HG Highlights

Breeding profitable cows
The tools

HG developed its ”5 paths to farm profit” program to demonstrate what difference breeding can make in achieving higher farm profits. By focusing on the traits of durability, health & fertility, production, conformation and reliability, considerable benefits can be gained.

Let’s have a look at the importance of the traits that have been identified in HG’s ”5 paths to farm profit” program and their relationship to profitability.

1 – Durability
Durability of cows is very important for the financial results of a farm.
High durability adds up to:
– lower culling rates,
– higher lifetime yields,
– lower rearing costs,
– lower veterinary costs.
Older cows produce more milk! Dutch dairy cows have shown a steady increase of lifetime yields over the last two decades.

2 – Health & Fertility
Health and fertility are two major issues in dairy farm management. Healthy cows with good fertility need less attention and treatment and produce more milk. The result is fewer (veterinary) costs and more revenue. HG puts a lot of emphasis in its breeding program on the important health traits, like udder health and daughter fertility, with no less than 30% of the total weight being on these traits. In the previous issue of Highlights we discussed udder health.

3 – Production
of sires that breed cows with a strong will to produce a lot of milk with high components, HG sources its sires from the most productive cow families in the world. As a result HG not only has one of the strongest line-ups of high component transmitters, but can also offer several of the world’s leading milk bulls.

4 – Conformation
As there is a significant relationship between certain conformation traits and durability, HG selects strongly for those traits that are relevant for increased herd life. HG aims to breed bulls that sire the solid and durable kind of cow that is a profitable cow. A good-looking, durable cow will give a dairy farmer financial profit and personal satisfaction.

5 – Reliability
The breeding values of HG sires are based on the most reliable testing system in the world. This means that dairy farmers around the world can place their trust in HG because: ’What you see is what you get’.

PROFIT POINTERS

To help you to choose the right bull to improve your farm profitability HG has introduced a new tool: the Profit Pointer. There are ten different Profit Pointers and each of these fits into one specific ’Path to Profit’. You will find this Profit Pointer in our communications and marketing material such as, for example, our sire catalogue. The Profit Pointer points out the trait HG would like to focus your attention on. Among other factors it is through this specific trait that a particular sire can improve your financial results.

How to work with the Profit Pointer?
An example: ”I need to increase the protein percentage in my herd as my dairy will pay me more for milk with higher protein components”.
Look out for the Profit Pointer % Protein. You will find that, for example, Ganvo Alexander and Horst Harry will deliver you the results you desire.

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