1. CROSSBREEDING WITH BROWN SWISS IN THE USA - ON-FARM EXPERIENCES DAN GILBERT PRESIDENT NEW GENERATION GENETICS DAN GILBERT PRESIDENT NEW GENERATION GENETICS

2. CROSSBREEDING WITH BROWN SWISS OVERVIEW  Previous Study  Survey of Dairymen currently crossbreeding  Results for multiple traits  Perceived strengths and weaknesses of different breeds  Detailed results of a large herd using multiple breeds  Discussion

3. BROWN SWISS CROSSBREEDING IMPROVES PRODUCTION!

4. BROWN SWISS – MORE PRODUCTION!* *Source.. Penn State University and University of Minnesota

5. BROWN SWISS IMPROVE OVER TIME!

6. SURVEY SAYS..! Milk? Fat? SCS? Vet? Poor? Protein? Fertility? Salvage? Temper? Hooves?  10 Herds milking 3500 cows  Herd size 100 to 1250  Jersey, BS, Red breeds, Holsteins  Ranked breeds for various traits  Opinions

7. SURVEY RESULTS Average ranking on 6 points scale (6 being best) HolsteinBS xJersey xRed x Milk 5.8 4.5 3.6 3.3 Fat (kgs) 4.5 5.2 5.8 4.0 Protein (kgs) 4.4 5.8 5.4 3.8 SCS (1,000) 4.1 5.2 4.4 4.3 Fertility 3.9 4.7 5.5 5.0 Salvage Value 5.1 5.3 2.5 5.5 Vet Cost 3.8 5.3 3.7 4.5 Hoof health/trimming 3.8 4.9 3.8 5.0

8. DUTCHLAND DAIRY, IOWA Dutchland Dairy 1250 cows Holstein Hol x Hojo BS x Hojo Jersey x HoJo Jersey x Holstein Red x Holstein Red x Hojo Milk12,44612,11211,70711,10211,60311,96110,890 Fat (kgs) 480 502 515 511 515 478 472 Protein (kgs) 381 384 364 375 373 352 SCS (1,000) 107 103 93 123 99 131 102 Days Open 97 95 90 93 91 93 Service per conception 2.2 1.9 2.3 2.2

9. OTHER FINDINGS  Fat and Protein kg’s are the most important selection criteria  Longevity (more lactations) was close 2 nd  Fertility and udders were tied for a close 3 rd on criteria  Genomic bull usage ranged from 10% to 95% and averaged 55%  Price of semen while important was not as high as the points above. Was more important in large herds as they buy in volume.

10. BS CROSS EXAMPLES BS X Jer X Hol BS X Jer Bs X Monty & Monty x Hol

11. TAKE HOME POINTS  When used in crossbreeding systems, Brown Swiss compete with all breeds for all economically important traits.  Brown Swiss are an extremely attractive option as a 3 rd breed in a rotational crossbreeding system, especially with Holsteins and Jerseys.  Red Breeds did not compete as well as advertised for especially production, nor for health traits  Production and fertility must be improved for Brown Swiss to remain a main option.

12. Thank You!