California Trial, 2012

The very first trial was conducted in California, in the pioneer herds, where crossbreeding had started as early as 1999.

Undertaken at the University of Minnesota by Professor Les Hansen, the trials ran between 2002 and 2008 and their results were published in 2012 in the Journal of Dairy Science (ref?). In total, seven Californian herds were enrolled in the study, all of which were of pure Holstein breeding at the beginning of the trial.

The objective was to compare the economic results of different crossbred cows and the pure Holstein breed.

The crossbred cows largely came from four different breeds: Normande, Coopex Montbéliarde, Scandinavian Red and Holstein.

Table 1. Main results for Montbéliarde x Holstein and VikingRed x Holstein crossbred cows in comparison with pure Holstein cows.

Trait Holstein Montbéliarde - Holstein Swedish Red - Holstein
Lifetime milk (kg)
28.086
32.891
31.276
Lifetime fat (kg)
996
1.217
1.154
Lifetime protein (kg)
871
1050
1003
Days to first breeding
70
63
66
Pregnancy rate (%)
14.7
20
17.5
Days open
148
122
136
SCS
3.27
2.98
3.12
Survival to 4th calving (%)
29
55
50
Lifetime profit ($)
4.347
6.503 (+50%)
6.272 (+44%)
Profit per day ($) per cow
4.17
4.39
4.32

The crossbred animals were constantly superior to the Holsteins for fertility, fewer days to first breeding, higher pregnancy rates, fewer days open and somatic cell scores were also lower.

Table 2. Montbéliarde x Holstein and VikingRed x Holstein crossbred cows in comparison with pure Holstein cows, for calving difficulties & stillbirths.

Breed of sire (AI) No of calvings Difficult calvings % Stillbirths %
Pure Holstein
303
8.4%
12.7%
Montbéliarde by Coopex x Holstein
2.373
5.4%
5.0%
VikingRed x Holstein
515
2.1%
4.7%

The crossbred cows produced more milk and components in their lifetimes.

This first trial only took the crossbreeding as far as the two-way cross. As such, one of its conclusions was that the results would be even more interesting with three-way crossbreeding, because of the constant heterosis effect of 86%.

The pioneering Californian dairymen who switched to crossbreeding in 1999 and took part in the California Trial.
The pioneering Californian dairymen who switched to crossbreeding in 1999 and took part in the California Trial.