRV X-Seed)

HIGHLIGHTS ENGLISH EDITION september 2011

HOME AND ABROAD 5

High production, efficiency, and more with CRV Mexico Humberto Sanchez, sales manager at Reproducción Animal about efficiency: “Production, efficiency, fertility and profitability. All key words that today, more than ever, are vital in all successful milk production systems. For many years on many dairy farms, the word efficiency was not considered seriously. Herd expansions and the increasing milk production was a priority. However, with low milk prices, each day requires us to be Humberto Sanchez, sales manager and technical support adviser

more efficient and to have better control over all parameters of our dairy farms. The genetic aspect becomes very important in our decisions, since this determines how our cows will look and perform in the future. How many times have we encountered farms where they have decided to use natural service bulls to breed their heifers, or they decided to use very low genetic value bulls during times of economic crisis. But it is not a good way to focus our savings and efficiency. We have to control many variables that we have on our farms in order to keep using the best possible genetics and the best bulls. It has been shown many times that the continued use of good bulls will be reflected in high yields and this will increase the economic return and profits in our operations.

When we think about efficiency we certainly need to consider the genetics of CRV bulls.

Through years of intense selection they have produced cows with high yields of fat and protein, combined with durability, not only in the Netherlands, but also around the world.

This selection is responsible for the fact that today the Netherlands is one of the top countries in the world in terms of cow longevity and milk production. But we also need to consider the bull’s fertility and their daughter’s pregnancy rate, without forgetting other health traits such as udder health, calving ease and stillbirth.

The daughters of CRV bulls may not be the biggest cows in the barn. They are average sized cows, but with excellent udders and feet and legs. They have balanced dairy traits that help them maintain excellent fertility. They are cows that return year after year to the milking parlour.

That is the efficiency that commercial dairy farmers should seek: cows of average size, with excellent feet and legs, udders with strong ligaments. High fat and protein yields, with good persistency to generate high profitability and adequate fertility to return to the milk line year after year. So, by using CRV bulls, we can keep high production and efficiency, to increase our profitability in times of economic crisis. We should never stop thinking about the future of our operations. The investment that we will make in genetics today will always have an economic return in the future. Genetics is a fundamental part of the success of our dairy operation, regardless where the dairy farm is located in the world.”

New robot dairy guide The Netherlands With the increase in popularity of robotic milking systems, breeding goals are becoming more and more specific. Farmers who milk in milking parlours need cows with good feet and legs and a good udder quality, but in a robot this can be even more crucial.

CRV has developed a special robot ranking for farmers who milk their cows with an automatic milking system. This robot ranking shows the bulls that are most suitable. The dairy guide contains all breeding traits, but distinguishes through the new ‘robot ranking’.

This ‘robot ranking’ consists of the following breeding traits.

— Milking speed 26.1% — Udder health 21.7% — Rear teat placement 21.7% — Feet and Legs 13% — Teat length 8.7% — Front teat placement 8.7% The ‘robot dairy guide’ has not only been implemented in the Dutch market but also in Canada, and in other countries where robotic milking is becoming more popular. This dairy guide will only be available in English initially. For more information contact your distributor or visit www.global.crv4all.com.

Cypriot choice for CRV Cyprus Cyprus is known for holidays and tropical temperatures of between 40 and 45

degrees Celcius in the summer and between 15 and 22 degrees Celcius during winter time.

Dairy farming might not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about Cyprus, but it definitely plays a role on the Mediterranean island.

The Elefteriou family owns a milk creamery on this island where they process milk from sheep, goats and cows into yoghurt and cheese. A supply of high quality milk is essential to get a good end product. This was the reason why the family set up its own farm. In 2003 they founded the Elefteriou Bros Farm.

The farm comprises 300 hectares of land and 2,300 tonnes of milk quota. Ten employees are responsible for 375 dairy cows and 600 young stock. They also take care of the bull calves that stay on the farm and are reared for beef production. Georgios is currently managing director at the farm. He acquired his expertise in both dairy farming and milk processing during his dairy science study at the University of California.

All calves are fed five litres of calf milk replacer per day for the first eight weeks, as well as being offered calf starter concentrates and alfalfa. The cows are housed in four barns; one with free-stalls and the others are open yards. The cows are milked three times a day in a 2:12 herringbone milking parlour.

The cows are divided into five groups: heifers, fresh cows and a high, average and low producing group of older cows. The ration on this farm mainly consists of silage made from small winter and cereal crops, like wheat and triticale. It is completed with concentrates, which make up 65% of the cows’ total dry matter intake.

In the past Elefteriou used Canadian semen. He decided to switch to CRV’s semen because of the outcross pedigrees, high component segment and excellent red-and-white Holstein breeding programme. His breeding objective is a combination of milk and components. Milk protein Kappa casein is important for cheese production. Georgios wants to have more redand-white Holstein cows on his farm, because he believes that they don’t suffer so much with heat stress. He also keeps an eye on longevity.

The first insemination results with semen of Canvas, Olympic and Kian are very positive. In the autumn the farmer wants to use CRV’s SireMatch mating program to select the bulls he is going to use in the future.

Mister Elefteriou uses CRV’s semen because of outcross pedigrees and high components

6 COW MANAGEMENT

HIGHLIGHTS ENGLISH EDITION september 2011

Causes, symptoms and treatments of bacterial hoof problems

Laminitis: a complex disease Laminitis is the most common hoof disease in dairy cows. It is a complex disease, directly linked to management. In short the management aspects leading to prevention of laminitis are sensible nutrition, good calving and good housing conditions, and regular hoof trimming.

CLAW HEALTH SERIES CRV pays attention to issues around claw health in a series of four articles.

Part 1: Five steps of hoof trimming Part 2: Important bacterial diseases Part 3: Laminitis Part 4: Management issues around claw health

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aminitis is a metabolic disorder of the corium. The place most affected by the disease is the corium of the claws. The effects can be serious: cows show acute lameness or sometimes they just walk in a stiff manner. It mainly occurs around calving,

showing haemorrhage in one or more soles. The lameness will show if one claw is affected more than the other and one foot more than the other. But often both hind feet are affected in a similar state. In this case the cow does not show lameness, but walks ‘carefully’.

In the soles

Laminitis is a very well-known disease in horses and is mainly found in the laminae of the hoof. In cows it occurs more in the soles than in the laminae. The papillae of the corium are affected. This means that the production of the sole horn is disturbed.

Decreased blood circulation reduces the quality of the horn.

Blood clots in the capillaries cause these

Important facts Not infectious

Unlike interdigital dermatitis, digital dermatitis and interdigital phlegmon, laminitis is not an infectious disease. But if these diseases are present, they can increase the risk of laminitis.

High yield

Laminitis is related to calving (parturition) and often seen in high yielding cows. The higher the milk yield, the greater the chance of laminitis. High milk yields and good management are linked to each other.

Individual

If laminitis is an individual cow problem and not a herd problem, the individual cow often had a difficult calving or an infectious disease – mastitis or metritis for example.

If laminitis is a herd problem then it has a management cause. It is a multifactorial disease and the cause is not usually straightforward. vessels to burst so that the blood mingles with the horn. This is the haemorrhage visible during trimming. In the long run the laminae will be affected too, this will be visible by a bent or buckled toe. The dorsal wall of the claw is not straight anymore but buckled halfway down.

Symptoms

Typical sole ulcer

A double sole – a severe sign of laminitis

Good housing conditions help preventing laminitis

Symptoms of laminitis appear in different forms and at different stages. Often the symptoms become visible in the claw between a couple of weeks and some months after the original attack. If the lameness is more in one foot than in the other it may be noticeable right away. In most cases the locomotion will be abnormal.

After an attack of laminitis the dorsal wall of the claw will buckle. It often starts halfway down the claw, where the laminae get thicker. The growth rings on the claws drop towards the heel.

While trimming the claws we can see the more severe signs. Haemorrhage of the sole is an indication of laminitis that’s most often found. It can either be all over the sole or in specific places. In very severe cases the sole separates from the corium completely: a so-called double sole (when found a new sole often developed).

The typical ulcer site can be severely bruised and is likely to be ulcerated. The tip of the toe (apex) can be heavily bruised. A toe ulcer could be the outcome, although this is not as likely as the typical ulcer.

White line defects, also caused by laminitis, is also called white line disease. The white line can be bruised all over. Heavily bruising or ulceration of the white line is mainly a problem in the heel or bulb area. Ulceration in the white line is a so-called wall ulcer and causes extreme pain.

Treatment

The treatment for laminitis is foot trimming.

With curative trimming the painful claw can be relieved of pressure by transferring the weight of the painful claw to the healthy claw by trimming the affected claw lower than the healthy claw. If this is not sufficiently possible, a block can be fixed on the healthy claw to increase the height difference between the two claws.

Breeding for less laminitis susceptibility is possible. Sires like Nano (109), Surprise (106), Klimmer (108) or Taco (110) inherit low sole hemorrhages (laminitis).

SIRE SPECIAL 7

HIGHLIGHTS ENGLISH EDITION september 2011 H I GH L IGHTS ENGLISH EDI TI O N • J ANUARY 2011

O-Man son from famous Pietje family

CRV’s number-one bull, Impuls Impuls descends from Holland’s best cow family, the Woudhoeve Pietje family. This family has delivered several great breeding bulls like Apina Fortune, Ganvo Alexander, Dch Almighty, Huybens Red Tequila, Frederik Puntdroad and most recently, Woudhoeve 1042 Impuls.

I

mpuls’ matriarch is the famous, Pietje 131. Pietje 131 was bred at the Woudhoeve farm in the Netherlands. She is a daughter of Friesian sire Adema 312 van de Woudhoeve and had her last calf at 14 years of age. Woudhoeve 441, Woudhoeve 478 and Woudhoeve 495 are three of her sons that have a lot of offspring. She also had twin heifer calves Pietje 145 and Pietje 146. These two cows inherited their dam’s longevity, Pietje 145 completed 10 lactations and Pietje 146 completed 11.

Breeder about the Pietjes

George Ruyter from the ‘Woudhoeve’ says that the early Pietjes were characterised by their robust, solid appearances, combined with great udders and good legs. Furthermore, they produced a lot of milk with high

components. He also said that the Pietjes family is a family that almost always passes its good characteristics on to the next generation.

This is evident from the large number of bulls from this family that have entered AI studs over the years, like Hunday Adema 88 and Bjerrinbro Frans in the 50s and 60s. More recently and from a redand-white branch Almere Pericles, Almere Pablo, Huybens Deejay, Huybens Red Tequila descend.

The bulls Woudhoeve Russel, Woudhoeve Superior, Woudhoeve Flyer and Woudhoeve Impuls descend from the black-and-white line. The last common ancestor of these five bulls is Pietje 145’s daughter Pietje 187. With Pietje 187’s sire Stern, the first Holstein blood entered the Pietje family.

Pietje 187 gave 50,133kg of milk

PEDIGREE OF WOUDHOEVE 1042 IMPULS Pietje 478 (s. Amos)

Woudhoeve Russel

Pietje 596

(s. Jabot)

(s. Jabot)

Apina Fortune

Ganvo Alexander

Pietje 641

(s. Russel)

(s. Russel)

(s. Fatal) Pietje 759 (s. Jesther) Woudhoeve Impuls (s. O-Man)

Impuls’ daughter Sieke 43. Owner: Vissers-Donkers family, Aduard, the Netherlands

with 4.78% fat and 3.71% protein in seven lactations. Superior descends from Pietje 187’s EX90 daughter Pietje 333. As is shown in the figure, the last common ancestor of the other four bulls is Pietje 478. Not only was she classified VG86 but she also had a tremendous 305-day lactation yield of 10,023kg of milk with 5.02% fat and 4.12% protein.

The cows of the first three generations in the maternal line of the Impuls pedigree, Pietje 759, Pietje 641 and Woudhoeve Russels full sister Pietje 596, all produced more than 9,500kg of milk with more than 3.60% protein in their first 305-day lactation. So, the Pietje family keeps building on its reputation as one that produces cows that give lots of milk with high components.

Dream combination

Breeding specialist Henk Buijs says Woudhoeve 1042 Impuls’ dam, Pietje 759, “is a cow with a lot of dairy strength and a great appearance”. Furthermore, he says that she has a lot of dairyness, a great udder and very good feed and legs. “There was no doubt that she fitted O-Man perfectly,” he says.

O-Man was bred by the Obert brothers. They have a nononsense dairy farm with a fitting breeding strategy: breeding cows for economical milk production and sires suitable for the average dairy operation. With sons in AI all over the world, O-Man is one of today’s most influential bull. Of his sons, O-Man stands out because he not only has the genes of the best bull in many countries for years, but he also has the genes of the best Dutch cow family, the Pietje family.

A dream combination!

Impuls

WOUDHOEVE 1042 IMPULS (O-Man x Jesther x Fatal)

Impuls is an ‘all round’ bull. His production transmission breeding pattern is ideal with lots of kilograms of milk combined with a high protein percentage. On type, he scores above average on all traits except for stature. Impuls breeds tall cows and front teat placement is close, but he does not have any extreme scores for the linear type traits. Furthermore, he scores above average on health related traits, particularly on somatic cell count and clinical mastitis, where he scores well.

Impuls’ daughters are significantly less likely to develop clinical mastitis and have, on average, a lower somatic cell count than daughters of a sire that scores average on this trait. Good longevity is another favourable trait of Impuls. On the maternal side, as well as the paternal, there are plenty of examples of high longevity. On the maternal side examples are Pietje 131, Pietje 145, Pietje 187. All made seven lactations or more. The maternal sire is Jesther, who scored very high on longevity as well. On the paternal side, there is O Man, a bull that excels in longevity.

PRODUCTION

REL. 93 %

DAUGHTERS 101

HERDS 90

KG MILK

% FAT

% PROTEIN

KG FAT

KG PROTEIN

INET

NVI

1162

+0.01

+0.11

51

50

176

252

MILKING SPEED

PERSISTENCY

TEMPERAMENT

HOOF HEALTH

CALVING EASE

104

103

103

101

FUNCTIONAL TRAITS

LONGEVITY

SCS

559

107

105

CONFORMATION

REL. 87 %

DAUGHTERS 48

HERDS 41

FRAME DAIRY STRENGTH UDDER FEET & LEGS FINAL SCORE

107 107 103 101 105

STATURE CHEST WIDTH BODY DEPTH ANGULARITY CONDITION SCORE RUMP ANGLE RUMP WIDTH REAR LEGS REAR REAR LEGS SIDE FOOT ANGLE LOCOMOTION FORE UDDER ATTACHMENT FRONT TEAT PLACEMENT TEAT LENGTH UDDER DEPTH REAR UDDER HEIGHT CENTRAL LIGAMENT REAR TEAT PLACEMENT

106 107 105 101 105 99 106 99 98 104 100 100 106 93 101 100 101 102

92

96

100

104

108

With his high milk yield with good protein content, above average type score and above average scores for health related traits, Impuls breeding transmission pattern fits perfectly in the breeding goal of CRV: a healthy and long lasting dairy cow that will give the optimum contribution to farm profit. Because of the all round nature of his breeding pattern, Impuls is a good match for many cows, but he is particularly suitable for improving protein content, milk yield and udder health. Therefore, advised matings are for example cows sired

by Jocko sons like Paramount.

8 TRAIT LEADERS

HIGHLIGHTS ENGLISH EDITION september 2011

FOR COMPLETE PROOF INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT WWW.GLOBAL.CRV4ALL.COM

LASS CANVAS RF PREDESTINE • OMEN NITRO LILAC LEOLA LEOPARD

+2260 +2219 +2145 +2002 +1907 +2251 +1537 +1472

GO-AHEAD BONANZA • BIG WINNER MONTANA NEW SUAREZ •

+0.57 +0.53 +0.43 +0.40 +0.35

BONANZA • JAG SET UP LOGAN LACEY

+0.38 +0.26 +0.25 +0.23 +0.22

ATLANTIC • GRAVITY NEW • RASH • BELFAST • SUAREZ •

+810 +781 +621 +194 +593

OMEN CRICKET LASS G-FORCE NEW • NAVARRO NEW

+113 +111 +110 +110 +109

STAN • BREWSTER • MORAZAN MAZURKA EMERALD •

+115 +115 +113 +113 +111

KIAN BONFIRE BENJAMIN •

+0.49 +0.39 +0.32

BENJAMIN • SPENCER KIAN

+0.35 +0.29 +0.28

KODAK LAMBIEK NEARBY RF

+724 +717 +692

KODAK FICTION RF LAMBIEK

+111 +110 +107

CLASSIC IDEAL PLEASURE

+112 +111 +111

NAVARRO NEW +112 POLE-POSITION +110 NANO +109 PARAMOUNT +110 IMPROVER +109

CRICKET NANO NESBITT ELMO • RASH •

+112 +110 +110 +110 +110

MANIAC KYLIAN FIDELITY

CLASSIC TWISTER LILAC

+111 +111 +111

+113 +113 +112

oo

f Healt h

H

Frame

CRICKET GUNFIRE AWARD • CISCO ATLANTIC •

+111 +109 +109 +108 +108

POLE-POSTION GRAVITY NEW • OMEN KATANA NEW • SUAREZ •

+108 +106 +103 +103 +103

NANO NAVARRO NEW LACEY GO-AHEAD SURPRISE

+109 +108 +107 +106 +106

AWARD • MANIAC CAMION •

+108 +107 +108

SPENCER ARNOLD TWISTER

+107 +105 +103

KLIMMER TACO MANIAC

+111 +110 +108

Jennie 52 is a daughter of feet & legs trait leader Navarro

Sires marked with a dot • are InSire sires.

InSire sires are genomically selected.

Better cows BETTER LIFE CRV is more than just a cattle improvement company.

Established in 1874, CRV has a history going back more than 135 years. At its core, CRV is a co-operative owned by 30,000 farmers from the Netherlands and Flanders. ‘Better cows, better life’ is our new slogan.

You as a dairy farmer are passionate about your work.

You are a professional who’d like to improve the quality of your cows, your herd your farm and also your own life.

By using innovative products you achieve progress. The ultimate goal is to breed better cows and, of course, to improve life for you, your family and your cows.

THAT IS WHY YOU USE CRV, FOR BETTER COWS AND A BETTER LIFE!

Highlights is a publication of CRV BV. CRV is a Dutch-Flemish farmers co-operative with six business units (Global Sales & Development, Central Europe, Oceania, North America, South America and Western Europe).

Highlights is published three times a year and is available in two languages: English and Spanish.

Editor: Marieke de Weerd. Chief editor: Bertil Muller. With cooperation of Piet Kloosterman (PTC+ Oenkerk) and Fokko Tolsma (page 6).

Printer: Senefelder Misset, Doetinchem, the Netherlands. ISSN 1878-1624

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Highlights is distributed free of charge to customers of CRV. For subscriptions and other information, please go to our website: www.crv4all.com or contact: CRV, P.O. Box 5073, 6802 EB Arnhem, the Netherlands, Phone: + 31 26 3898 500, Fax: + 31 26 3898 555, E-mail: sales@crv4all.com Material appearing in Highlights is copyrighted and may not be reproduced without permission of CRV.

FUTURE EVENTS PUBLICATION OF BREEDING VALUES Tuesday December 6, 2011 CRV COW EXPO Saturday October 22, 2011 Den Bosch, the Netherlands