KiWi Cross

Frank Buckley's Moorepark 5 strain trial:
Five 100 cow herds of different breed types were compared, the Kiwi cross herd showed €17k higher profit than the pure HF herd, allowing for zero bull calf prices and low cull cow prices.
The Norwegian Red X herd showed €10k more profit than the HF.
Frank calculates that cross-breeding is worth an additional €200 EBI points per cow and Cross-bred cows last one lactation longer than HF cows.

Breed group

	HF	J	KiWi cross	NR	NRX
Annual milk yield (kg)	529,939	482,356	493,665	514,848	528,106
Milk Sales (kg)	518,353	469,169	482,118	502,939	516,500
Milk protein (kg)	18,085	18,959	18,732	17,586	18,059
Milk fat (kg)	21,334	25,003	23,033	20,375	20,924
Milk protein (%)	3.49	4.03	3.88	3.49	3.49
Milk Fat (%)	4.12	5.32	4.77	4.05	4.05
No. of cows	100	113	99	102	100
Land area (Ha)	40	40	40	40	40
Stocking rate (LU/Ha)	2.34	2.66	2.38	2.45	2.39
Milk price (c/l)	30.64	38.16	35.44	30.51	30.51
Labour cost (€)	28,455	32,386	28,931	29,840	29,081
Concentrate costs (€)	6,206	7,063	6,344	6,544	6,377
Livestock sales (€)	30,941	23,197	23,200	28,379	28,049
Replacement costs (€)	45,636	51,940	33,175	34,218	33,348
Feed costs (€/kg)	6.4	7.1	6.9	6.6	6.4
Milk price 27c/l
Milk returns (€)	154,207	173,824	165,894	149,006	153,009
Profit/kg milk solids (€)	0.68	0.56	1.03	0.74	0.88
Profit/Ha (€)	674	615	1,075	702	857
Profit Farm (€)	26,966	24,592	42,989	28,062	34,283

Frank's conclusion:
The results indicate that with a fixed land base and across 3 milk price scenarios Jersey and Norwegian Red cross-bred dairy cows can offer immediate substantial improvements to farm profit.
This is particularly true with the KiWi cross due to a combination of improved fertility/survival and improved milk receipts.
In the analyses presented KiWi cross cows increased farm profit by €16,023, €14,089 and €17,796 compared to Holstein-Friesian cows at base prices of 27 c/l, 20 c/l and 33 c/l, respectively.
In addition, the results highlight that losses resulting from reduced cull cow and male calf value are clearly overshadowed by the overall performance of the KiWi cross.

Jersey Efficiency

Frank Buckley's 2009 Moorepark trial comparing bite rate and feed intake differences between Jerseys with HF showed that Jerseys are 32% more efficient than HF at converting grass into kgs Fat/Pr.

Jersey's produce more Kgs of Milk Solids from every kg of grass eaten by chewing the cud for 25% longer, breaking it down into smaller molecules.

Jerseys had a higher bite rate/min, it was concluded that faster eaters are higher yielders.

Kgs Milk-Solids produced per kg body-weight was 32% higher for Jerseys.

HF grazed for 129 mins/day but harder working Jerseys grazed for 171 mins/day!

Jerseys maintained a higher BCS (Body Condition Score) throughout the lactation; 2.91 v's 2.75.

Jerseys had a 16% higher intake per kg/bodyweight, Jerseys were 35% lighter but ate just 12% less than Holstein-Friesians.

A 550kg cow yielding 1.8kgs M/S needs to eat 1.6kgs DM/day more than a 450kg cow yielding 1.8kgs M/S to maintain BCS.

In the last 12 years the % of pure HF in New Zealand reduced by 16% while the % of pure Jersey reduced by 3%, both in favour of the KiWi cross.

In a 2012 NZ trial, high efficiency (low RFI) cows consumed 0.71kgs DM/day less than low efficiency cows of similar production. A correlation was noticed between improved BCS, Low RFI and Body Capacity.

Crossing low yielding cows with Jersey is the quickest way to breed efficiency into the next generation.

To gain half a BCS in the dry period a 550kg cow needs to gain 13kgs more than a 450kg cow.