December 2019

Although the Jones family are now into their third generation dairy farming in South Wales, it is arguably their achievements in recent years that have drawn the most attention. Earning two of the UK’s most prestigious b...

Slowly but surely, gains are being made by polled within international Holstein breeding. In the one country (including Germany) notably quicker than the other. There are now farmers that are striving for a 100% genetica...

They reigned supreme during Finland’s National Show last summer in Okra. Vanhatalon Holsteins won all the champion titles for the milking animals, and provided a fantastic Grand Champion with Grace-Charmaine. Every reaso...

The arrival of genomics brought a world of change to the bull breeding side of the industry. Welcome is one herd that adapted seamlessly and continues to send a significant number of bulls to AI. Over the years, bulls su...

Bronze for Hanover-Hill. Silver for Regancrest. And now, in this December issue of HI, follows the gold medal: for Comestar Holsteins in Quebec, Canada! Is it a coincidence that gold goes to the herd with the most millio...

The Nr.1 bull in the Netherlands and the Nr.1 bull in Germany: Bouw Rocky is creating waves as a sire of sons! Rocky, compared to Finder and Snowfever, is not one of the most talked about names from the Bouw Goldwyn Femm...

Until now, S-S-I Renegade was only available from his owners Select Sires through the NxGEN program and produced an impressive 55 sons for that breeding program. Now, as his early and pretty impressive daughters are comi...

Okay, even Axl, the young King Royal son from the Jetstream program, could have a slightly better rump angle (-0.47). But along with short teats and a slightly straight leg angle all of his weaker points are covered. On...

‘Alligator has always been very popular; every dose that he produced, is sold. That happened even before his official index, and his popularity has only grown since his successful daughter proof,’ tells Mike West from Se...

Twitch is the nr.1 gTPI son of Helix, since August, the progeny proven leader in the US. The more than two-year-old STgenetics bull displays an all-round high and attractive profile and via the milky MS Farnear Trudy Thy...

‘At Global AG Alliance, we believe that we have won the “jackpot” with this sire.’ Speaking is Wout van der Goot about the nr.1 bull on Global’s NM line-up: Pine-Tree Jackpot with 953 NM$ (2659 gTPI). ‘We purchase at lea...

Fustead Rubicon Lavon was a finalist in the 2019 Global Cow competition. Her sons include the popular Frazzled son Solution and the Superhero sons Nacash (France), Superday (Germany) and Lavonte (US). Her success should...

I/S Hedelund, a dairy enterprise in the northern Danish Aalestrup, made a flying start in the 1970s with the use of the ground-breaking German bull Pabst Ideal. More than 40 years later, the Christensen family provided V...

Spectacular type, the red colour and polled...the descendants of Luck-E Advent Asia now fulfill a number of niche markets and appeal to an ever widening cross section of breeders. Here is the background of the exciting “...

With 23 EX daughters in Holstein USA’s data base, Windy-Knoll-View Promis is one of the absolute phenomenon of the Holstein breed. An unprecedented performance, which at the same time makes it impossible to cover all of...

She is a cow that makes the mouth water and her pedigree likely does the same for many experienced Holstein fans. The cow we are presenting on this page is Lohmann’s Elly-Lilly, born in 2011. So far, nothing special has...

Don Bennink of No-Fla Holsteins in Florida has a clear vision which guides his breeding in his over 10,000 head herd: his ideal cow has a slightly below average size, has good production with high components and is convi...

The beauty of the Holstein breed is that it offers so much diversity. Here we investigate the breeding tactics of four breeders with differing goals.

Anyone who interprets breeding in a traditional manner thinks of the selection of one sire for one cow. Of course, this approach is not outdated. But it is competing with a breeding strategy that does not revolve around...

Of the current top-15 progeny proven bulls in Spain, ten are owned by Xenética Fontao. In the DNA list, they even have a share of 12 of the 15 highest sires, with the Gymnast son Guay as the first bull ever to surpass 50...

Vander Woude Dairy is based at Merced, California, and for the last seven years they have been using beef semen on part of their Holstein herd. Owner Simon Vander Woude shares details of their experience.

We all know colostrum and pre-weaning nutrition is important for calf vitality, but how much does it impact a cow’s long-term milking career? Here we explore recent research to find out just how important it is.