Tradition and passion in cattle breeding for sustainable genetics in pasture areas by René Bucher

Tradition and passion in cattle breeding for sustainable genetics in pasture areas

Productive, adapted and robust breeds for a sustainable development of production

We believe in sustainable development Sustainable cattle’ production and intensification begins with the choice of bovine semen. Swissgenetics’ philosophy is based on using the available resources in a sustainable way. Animal production on roughage-based feed is not only more ecological, but also better for the animal and human health and more economical. Robust, healthy and resilient animals and genetics reduces production costs. Our cattle breeds are part of a pasture-based environment which has developed unique, robust and adapted genetics. As a consequence, livestock keepers have herds that are better adapted to climate conditions and environmental challenges. Swissgenetics offers you the ideal breeds for your production system to ensure the most cost-effective solution.

Poverty allievation and economic growth • Long-lasting income over the lifetime of the cow • Productive and robust cows represent important assets for smallholder and strenghen the resilience of livestock keeper • Biotechnological upgrading can produce substantial and sustained value creation for rural and urban areas

Animal and human health and nutrition • Our breeds have an improved performance on low-quality feed • The next generation of cattle are robust and have excellent fitness • Optimal longevity, fertility and health of the cow • Regular and increasing cattle production even under climate stress • Pasture-raised animals are healthier for human (no feed supplements, antibiotics, higher level of nutrients)

Climate action and responsible production • Resilience to climate change comes through breeding stress-resistant cows • Pasture adapted breeds contributes to the agro-biodiversity and fertility of the soil • Increasing production potential without undesirable genetics changes • Breeds adapted to pasture promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems

Be the best in your climate conditions and environmental challenges

Diversity of breeds Breed diversity offers a perfect solution for every breeding strategy. In artificial insemination the choice of the semen is the key for long-term herd success. Swiss cattle have been used for centuries all over the world. In Switzerland, you can find exclusive robust breeds as Simmental (the original), Swiss Fleckvieh, Original Braunvieh, Eringer, and Grauvieh, in addition to the common international breeds such as Holstein, Red Holstein and Brown Swiss. At the end of our brochure we list a selection our beef breeds.

Swiss Fleckvieh

Original Braunvieh

Eringer

Grauvieh

Brown Swiss

Red Holstein

Holstein

Dairy breeds

Simmental

Dual-purpose breeds

Fertility

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Cheese / Protein

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Milk production

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Udder health

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Meat production

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Lifetime

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Heat resistancy

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Conformation

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Robustness

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Pasture

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+++ = Excellent, ++ = Very Good, + = Good, / = Not relevant , * = No data

The Global Agenda is a multi-stakeholder partnership emphasizing the contribution of livestock production to achieving the sustainable development goals of the United Nations Agenda 2030. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The right breed in the right production system is key to sustainable dairy and beef production.â&#x20AC;? Fritz Schneider, chair, Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock Swissgenetics is a member of the Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock.

Dual-purpose breeds Simmental Simmental is an unproblematic, longliving dual-purpose breed with excellent fitness traits. Simmental cattle are known for their excellent metabolic stability. The breed is particularly suitable for extensive farming: good adaptability to pasture and ability to perform even under difficult production and management conditions (originating from mountainous regions) achieving a really high protein yield. • Swiss origin • Good milk and beef performances • Robust cows with excellent fitness traits

Swiss Fleckvieh Swiss Fleckvieh is a mid-sized, wellbalanced, high-yielding dairy cow, ideal for durable and efficient production in a large variety of settings. Swiss Fleckvieh breeding relies on longliving cow families with good fitness traits and udders. The cows are ideally suited to pasturing and organic farming. They are distinctive thanks to their strong functional traits. • Long-living, milk focused cows • Ideal for pasture and organic farming • Excellent functional traits

Dual-purpose breeds Original Braunvieh Original Braunvieh is a typical dualpurpose dairy and beef breed. Swiss Original Braunvieh cattle can be bred everywhere thanks to their resilience, adaptability, fertility and outstanding longevity. Another strength are their healthy limbs and strong feet, which are helpful in topographically difficult regions. • • • •

Swiss origin Dual-purpose: milk and beef Robust cows with high longevity Heat resistant

Eringer The Eringer breed is an integral part of Swiss culture as they are often bred to take part in traditional Swiss cow fights. The breed is bred for three traits – fighting, meat and milk. The Eringer is medium-built and has a stocky muscular body. Its bone structure is fine yet solid. It has small, wide head with pronounced horns. Resistant, good health, longevity, energetic • Cross-country mobility, sure-footed and well-adapted to mountain terrain • Excellent muscle tissue equates to good carcass value

Dual-purpose breeds Grauvieh The RĂ¤tische Grauvieh is a robust, adaptable and sustainable dual-purpose breed. Due to its unÂpretentious nature and its good roughage conversion it is particularly well suited for use in extensive pastures even in extreme mountain areas, whereby the low weight and the relatively large claws of the animals protect the soils. With its quiet character and high vitality, the RĂ¤tische Grauvieh becoming more and more popular.

Calves in Burkina Faso Dual-purpose breeds are ideal for smallholders. They provide good quality milk throughout the year thanks to their resistance to climate variabilities. They also represent an important capital asset thanks to their meat. Adapted breeds are resistant and utilize roughage much better, making them ideal for pasture and offering manure.

Dairy breeds Brown Swiss Brown Swiss cattle consistently stand out thanks to their milk performance in different production settings. Swiss animals are renowned for their excellent morphology. Thanks to their longevity, adaptability, fertility, suitability for pasturing, favorable calving traits and frugality, they are very popular among customers all over the world. • Longevity, healthy udders, heat resistance • Ideal milk for cheese production • Functional conformation

Red Holstein / Holstein Swiss Holstein is the right dairy cow to reach top economic performance under favorable, cost-effective production and top management conditions. The combination of tightly attached udders, top feet and legs makes the Swiss Holstein a popular breed worldwide. • High milk production • High quality udder and feet and legs • Top international ranking for performance and type

Beef breeds The primary breeding goal is to obtain profitable beef cattle through roughages with a high beef quality. Adaptable and docile animals, used to grazing on pasture are preferred.

Angus The typical beef-cattle breed Angus is naturally polled and is unicoloured black or red. The cattle have an early maturity, are medium-sized, show a good muscularity and deep rounds. Angus cows have good mother-characteristics, are easy calving and have a good milk yield. The quality of the meat is very high as is the quality of the carcass. The cattle have a very good roughage feed conversion and are very well suited to extensive production systems. • High meat yield • Excellent roughage feed conversion • Extensive production systems

Limousin Limousin is unicoloured red to brownred, has a medium to early maturity and is medium built. Typical for the breed is its slim bone structure. The cows have good mothercharacteristics and good ease of calving. The breed generates a high meat yield and is suited to different production systems – mainly for semi-intensive systems. • Slim bone structure • High meat yield • Semi-intensive production systems

Beef breeds Simmental beef Simmental beef is a persistent dual purpose breed. With an early to medium maturity, the breed is medium to large framed with a good muscularity providing a good meat yield and a good carcass quality. It shows a good milk yield which is important for the calf. Thanks to its good roughage ingestion capacity and good ability to perform even under difficult production and management conditions, the breed has a good adaptability to pasture. • High meat yield • High dairy gain • Excellent roughage feed conversion

Original Braunvieh beef Due to harsh environmental conditions and Alpine farming, the Original Braunvieh beef is a very versatile animal: robust, resilient, fertile, longliving, efficient, adaptable and very well balanced in its body shape and color. Its strong legs and feet enable it to search for fodder even in difficult areas with sparse grass and few water sources. Its robust skin with thick brown hair and its blue-black eye pigmentation can better tolerate extreme sunlight • Suited to fattening at any age • 100% full blood pedigree • In extremely wet or dry areas

Our values We offer our customers’ the best bovine genetics for their production conditions and thus make a sustainable contribution to their economic success. We guarantee the high quality of our products and services through our comprehensive quality management.

• Registered in the Swiss Herd Book

• Breed of pure origin

• Officially valued and recognized

• Born in Switzerland

• The quality of Swissgenetics semen is certified

• Designated non-return rate of field use

• Evaluated in the Swiss testing scheme

• Proven in Switzerland

• Products geared to different production systems

Global service Swissgenetics is interested in assisting and developing sustainable partnerships and in supporting projects promoting intelligent breeding programs. Swissgenetics exports on all continents with our partner the global distributor, Semex Alliance. Therefore, Swissgenetics is represented in over 80 countries worldwide to ensure the best possible genetics to breeders everywhere. Switzerlandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s excellent disease free status and our internal strict standards, fairly exceeding international standards, makes each semen straw a safe and effective product.

Benefit from Swissgeneticsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; extensive knowledge and experience

www.swissgenetics.com

For more information, please contact us info@swissgenetics.ch +41 31 910 62 62 Swissgenetics Meielenfeldweg 12 3052 Zollikofen Switzerland www.swissgenetics.com

Team International Urs Spescha, Alex Brunner, AlizĂŠe Sauron, Christina Meier Grossrieder, Angelo Pozzatti and Adrian Stotzer

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