Press Release : Lower vet costs and fewer stillbirths in ProCROSS dairy cattle

In fact, Dr Hazel observed: “The three-breed ProCROSS cattle have many of the traits sought by modern dairy producers, who find their cows have too much stature and angularity and lack the robustness of their forebears.”
Stéphane Fitamant, Managing Director for ProCROSS, concurred, and said: “These studies confirm our experience in the field where ProCROSS cattle are rapidly rising in popularity thanks to their ease of management alongside high health and welfare credentials.”
The studies also point to a breeding direction for farmers engaged in crossbreeding, many of whom have struggled to identify a choice of breed after the first cross.
Dr Hazel said: “The 10-year study demonstrates that hybrid vigour – which gives the outcrossed animal better performance than the average of its parents – is maintained at 86% in perpetuity in a three-way crossbreeding programme.”
Furthermore, she says the three breeds chosen are complementary, each conferring attributes which balance another. “For example, the Holstein brings production and udder traits; the Montbéliarde brings fertility, body condition and strength; and the Viking Red brings calving traits, udder health and fertility,” she says. She said: ”It has been very satisfying to find the ProCROSS breeding programme addresses so many of the challenges dairy farmers face today, whether that’s to produce milk more efficiently, cut costs of production or simply achieve better health and welfare. ”Equally, crossbreeding in itself will address the narrowing of bloodlines in the Holstein breed and the resulting inbreeding depression, which mostly affects traits of health, fertility, survival and vigour.
“In a world increasingly focussed on animal welfare and production efficiency, we have a duty to breed these features into our production systems and the Holstein x Montbéliarde x Viking Red has demonstrated how this can be done.”