Seasonal calving is growing in popularity. In some parts of the world, up to 80% of dairy farmers are using this farming system but challenges with fertility and health can significantly impact their profits.
How do you manage seasonal calving well? How do you get the optimum production and profit as a pasture-based farmer?
We're joined by a seasonal calving expert from the UK who shares his perspectives. He also reveals why seasonal calving can be a smart farming system for the future.
Guests:
Chris Stone, Senior Account Manager for VikingGenetics UK
Host:
Hielke Wiersma
Seasonal calving is growing in popularity. In some parts of the world, up to 80% of dairy farmers are using this farming system but challenges with fertility and health can significantly impact their profits.
How do you manage seasonal calving well? How do you get the optimum production and profit as a pasture-based farmer?
We're joined by a seasonal calving expert from the UK who shares his perspectives. He also reveals why seasonal calving can be a smart farming system for the future.
Guests:
Chris Stone, Senior Account Manager for VikingGenetics UK
Host:
Hielke Wiersma
Seasonal calving is growing in popularity amongst dairy farmers in the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and South America. But how do you manage seasonal calving well? How do you get the optimum production and profit as a pasture based farmer? And how can seasonal calving be a smart farming system for the future? To give you the best advice on seasonal calving, I've invited an expert to join me in the studio. Chris Stone, Senior Account Manager for VikingGenetics UK. This is the BreedCast produced by VikingGenetics. I'm your host Hielke Wiersma. Hi Chris and welcome and thanks for joining us today from the UK. Hi. Chris, I'd like to start with some of the basics to get us all on the same page. Tell us what seasonal calving is? Seasonal calving is when farmers will calve the cows in a block with specific times in a year. So in the UK we predominantly have a spring calving herd or an autumn calving herd. What percentages of farmers worldwide are we looking at using this method? Now that's a good question. I can only really speak for the UK and Ireland. So in the UK, 72% of all the herds are all year round calving. 8% are autumn block and 9% are spring. And the rest are autumn and spring block. All right. And well, we also know New Zealand, Australia, the vast majority, at least of those farmers in these countries, are seasonal calving herds. That's right. And when we spoke earlier, you were talking about that seasonal calving is growing in the UK. Why is that? Yeah, well, a lot of it has to do with the current issues that are involved in dairy farming at the moment. For example, costs are escalating, feed prices, diesel, fertilizer. So farmers are probably looking at their businesses and looking at the structure of it. So if you look at a spring or an autumn block herd, they can control their costs a bit better. So roughly block calving herds have a cost of production 1.1 pence per liter to £2.4 pence per liter, less than an all year round calving herd. Which then makes it the reason for going from an all year round to a spring block, I guess. Yeah. Yeah, 100%. But you know there are other factors. For example, climate, soil type. Even the younger generation, they want systems where they can have more time off and spend with the family and that's what block calving lends itself to. Yeah. Because seasonal calving is different. It has seasons to it. Well, the name says it, but it has seasons to it as well with a tough workload, but with less workload as well, which gives opportunities to shift and to take your summer holiday break if the cows are dried off at that point. At least we have herds in Denmark that do that. Yeah, 100%. You know, with block calving herds you have to, let's say, concentrate at certain things at certain times. So as you just mentioned, they'll be drying... With the spring block calving herd they might be drying the cows off at Christmas time, and therefore they can have time with their family at Christmas. They will then concentrate on getting the cows in calf in May and they'll concentrate at calving in February and March. So it's specific blocks. It's not happening every day of the year. And a lot of farmers say that focuses their minds a lot more. So, a lot of benefits from it. But what are the biggest challenges for these herds? Oh, again, another good question. The challenges vary in it’s sense. Some of them are the fact that the milk buyers... If you're spring block calving herd, your milk buyer might pay you a little less because in the UK they don't want spring milk. You get penalized. Some of it has to do with climatic issues. For example, if you're in the south west of England, they get a lot of rainfall. Ireland, for example, southern Ireland where 80%, probably 8% of the herds are a spring block. They get two meters of rain. But the benefits of that means that they can grow grass all year round and they utilize grass. Grass is the most important feed source on their farm. So what are your thoughts on this the window? What challenges can that give? You know, the calving window, which you’d want as tight as possible. That's 100% right. A lot of the block calving herds they will want to calve in, let's say, six to eight weeks. And so, fertility is one of the biggest issues that they will come across. They want to pick the breeds that are fertile and healthy. You know, some of the cows have to walk two to three kilometers to grazing. So their hoof health, for example, has to be great. They want ease of calving because a lot of animals could be calving at the same time. You know, 15-20 animals. And therefore, they need to have a really easy calving animal. Yeah, I guess the fertility, as being one of the big drivers to being successful in this system, is that if you miss the block, then potentially the cow needs to leave the farm, whereas in a all year round calving, you could just keep on breeding that same cow basically. Exactly. Yeah. So with the block herds, fertility is a key thing. If these animals aren't getting any calf, there's a loss of profit as milk production won’t peak. The cows will be peaking at the optimum time, which is when the grass growth is at its maximum. Kilos of dry matters per hectare of grass growth. All these things add on to a knock on effect. So the types of the block is the milk that you will make. So seasonal calving has a lot to do with timing and management, and especially fertility is really important. Let's explore what tools and solutions are available to you as a farmer in order to succeed and get the most out of your seasonal calving herd. Chris, what type of cows are these farmers looking for in seasonal calving? It depends on the system. So a autumn block herd would want a bigger cow than the spring block herd. Autumn block herds, they tend to want something like a Holstein Friesian. They will use a red, Montbelidarde. The spring guys, they will use a smaller breed like a kiwi cross, for example Jersey, a smaller Friesian, but in my opinion a crossbred suits a block calving herd vegetable. Why do you have those differences? Why do you want a lighter and a heavier cow in these different systems. With an autumn block herd, they produce their milk from September through to June/July, when they will dry the cows off. So, a lot of their higher costs are in the winter where they have a mixer wagon running, etc. They want an animal that is capable of producing a bit more volume of milk, a spring block they calve in February/March when there's a lot of rainfall. They will want a lighter anima that will graze the grass sufficiently. They turn out as soon as they calve. They want an animal that will be lighter, won't make such a mess when it's grazing, when trashed the paddocks and they're after an animal which will produce higher percentage of solids when grazing is low. Their ideal animal, I guess would be something like 500 kilos in weight, producing 500 kilos of solids. Now you're mentioning production, what other things should these cows be capable of in these different systems? We've already mentioned earlier on they need to be fertile. Fertility is key. They also need to have good health. You know, as I mentioned, they can walk long distances. A lot of the contracts now are going towards manufacturing contracts. In the UK historically we've been what we call liquid. But as I just mentioned, the moving onto manufacturing contracts. So they need solids, they need kilos of fat and protein. They just want a very healthy, easy animal to manage. So, you mentioned the crossbreeding and you mentioned the VikingGoldenCross, the ProCROSS - how do these fit into the different systems? I think the ProCROSS and the VikingGoldenCross are perfect animals for a grazing or a block calving system. You're gaining fertility and health traits through heterosis or hybrid vigour. You don't have to worry about inbreeding like you do in purebreds, and that is increasing year on year. You will find that your fertility will be at least nine to 10% better. Your cows will last twice as long. The health will be a lot better reducing your vet bills and you will find them a lot easier to manage. You're not picking up their feet. You're not getting the vet out, so your quality of life becomes better. So, quite a few benefits of crossbreeding for these type of farms. Well, I forgot to mention one key thing. We're running a business and there's a lot of trials and testimonials out there that prove that the crosses are actually more fertile than the purebreds. And that must be one of the key reasons that the seasonal calving farms would crossbreed more than the all year round calving herds. 100 cent. You know, for example, if you could reduce your culling rate by 10%, which is quite easily done on ProCROSS or VikingGoldenCross herds. You know, on some of these larger herds, 500 cows, that's 50 less replacements. In the UK, sometimes we put in a cost of 1500 pounds on, let's say a ProcROSS herd to rear a heifer. Well, that's a considerable saving. Yeah. We do have a dedicated episode on the topic of crossbreeding on the podcast here at the BreedCast. So pop over to the BreedCast.com and and learn more about crossbreeding there if you're interested. Chris, when a farmer tells you that he or she is considering seasonal calving, what would be your first recommendation that they look at? That's a good question. First of all, we'd look at the type of animal they've got on their farm. Then we would look at the climate that they're in. You know, for example, we've mentioned if they get a lot of rainfall, then we'd go for a smaller animal, perhaps a VikingGoldenCross with the Jersey in that. If they were located in an area where the rainfall was a lot less and they couldn't maximize grass growth and July or August time, they have no grass that would be perfect for an autumn block- so, for example, a ProCROSS herd. They would be drying their cows off when there is no grass growth. So, those are several factors that we would look at. So you'd look at what concept would fit the system best, obviously. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So Chris, when you've kind of defined which concept to go with in the different systems, what specifically are you looking for in these breeds? Let's say that, you know, the ProCROSS; the Montbeliarde, Viking Holstein and then the VikingRed in combination and the VikingGoldenCross with the VikingRed, the VikingJersey and the VikingHolstein combined together. What specifically are you looking for when you help the farmer to make the best choice of bulls per breed? The first thing we'd look at would probably be fertility because that drives the whole block calving system. Then obviously, as we've mentioned earlier, we want the health traits, especially hoof health because they have to walk 2 to 3 kilometers and in some instances to the furthest grazing paddocks. Then we would look at calving ease. But if we were doing a cross breeding mating program, for example, we'd look at doing a three breed rotation. The reason for this is with the three breeds, you're maximizing your heterosis. The first two crosses in roughly 100% and that drops down to about 87%. With the two breed, you're losing heterosis You're losing hybrid vigour, and that sort of levels out 67%. So we'd always recommend that you do a structured three breed rotation. Yeah. And heterosis is obviously the opposite of inbreeding. So, you get the opposite effects of that as well. So, you get the fertility and you get all the positive sides that inbreeding get - being a negative downside of that. So sometimes we say it's a free gift. You know, let's say, for example, you took a Holstein and a jersey which you could arguably say that that's probably the worst breeds in fertility. If you cross those, then the fertility is suddenly improved. That's a great example of hybrid vigour - heterosis. And I think it's interesting that you mentioned that even though you have the... in these concepts that the VikingGoldenCross and the ProCROSS that you have. The heterosis that will help you with fertility and health. But you still, on bull level, you're choosing the bulls that can contribute with that additional fertility and health value. Well, the advantage of when you're doing a three breed crossbreeding plan is, you can use the best bulls, the very best bulls. There's no inbreeding coefficient to worry about because, you're not pure breeding and that's a big advantage. So going back to the seasonal calving, let's say that you're considering going from all year round calving to seasonal calving. Will that save me costs? You're saying that would always be like that. What are your thoughts on that? Yeah, well, you know, there's so much evidence out there that it will improve profitability, lifetime profitability, especially on daily profits. You know, these animals are more feed efficient. They have lower vet's costs, their fertility is better and the culling rates are lower. So all these things add up to more profitability. So in my opinion, yes, it's a no brainer. For example, in the summer, you will just graze your animals and you turn off the mixer wagon. We know in today's climate how much feed costs, fertilizers are going up. Fuel. All these are savings, if you can reduce that. So tell us something about the seasonal calving guys that have gone the cross-breeding route and tell us about some of these farmers that you meet. What are they experiencing? It doesn't matter where you are globally. These farmers are experiencing the same results. For example, with the ProCROSS the Californian the Minnesota trials, we've had trials in Denmark, Germany, in the UK we’re benchmarking, we're collecting data and they have the same, let's say, positive effects. So a lot of people think when you're going to cross that you will lose milk. You lose 2 to 3%. But what you'll gain is you'll gain higher fats and proteins. You'll gain at least nine to 10 points on your fertility. You'll reduce your culling rate by 10%. Yeah, the vet costs will be lower. So these, as I've mentioned already, will increase your bottom line. Chris has taught us a lot more about seasonal calving and how you can use crossbreeding and selection tools to optimize your production and the profit in your herd. Now let's have a look at the future and some of the trends on the horizon when it comes to seasonal calving. Chris, how do you see seasonal calving evolve? Well, in my opinion, I can see it growing. We’ve got a global crisis at the moment with fertilizer costs are going up immensely. Farmers have to look at the way they're doing things and they have to become more efficient at milk production. That’s just the way it is at the moment. So, you know, in my opinion, block, or let’s say, seasonal calving is a good way of maximizing that efficiency. On a million liters, you could be at least £20,000 in the UK, less costs than what you would be with an all year around calving herd. You'll have better quality of life, you'll have surplus stock to sell. There are so many benefits and these are also backed up by studies and trials and data collection. So, you know, it works. Yeah. And even we see in Denmark, it might only be a bit more than a handful that do seasonal calving but some of the things that you mentioned as well is that they have the opportunity to... With smaller kids and stuff like that, they can take a break when the cows are dried off and they have an intensive workload. And then they can prioritize things in their family life as well. Yeah, I think a lot of farmers are, let's say, frightened is probably too strong a word. But, you know, they don't want to lose milk volume. They see that that's what brings in the income. But if you can lower your costs, then I can reassure them that they will not lose milk volume. What role will efficiency in choosing the right farming system play for the modern farmer for the future? Well, I think it's got a massive role to play with the way agriculture is changing. You know, that buzzword sustainability, it's a key thing. So, we've got to produce food that is sustainable. We've got to think about how much waste we produce, etc.. There's a lot of positives with the block calving, crossbred herds that will fit into this role. Yeah. And it's interesting what you mentioned, Chris, because in the first episode of this season where we spoke to EU parliamentarian Danish farmer Asger Christensen, who talked about that as well. You know, with the global crisis that we have with the situation in Russia and Ukraine, it's all about utilizing as much of the resources that we have available. And I think maybe for some farmers, at least this will be an ideal route to go. Yeah, well, we've talked about the block calving herds utilizing grass, maybe we should just push that on a bit more. They need to utilize more homegrown products, to produce them. Even if they have a slight hit in milk yield. But I'm sure that will save them money in the long term. You know, it's not... What's the word I'm trying to say here? It's not just a coincidence, but for example, two of my customers, Nixon Farms and Stephen Pickles, they're in the top 1% of producers for their milk buyers on carbon footprint and they are crossbreeding- doing a structured crossbreeding program. What else do we need to be aware of as farmers for the future? We need to be aware of what the public think. For example, the public voice is becoming more dominant and maybe they want to see cows outside grazing and in lush, grassy fields. I know us as farmers don't always see that as the right way or the right thing for the cow. But the general public, as they buy our products, they have a big part to say. We've got to be more aware of, let's say, the carbon footprint, we've got to be more aware of how we produce our forages, making use of slurries and farmyard manures, etc., And as I've mentioned, making use of home grown produce or feed. Yeah. And utilizing, you know, you mentioned crossbreeding a few times. It could be also, I guess, sexed semen and beef semen, trying to utilize some of that. At VikingGenetics we're working with saved feed with lots of stuff going on. Yeah, exactly. Well, for example, I would say the majority of farmers who are doing the three way structured crossbreeding program, i.e. ProCROSS, they are using dairy sexed semen on their cows and they're using beef for anything that they don't want to breed or anything that would be slightly out of the block. And what they find is that the fertility of these animals is so much better that they don't have to worry. I think sexing technology has advanced so much that sex straws are still very fertile. Plus you've got the fertility of the cow there and that's just a win-win situation. So, if we summarize - what are the three most important things a farmer can do today to optimize his seasonal calving herd? He needs to look at his farm. The area he’s in. The rainfall he has. The type of service he has. He also needs to look at what stock he's got. And then, in my opinion, he needs to come up with a breeding plan, which we do at VikingGenetics. And it needs to have structure to it. And I think my last bit of advice would be to do it, get on and do it now. It works. Yeah, there's enough proof and evidence out there globally to prove it works. Just do it. Thanks for joining the BreedCast today. Together with our guest, Chris, we've looked at seasonal calving and how you as a farmer can get the most out of this farming system to meet future demands. If you'd like to learn more, please visit our seasonal calving area on VikingGenetics.com. Thank you, Chris, for sharing your extensive knowledge with us. Thank you to everyone out there for tuning in to the BreedCast. If you have an idea for a topic in cattle breeding that you'd like us to focus on, please visit, BreedCast.com or message us on the VikingGenetics Facebook page. My name is Hielke Wiersma. Please join me for the next episode of the BreedCast with more tips to you as a farmer on innovative breeding solutions.