Achieve higher lifetime profit per cow

From 2-way to 3-way crossbreeding

How much does it cost when a cow doesn't get pregnant in your seasonal calving herd? What if you could increase your conception rate, boost your lifetime production and reduce the costs and amount of work per cow?

VikingGoldenCross is a three-breed rotational crossbreeding programme combining our dairy breeds.

You might be already using two-way cross between Holstein and Jersey but when you add VikingRed as the third breed to a two-way cross, your cows will improve in reproduction and beef value.

The combination of the three VikingGenetics breeds gives you:

Healthy, fertile, ideally sized grazing cows that are easy to manage and equipped to walk long distances
A +9% higher relative conception rate compared to two-way crossbred cows in a pasture-based production
Higher fat and protein percentages and a higher lifetime production
A better dairy form and beef value by adding VikingRed as the third breed

Why combine these three dairy breeds?

VikingHolstein, VikingRed and VikingJersey are amongst the top scores for health and production traits worldwide. They each have their own breed improvement programme with high-ranking bulls.

The VikingGoldenCross breeds complement each other well and compensate for their strong and weak points. They are unrelated, high-producing and well-suited for pasture-based production farms.

Because VikingGoldenCross cows are healthy at core with superior reproduction traits, they live longer in your herd and give you a higher lifetime profit per cow. You also get heterosis as an extra benefit on top of the parent average.

When you add VikingRed as the third breed to a two-way cross between Holstein and Jersey, your cows will have a less angular dairy form with better reproduction and beef value. The offspring only becomes 1.3 cm taller than the two-way cross.

The end result is a herd of ideally sized grazing cows with optimum health and a superior tolerance to weather extremes. VikingGoldenCross cows are equipped to walk long distances because of their economical frame size and strong feet with dark hooves.

	VikingHolstein	VikingRed	VikingJersey
Fat kg	***	**	***
Protein kg	***	**	*
Fertility	**	***	***
Calving ease	*	**	***
Hoof health	*	**	***
Udder health	**	***	**
General health	**	***	**
Udder conformation	***	**	**
Moderate size	*	***	**

three dairy cattle breeds, holstein, red and jersey

Discover 9 inspiring success stories from block-calving herds Download VikingGoldenCross Magazine

£15,000 extra profit

By utilizing three breeds in a crossbreeding programme, you can expect more than £15,000 extra profit per year in a 240-cow herd.

A study by Dairy Australia has compared the performance of two-breed and three-breed crossbred herds on pasture-based farms and concluded that compared to the two-way cross, the Holstein/Jersey/Red cross showed:

better fertility
higher lifespan
higher level of milk solids

That extra profit is from improvements in production of milk solids and fertility traits alone:

£11,400 from higher fat and protein content per kg of milk
£4,235 from fertility related traits

Total financial benefits are expected to be even higher when various direct and indirect cost reductions are accounted for, e.g. lower vet costs, lower culling rates, less work per cow and other.

If you would like to know more how crossbreeding would suit your herd and which strategy to use, our team is ready to help you.

Fill out the form to book a free consultation with a breeding advisor.

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The estimation of extra profit of £15,635 in financial benefits under UK conditions is based on:

The ADHB data milk price calculator with the average of three different manufacturing contracts
The Australian pasture-based crossbreeding study, where three-way crossbreds including Reds had higher milk solids and better fertility than two-way crosses between Holstein and Jersey

Key findings of Australian pasture-based crossbreeding study

Parameter	Two-way cross (Jersey/Holstein)	Three-way cross (Holstein/Jersey/Red)
Production
Milk (litres)	6,010	5,950
Fat %	4.24	4.37
Protein %	3.41	3.54
Fat (kg)	252	257
Protein (kg)	204	210
Total fat & protein (kg)	456	467
Fertility
Conception rate (1^st service)	47%	51%
Pregnant by week 6	63%	71%

The health traits are really good, and the calves are vigorous and up and suckling straight after birth.

John & Jack Warnock,
Dairy Farmers, Eastfield Farm

They were easy calving, and we haven’t lost a single calf. It feels like a much more appropriate cross for our system and will provide us with a smaller-framed cow with good milk solids that are hardier for outwintering.

Sophie Wilson,
Dairy Farmer, Starveall Farm, UK

The best cows are the ones you don't notice, they are low maintenance and hide amongst the herd. The longevity, the health and the fertility coming from the VikingGenetics animals are great.

Bart Luijten,
440 cows, New Zealand

Top milk solids from top crossbred cows

Healthy crossbreds, resilient bottom line

Balance, innovation, and dairy passion

Breeding resilient, dream-like cows

Breeding the invisible cow

Farming organically with VikingRed is proving a huge success

Making life easier with VikingGoldenCross

Changing course for health and sustainability

Boost to crossbreeding

Efficient cows with VikingGoldenCross

A free lunch… scientifically speaking

Spring Grazing Catalogue Download our latest catalogue here

VikingRed brings balance and innovation to passionate Kiwi herd

In Kaitangata, South Otago, New Zealand, Mathew Korteweg and his family are innovating and changing how they farm their 500-cow herd using VikingRed genetics.

"The VikingReds have filled a gap in terms of stature, strength, and still protecting what is important to us at the end of the day: the components," says Mathew.

By strategically using VikingRed genetics, they are ticking all the boxes in their strategy. Their cows have become more robust and resilient to cold and hot weather, have easy calvings and quick postpartum recovery, and are overall healthy and carefree animals.

Read the full story

Switching to VikingGoldenCross

When dairy farmer, Aidan Deasy, challenged his breeding advisor to produce a cow for his system, he thought he was asking the impossible. He knew exactly the traits in the animal he did and didn’t want and the problems he needed to avoid.

Like many producers, he’d had enough of lameness, was tired of disappointing pregnancy checks, and was keen to cut down on metabolic disorders like ketosis and milk fever. In short, he said he wanted to breed ‘the invisible cow’.

Read the full story

VikingBeef - Profit from every cow

VikingBeef bulls are specifically bred for the beef-on-dairy segment, where easy calvings are the number one priority.
Our sires give higher profitability to dairy herds delivering calves with higher growth rates and better meat quality.

VikingBeef sires provide…

Easy calvings - Optimal calving performance when used on dairy cows
High production - Increased daily gain and superior carcass value
Healthy calves - Strong, vigorous calves with high survivability
Reliable data - Progeny-tested on dairy cows with high reliability

When you combine beef male semen on your lower-ranking cows with female sexed semen on your best heifers, you get the most profitable results.

See the bulls

Boost your herd with the latest top bulls See the offers

Want to know more about crossbreeding and VikingGenetics?
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