Norwegian Red, its characteristics and use in international crossbreeding

Abstract

The international dairy industry has for decades been breeding for a Holstein Friesian cow that has the highest milk yield possible, but this has also led to several problems. As a consequence of this single minded breeding other traits have been neglected, and now the dairy farmers are facing fertility and health problems. A solution that is widely used is crossing the high producing Holstein Frisian with breeds where both reproductive and health traits have been kept at a high level. One of these suggested breeds is the Norwegian Red, where consistent breeding has created a healthy and fertile cow which also produces an acceptable amount of milk. In this work I have written about the development and main characteristics of the Norwegian Red. This can be used as background knowledge for both breeders and farmers who would like to know more about the breed. I have also summarized the results of different internationals trials where Norwegian Red or crossbreeds of Holstein-Friesian and Norwegian Red which have proven that the Norwegian Red can compete with, and often exceed other breeds used for crossbreeding. With the help of the Hungarian Holstein Association I have collected data from the Hungarian National Database. Hungarian Holstein Friesian cows at 14 different Dairy farms were inseminated with imported sperm from 8 Norwegian Red bulls, and their daughters started to lactate during the spring of 2010. For this paper only 24 daughters were available, but hopefully in the future more data can be published. The insemination data is not corresponding with results done elsewhere, but the preliminary milking data show that the Norwegian Red might be suitable for crossbreeding in the Hungarian market as well.