Productive and Reproductive Performance of Crossbred cows of North American Holstein, New Zealand Friesian, New Zealand Jersey or Swedish Red-and-White Sires and Uruguayan Holstein Dams in a Seasonal-calving, Predominantly Pasture-based System

Abstract Text: The objective of this study was to compare the productive and reproductive performance of crossbred cows sired by North American Holstein (NAH), New Zealand Friesian (NZF), New Zealand Jersey (NZJ) or Swedish Red-and-White (RWS) sires and with Uruguay Holstein (UH) dams on a seasonal, predominantly pasture-based system. A total of 1,295 herd-test records from 280 cows and fertility measures were analyzed with linear models. The NZJxUH cows were the most efficient converters of pasture dry matter and supplements into fat and protein because their lower live weights, but had similar economic merit to NZFxUH and SRWxUH cows. For a seasonal calving system, NZJxUH cows had better reproductive performance than the other crossbred cows.

Keywords:

dairy cattle

crossbreeding

fertility