SUSTAINABLE BREEDING VikingJersey is working with Jersey embryos from seven different countries “The VikingEmbryo strategy is to speed up genetic progress and to keep inbreeding at a low level”, says Peter Larson, Product and Breeding Manager for VikingJersey. L ately VikingJersey has bought seven Jersey heifers (NTM between +19 and +34) for the VikingEmbryo program and made 27 new Flush contracts (up to NMT +32). We have donor heifers at stations in Denmark, Finland and France and flush contracts in Sweden, Norway, the United States of America and Canada as well. “The VikingEmbryo strategy is to speed up genetic progress and to keep inbreeding at a low level”, says Peter Larson, Product and Breeding Manager for VJ. “We are including genetics, partly out cross, when it is beneficial for the VikingJersey breeding program, and taking into account all the uniqueness of the VikingJersey breed”, he adds. The Nordic VikingGenetics center for embryo production and top heifers is " The VikingEmbryo strategy is to speed up genetic progress and to keep inbreeding at a low level. We are including genetics, partly our cross, when its beneficial for the VikingJersey breeding program, and takind into account that all the uniqueness of the VikingJersey breed. Peter Larson, Product and Breeding Manager, VikingJersey located in the VikingGenetics station in Hollola, Finland and at the Risbak donor station in Denmark. VikingEmbryo is a solution to reduce the generation interval for females by producing offspring from heifers. The generation interval in females is usually around four years, but with embryo flushing, this interval can be shortened to two years. By reducing the generation interval, genetic progress can be achieved a lot faster, meaning profitability efficiency for the dairy farmer. Efficiency in focus Larson also explains that the Saved Feed Index will be included in VikingJersey NTM (Nordic Total Merit) from August 2020. The Saved Feed Index, the maintenance part of a future Feed Efficiency Index, has been published for the past 6 months. Now VikingJersey will include this in the NTM index, with a relative weight of 0.18 (app. the same level as the weight on Mammary) as per August 2020. The decision is based on the fact that the genetic trend for Saved Feed has been slightly negative for both bulls and females over the past 30 years, therefor the implementation of this index will reduce costs for farmers. “This is a signal that resource efficiency and climate is important to Jersey breeders and not least to be in control of the development in size of the Jersey cows; medium size cows seems to be more efficient and more environmentally friendly than big cows”, Larson states. The effects of including Saved Feed in NTM will be positive for Health, Fertility, Feet &Legs and Longevity traits, and will have an effect on the genetic trend for Frame, which will be a little smaller, he says. VJ Gislev daughter: Kjølby Gislev Gunilla, 1st laction, 305 days 6490 kg milk, 5.8% fat and 4.1% protein. At the top of the world VikingJersey bulls are doing extremely well worldwide: USA VJ Gislev #2 for JPI and #1 for GM$, among pure bred daughter proven bulls • 8 VikingJersey bulls in top 25 for JPI UK VJ Gislev #2 among daughter proven bulls for £PLI • 20 VikingJersey bulls in top 25 for £PLI VJ Hays #2 among genomic bulls for gPLI VJ Tester #1 for SCI and is best Jersey bull for ACI, among daughter proven bulls SOUTH AFRICA VJ Garant #1 and VJ Gates #2 among pure bred bulls for SAINET • 9 VikingJersey bulls in top 25 for SAINET CANADA VJ Lari #3 for LPI among daughter proven bulls • 7 VikingJersey bulls in top 25 foreign daugh- ter proven for LPI VikingJersey is an international breed leader for Udder Health, Longevity and Daughter Fertility Interbull results April 2020 shows that the genetic level for the above-mentioned traits is higher in the VikingJersey population than in other Jersey populations (Australia, Canad a, New Zealand and the United States of America). In production traits VikingJerseys are breed leaders for butterfat and rank second for protein production, after the United States of America. 29 INNOVATIVE BREEDING MAY 2020
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