Besucher seit dem 01.01.2004:

Last update:

19.07.2008

The following text is  reprinted with the friendly permission of the Red and White Dairy Cattle Association. Please visit the website of the RWDCA: http://www.redandwhitecattle.com

International Red Roundtable

            Presented here and on the following pages is our 2007 International Roundtable, with a visit to The Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland.   We thank each of our participants for responding promptly. Their comments provide insight into the truly international Red & White community.  They provide some wise observations and thought-provoking ideas. Next year, we hope to visit with individuals in additional countries where Reds are creating excitement.

Wim Snuverink, Tiendeveen, Netherlands

My name is Wim Snuverink, and together with my wife Thea, we operated a Red & White dairy in the Netherlands and were involved in breeding the best Reds but also Black & Whites. Due to back problems we no longer dairy and I am working as a consultant for the Heemskerk organization . Their slogan is: We serve the dairy farmer. Breeding is one facet of the daily work .

Christof Baldus,  Woelferlingen,  Germany

We at Baldus Polled Holsteins are milking a small herd of Red & White Holsteins (some RC), over 60% of them are polled. Herd average is about 10,000 kg (22,000 lbs.) with 4.20% fat and 3.25% protein. Details about our breeding can be found at our website:

 www.holsteinzuechter.de  . Our goal is to breed elite red polled Holsteins and to increase the number of polled Red Holstein bulls in AI.

Rudolph Haudenschild, Wangen, Switzerland

I was raised on a mixed farm in Switzerland in the 50’s. In 1971, we crossed our Simmental milk cows with Red Holstein.  I remember the birth of our first calf.  The whole family was watching the event.  The calf arrived easily.  It was quite totally white, only the ears were RED!!  I was allowed to name the calf.  I gave her the name Bessie!  The sire was Jan.  The second cross calf was a “normal” Red & White heifer calf from Branderlea Citation Topper-Red. Both turned out to be great brood cows. The next generations of sires were Thames Crest Hill, Larry Moore Transmitter Jack, Romandale Royal-Red, Larry Moore Janes Royal-Red and Topper, again and again.

            Next, I studied at the Polytechnical High School, ETH in Zurich.  Then, I was a teacher at an agricultural school, then Assistant of the Director of the Swiss Milk Producers, with contacts to Jean-Louis Schrago of ABC Genetics and Edgar Blasi, President of the Swiss Red-Holstein Committee.  Since 1991 I have been Editor of the “Schweizer Bauer”, the leading Swiss breeding and farming journal.  I have fought for liberalization (using Red Carriers and top Holstein bulls on Red & White cows) and for opening the genetic market in Switzerland to available sires worldwide and have promoted the first open show for all dairy breeds in Switzerland (Swiss Expo), together with Monique and Jacques Rey and friends.  Also, I am the owner of Aldonhill Brillance-Red, well-known brood cow, developed at West Port Holsteins in Canada.

1.  What are the goals of your national breeding program?  In the U.S., breeders have very diverse goals, is this true in your country?

Wim Snuverink: In the Netherlands we have more companies involved in breeding Red & Whites and their goal is to breed the best bulls in the world that will make money for the farmers.  The path to reach this goal is diverse because farmers think differently about which bulls to use. The main goal is adequate milk with fat and protein as high as possible.

Christof Baldus: We don’t have a national breeding program.  Every breeding Association has a program. When you look at the breeders here, it is similar to the U.S., they have very diverse goals.  Maybe the show scene isn’t as big here as in North America.

Rudolf Haudenschild:  In Switzerland, the main focus of breeding is type.  Udders and teats are very important.  But there are different opinions about size and capacity of the cattle.  In the German speaking part of Switzerland, many breeders don’t want extremely tall cows.  The French speaking breeders desire the Canadian type with more dairyness and capacity.  We are convinced that breeding for type is the only way to have long-living cows.

2.  Do your breeders have freedom to breed as they wish or are there guidelines and regulations, and who sets these regulations?

Snuverink: Breeders are free to choose, but not everybody takes advantage of this, because they do not know what the competition has to offer.

Baldus:  In some programs the breeders must breed cows for second calf with a young bull.  In some, you don’t get young bull semen when the production of your herd is under a required average. It is very disappointing that there is a new law here since December 2006 forbidding use of young bulls that are not part of the breeding program of any German breeding association.  It is now impossible to use North American young bulls and to sample interesting private young bulls or through an AI center that is not involved in a breeding association.  Most of the major companies are AI centers and breeding associations in one, some of them have milk testing organizations included. Not the right way in my eyes! Every breeding association makes its own regulations.

Haudenschild: There are now less regulations than in most European countries.  We have a very liberal genetic market from the political point of view.  On the other hand, the market leader Swissgenetics is very dominant for several reasons.  One of them is the network of inseminators.  Swissgenetics still dominates the market with this network and financial power.

3.  What countries have played a major role in the genetics of your present population of Reds?

Snuverink: The USA and Canada have played a major role in the present genetics .

Baldus:  I think U.S. and Canadian genetics play a major role in today’s pedigrees.

Haudenschild: The greatest influence overall came from the United States and Canada.  The Canadian philosophy of breeding is very similar to ours.  Switzerland was the first country to cross the Red & White Simmentals to Red Holstein.  The leader was Fritz von Allmen.  As an emigrant from Switzerland to Canada, he opened the leading Swiss breeders eyes in the 60’s to breeding bigger and easy-milking dairy cows.  Unfortunately, the Swiss Breeding federations in all breeds started to breed a smaller and “easier to feed” cow during and after World War II.

4.  What is your evaluation of the following sires and their impact in your country (if any)?  Branderlea Citation Topper-Red, Hanoverhill Triple Threat-Red *BR, E-D Thor-Red, Howard-Home Caveman-Red, Glenafton Enhancer-RC, Brooknook Milestone-Red, STBVQ Rubens-RC.  Any other North American sires worth a special mention?

Snuverink: I would call Topper, Triple Threat, Thor and Caveman the “dream team”; we used most of them ourselves . These bulls were able to produce cows that produce 220,000 lbs. of milk and also sire champion cows!  What else would you want? An important sire for us was Yursden Citation Ray-Red because he is the sire of our popular Maartje cow family. The rest of the bulls mentioned have influence here, as well as Kinglea Leader and Momentum.  Now especially Redrose has a large influence through her son, Rampage-Red.

Baldus:  Topper:  One of the Red Holstein pioneers in Germany.  He brought big improvement to the original German Red & Whites at that time.  He left many long-living cows. Triple Threat:  A cow-maker, too.  Triple had many sons sampled in Germany.  He could have had more influence if in former times it wasn’t so difficult (impossible) to register the black daughters in some red herdbooks. Thor:  Thor was called Hilton in Germany.  He had many sons sampled in Germany, lots of them with positive results. He had a big influence in his time. Caveman:  A bull that could make great cows.  Caveman had several positive sons here, most with high components. I unfortunately missed this bull in my herd.  Enhancer:  Had a few good sons here, but not so many great daughters as we saw in North America.  His bad Feet & Legs and the lack of bulls with bloodlines free of Enhancer were the reason many Red Holstein breeders here started to switch to Black Holsteins in the early 90’s.  Milestone: Surely the best Enhancer son.  He was not used very much here because semen was limited and very expensive.  Rubens-RC: He was used a lot here, several good daughters in Germany, but I think he has less outstanding daughters than we see in North America.

   Two other North American bulls I want to mention that have a large impact here are Agriprize Cadi Mesa-Red (Cadon-Red) and Meadolake Jubilant-RC.  Cadon has to date over 25,000 daughters in his proof and Jubilant over 29,500!  A bull that was not widely used here but had a big influence in our herd was Needle-Lane Juryman-Red, who brought us a lot of milk and very deep ribs.

Haudenschild: Topper:  This son of Citation R was definitely one of the best red bulls ever - dairyman satisfaction, longevity, highest peak in milk production in 7th and 8th lactation. He sired, by far, the most 100,000 kgs. (220,000 lbs.) cows in Switzerland.  Topper was a cow maker.  Sons did not have enough index (first lactation).  Triple Threat:  His Swiss daughter Tulippe (EX-98), exhibited in Paris and exported to K.I. Samen in The Netherlands, opened the door to Europe for Triple Threat.  He had much influence thru his Swiss sons like Texan, Trimbo and Tino, the sire of the dam of the most famous Swiss Red Holstein sire Pickel.  Thor: He was not imported officially in Switzerland due to IBR.  Jean-Louis Schrago & Brothers developed out of Catsup Josette a son called Joseph. He is the sire of the dam of the late Reystar Flo-Red, champion heifer in Paris 1996 and several times National Champion and Cow of the Year 2003 in Switzerland.  In Switzerland, we used the Cavalier son Tonto out of the famous Thorgy (dam of Thor).  Caveman: Swiss breeders liked him.  He did transmit balanced cows and high protein. He is the sire of Pickel, who sired the European Red & White Champion, Morandale Pickel Chicoutimi. Enhancer:  Was not used in Switzerland officially.  Tough working cows, but with bad feet and legs.  We were happy to use many Blackstar Red Carriers out of Enhancer dams.  Milestone: He did not have the best reputation in Switzerland because the udders and teats were not consistently the best. But from my point of view, he is better than many Swiss breeders think, because of the flat lactation curve and persistency, the strong front ends and the ideal pin setting and, last but not least, the components (fat and protein)!  He was a golden cross with Rubens.  Many dams of the top sires in Switzerland today are Milestone daughters.  Rubens: An extreme sire from every point of view, we have some very great daughters from him in Switzerland like Plattery Rubens Galante, the European Champion of 2004; also Rubens Ingrid, who won her class at the European Championship 2006.  Both had dams by Pickel (Caveman son).  On the other hand, there were many poor Rubens daughters with extremely high pins and a lack of substance and capacity.

   Other North American Sires worth a special mention include Red-Marker and all other sons of Blackrose!  Then, Ja-Bob Hans, a Boy George son out of Helen produced some outstanding bull dams. The dams of the sires Rino and Red Bull in Switzerland are Hans daughters.  Rustler will have a big influence, he was heavily used in Switzerland.

5.  What European Red & White sires have made the most impact and your assessment of their influence?

Snuverink: I think Stadel, Tulip, Faber and Cadon have major influence (more than 25,000 daughters each) also with a number of sons. Another bull with RF is Lightning, his dam was the famous Kinglea Leader daughter, Tilly . More of his Red sons are coming now . I strongly recommend reading the sire summaries and choose if you want dairy cows or what other goal pays your bills.

Baldus:  I think those with the most impact today are Stadel-Red and Lentini-RC. Stadel has over 70,000 daughters in Europe and top sons like Classic-Red, Elayo-Red and many more.  I am happy that I got some of the last doses of this bull that I now use on my very best polled cows, maybe to breed a polled Stadel son for AI!  Lentini has over 45,000 daughters in Germany and many sons sampled.  I think the German bull Rubens-Red will have a big impact here, too.  His usage was limited because he died as a young bull.  Many, including myself, didn’t like the bull at first because he was a son of Rudi-Red.  The first sons of Rubens-Red are now getting proofs and Rubens-Red himself is still in the German top 10 for RZG (total index)!  His daughters are looking great and, in my opinion, he is a real good bull.

Haudenschild: Stadel was one of the best sires of the last decade. In Switzerland, he was used early as a sire of sons, when all others thought that he didn’t transmit enough milk! We have some good Stadel sons like Devis and Saurer now in Switzerland.  Unfortunately, many other German bulls like Rudi disappointed.  We have to talk about the Swiss sire, Pickel. He had a great influence on the Red & Whites with over 200,000 inseminations.  He sired balanced cows with the best feet and legs and snug, very well-attached udders - cows that develop with age.  He is the red Comestar Leader!  Even if he transmits less than average milk, he is still popular and, in many ways, a modern sire (somatic cell, fertility, longevity). And he sired Morandale Pickel Chicoutimi, the European Champion of 2006.

6.  Two widely used U.S. bulls today are Jordan-Red and Paradox-Red.  Have their genetics been used in your country and with what result?

Snuverink: From Jordan there are only 600 daughters, and he would be used much more if his protein test was higher. I think Paradox was not used for the same reason.

Baldus:  Jordan-Red was used a lot here (600 milking daughters today), the usage of Paradox-Red was limited (70 daughters), because semen was very expensive. Both bulls needed to be used correctly, then you could get outstanding results.  A few days ago, I saw an amazing Jordan-Red daughter with a perfect udder and a Paradox-Red daughter that will surely be the highest producing Red 2-year-old in Germany.

Haudenschild: Jordan belongs to Jean-Louis Schrago.  The bull was used in Switzerland and there are many daughters of him now.  He is very popular because he transmits protein and good pin setting and Kappa Casein AB.  There are some show cows from him, but not very many.  His son Blitz is very popular in Switzerland, transmitting snug udders and very high components.  Blitz is from a Woodstock (Caveman son) dam.  Paradox was not used here.  I think he is a very good sire.  He doesn’t transmit show type, but he is a good production sire with good udders and will certainly be the maternal grandsire of some upcoming top Red & White sires.

7.  Two very popular sires recently are September Storm and Talent.  What is their popularity and use in your country?

Snuverink: Both bulls are used here on black and red cows and their influence will be significant in Red & White because a lot of their sons are being tested.

Baldus:  Both Sept Storm (1,400 daughters) and Talent (700 daughters) were used heavily here.  The Talent daughters dominated the young classes at the German Holstein Show in June, while we didn’t find many September Storm daughters there.  As far as I know, Australian bulls, including Talent, do not qualify for import to Germany at this time.

Haudenschild: These two Storm sons were used in Switzerland. Talent is highly popular for his great udders; unfortunately, he has bad SCS and low fat.  September Storm daughters lack in udder cleft.  But these sires don’t have many milking daughters yet in Switzerland.  September Storm’s results vary more, therefore, he has a chance to make a few very good sons.  Talent is more consistent.  He will make the next generation of bull dams.  The third *RC Storm son, Tribute, was less used.  He makes very correct daughters; a few will become outstanding bull dams.

8.  Polled is becoming more popular here, especially among Reds.  Is there interest in your country?

Snuverink: Sometimes farmers ask for it, but personally I think there is more to improve than just looking at polled.

Baldus:  Yes, polled is a growing market.  We now have with Goepel Genetik a new private AI Center specializing in sampling polled bulls.  Four of our polled bulls have been sampled there.  Two of them are now available in the U.S., Josef P-RC (Jordan-Red x Cadon-Red) and David PP-RC (homozygous polled, Darwin P-Red x Priority PP-Red). Most major AI centers have started to sample some polled bulls, too.  Some of them now have Aggravation Lawn Boy P-Red on the sire of sons list. Lawn Boy P-Red is a bull that will bring much more popularity to polled breeding and , hopefully, some red homozygous polled sons for sampling.

Haudenschild: It is not the most important topic for Swiss breeders. Triple-Genetics Service offers, together with Goepel Genetics, a few polled Red Holsteins, as does ABC Genetics. Swissgenetics now offers Lawn Boy, their first polled bull.

9. Crossbreeding has become a hot topic in the U.S. and is becoming more popular.  What about your country?

Snuverink: Farmers here have started crossbreeding and all kinds of breeds are utilized, but my opinion is to really look at your management first and know that the Holstein breed worldwide has a lot more to offer.

Baldus:  There is some crossbreeding done here with Scandinavian Red breeds, but I don’t think that it is very popular.  The offspring of these crosses will not be registered in German herdbooks.

Haudenschild: We have a long tradition of crossbreeding here. Most of our Red Holstein cows have a Simmental background.  Actually, the percentage of Simmental blood in the Red Holstein population is very low. There are many cows with 7 to 9 generations of pure Red Holstein sires.  But, there are still thousands of Fleckvieh cows with a percentage of 12.5% up to 87.5% Red Holstein bloodlines.  There are many discussions about breeding.  Criss-cross could be one solution.  There are ideas to create a new race called Swiss Fleckvieh.  This type of cow is in demand on low-input farms in the hilly regions.  My opinion is that breeders should make a criss-cross in production herds.  Breeders shall decide between Simmental or Red Holstein purebred.  A farmer would prefer a pure Simmental cow for the low-input herds in organic farming and in the hill and mountain regions and a purebred high type Red Holstein cow for the high-input herds.

10.  The U.S. dairy industry is rapidly moving from smaller family-operated dairies (50-150 cows) to larger commercial dairies (500-10,000 cows) resulting in less dairies and less interest in registered breeding and breed association programs.  Is this happening in your country?

Snuverink: The same is happening in Europe, but the dairy farmers (I like this word better than industry) have to understand that independent classification and milk recording are the measure that allows proven sire choices to happen. Reliable information from proven sires, >90% production and also >90% type contributes a lot to farmers who use them and more progress is made.

Baldus:  The farms are growing, but slowly. I think this is mainly because of the quota system.  You have to buy quota if you want to deliver more milk.  To take such big steps you would have to spend a large amount of money for quota.  The quota to deliver 1 kilogram of milk costs about 0.40 Euro (range from 0.25 to 0.45, depending on which region you live) which is about 30¢ U.S.  So, when you want 100 additional cows with an average of 10,000 kgs., you have to buy quota for 400,000 Euro ($300,000 U.S.).

And it is not known how long the quota system will last, so it could be that your quota will be worthless in a few years.

Haudenschild:  For us, dairies with 100 cows are the very large ones. There are very few herds with several hundred cows.  In many regions we produce great cheese like Original Emmental or Gruyere from raw milk with no silage feeding.  Swiss farmers are family farmers.  To interest sons in farming, breeding is one very effective way.  Breeding also creates a community of people with a certain common interest.  A Breeder is proud to be a breeder!  It is more than making money, it’s a way of life!

11.  What advice would you give a breeder in North America who wishes to develop Red genetics that will appeal to your breeders?

Snuverink:  Use the best Red and Black bulls in the world. Red factor bulls alone are good but not good enough.  Develop Red factor cows. Use embryo transplants. I know from experience that a lot of money is involved, but when there are results, the special new Red Holstein heifer or bull is born!  When the AI industry and farmers want to benefit from this progress, they must pay more money for these new Reds; otherwise the Red & White cows will always be bred to Red again, to keep it Red.  Have you already used highly reliable bulls like O Man, Bolton, Goldwyn, Shottle, etc. to make the next Red generation?

Baldus:  I think deep cow families with good type (does not have to be show type) and high protein percentage will appeal to most breeders here. Longevity and good SCC are becoming more and more important.  You should avoid bulls in the pedigrees that are poor in these traits.  Add the polled gene and you have something very special.

Haudenschild:  Develop a strong red cow with high components, (at least 3.3% protein), good udders and type.  We need wider cows from the muzzle to the tail, more power in the front end (more room for hard-working lungs and heart) and low pins, to reduce the damage done by some sires like Rubens and others from the Holstein breed.

12.  What advice would you give any young breeder who is starting a Red program?

Snuverink:  Pursue your individual breeding goal, use lists and guides, but also trust your own judgment and go for it.  Remember, you only have seven cow generations to breed. If you do not know where you are going,  any road will take you there.

Baldus:  Try to breed something special that is fun to work with every day!

Haudenschild:  Buy a pedigreed Red or *RC calf or at least 4 embryos out of a deep cow family.  Then, use Red sires to develop Red cows with different pedigrees.  Use different bulls, including ones from smaller organizations with less marketing power.  Go your own way to breed cows.  If you want to breed marketable AI bulls, you have to follow the mainstream, but you risk losing your goal of breeding great cows.

13.  Any final thoughts on Red breeding or the future of Red breeding?

Snuverink:  I think Red and White farmers need cows with “Cow”sonality; cows with character (to handle stress), strength, capacity, functional characteristics, production and protein test (a lot of kilograms to sell ).

Interest in Reds is still growing. In our country many black and white farmers use the top Red bulls. So, knowing that there are more Red cows in the world than Black cows, means that the future is colourful - Red and White means more colourful thinking.     

I see skys so blue, And green pastures too,

And in all my dreams, You might know,

Is that colourful RED cow.

Thanks and we greet all our cow friends in the world.  Wim and Thea.

Baldus:  Red Holstein breeders should use polled genetics more intensively.  The number and quality of Red polled sampling bulls is greater than ever.  Proven polled bulls like Lawn Boy P-Red are higher on the proof lists than ever before.  This is a great opportunity for Red breeding to gain an advantage over other breeds.

Haudenschild:  Red colour is beautiful.  And if the climate changes, red cows are more resistant to sun because red colour absorbs less energy than black.  Very white and red cows have less flies on the hide when they are in the pasture and can, therefore, eat more in these production systems.  Use bulls transmitting longevity and more milk from lactation to lactation.  Remember that Topper daughters in Switzerland “topped” in their 7th and 8th lactations!  Unfortunately, many red bloodlines today transmit high pins and a lack of strength.  Red Holstein breeders have to look for more powerful cows. Use in your sire lineup - type and index bulls in the proportion of 2:1.  Look more at your cows and the daughters of AI bulls from behind and in front and less from the side, we always see “side view” pictures!

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