V.l 1"'/ f~ F HleH BREED FOR MY HERD" This circular * Contentj HERD DEVELOPMENT IS A PAGE describes the LONG-TIME JOB.... ........... ... 4 WHAT TO CONSIDER IN CHOOSING A BREED....... ... EARLY ANCESTRY OF MODERN history, CATTLE .... .. .. .. ........ ... ... BROWN SWISS ...................... 11 Excellent Milk Producers. .. ......... 11 Characteristics Are Well Defined.. .. 12 characteristics, . Brown Swiss in the United States. ... 14 Probably Oldest of Cattle Breeds. ... 16 Their Homeland Is an Unusual Country . ........................ 17 and special No Recent Changes in Type......... 18 Wide Distribution in Other Countries 18 H O LSTEIN-FRIESIANS .............. 19 adaptations Holstein Production Records. ....... 19 Do Best Where Feed Is Abundant... 20 Distinguishing Characteristics... ..... 20 First Pure Breed in United States. .. 22 O ne of the Oldest Breeds..... ...... 25 of our five A Nearly Ideal Homeland... ....... 25 Found in All Major Dairy Countries 27 JERSEyS ........ .. ... ..... ......... 28 major breeds Milk Is Richest in Butterfat......... 28 Smallest of Major Dairy Breeds... .. 29 Breeders Stress Family Lines........ 31 Adapted to Many .Conditions....... 31 of dairy Rapid Popularity in the United States 32 The Home of the Jersey Breed...... 34 Jerseys Are an Old Breed.......... 35 Great Improvement Has Been Made .. 36 cattle Jerseys Enjoy World-Wide Favor.... 37 GUERNSEYS ..... ................... 38 Milk Rich in Butterfat and Color.... 38 Guernsey Characteristics.... .. ... .... 39 Well-Defined Family Lines.. ....... 41 Well Adapted to Most Surroundings.. 41 Guernseys in the United States.... .. 43 Same General O rigin as Jerseys..... 44 Development as a Distinct Breed.... 46 Popular in English-Speaking Countries 47 A YRSHIRES. ............... .... 48 Ayrshires Are Uniform Producers .... 48 Distinctive Ayrshire Characteristics.. 49 Ayrshires Have Wide Adaptability. 50 Early Ayrshire Type in New England 51 Urbana, Illinois December, 1942 Present American Type Like Scottish 52 Developed in a Severe Environment.. 54 Coo{>erative Extension Work in Product of Mixed Ancestry.......... 55 Agnculture and Home Economics: University of Illinois, College of Youngest of the Dairy Breeds. ..... 56 Agriculture, and the United States Distribution Almost World-Wide ..... 57 Department of Agriculture cooper­ ating. H. P. RUSK, Director. Acts FURTHER REFERENCES. .. .. ...... 59 approved by Congress May 8 and June 30, 1914. * ' STATISTICS.... ...................... 60 BREEDS OF DAIRY CATTLE By E. E. ORMISTON, Associate in Dairy Production ANY DAIRY farmers have never seriously faced the question of choosing one breed of cattle with which to work. Conse­ M quently great numbers of dairy herds are made up of animals 9f more than one breed or of mixed breeding- and this despite the fact that such mixed herds are seldom productive enough to be profit­ able. Unless a dairyman confines his efforts to a single breed and strives to improve the herd thru better management and breeding prac­ tices, he will not consistently develop animals that are capable of high production. Farmers who have mixed herds and are interested in grading them up, and others who are just starting in the business of dairy farming, need to know the relative merits of the different dairy-cattle. breeds. They want to know which breed is best adapted to their particular con­ ditions, what is the average test of the milk of the different breeds, how much milk average individuals of the different breeds yield, and the relative merits of purebred and grade herds of a given breed. They also often inquire whether it is possible to develop superior animals by crossing breeds. The purpose of this circular is to answer such questions. In order that the characteristics and adaptations of the five major dairy breeds may be better understood, their origin and development are also described. The improved breeds of livestock, dairy cattle among them, which we accept today as a matter of course are in reality a priceless heritage. Only a few hundred years ago there were no recognized breeds; even within the memory of many present-day breeders remarkable improve­ ments have been made. The untiring efforts, the triumphs, disappoint­ ments, and painstaking care of the master stockmen have developed and molded the breeds generation after generation. The results of all of these efforts are now at our disposal. In accepting the steward­ ship of a breed, a herd owner should accept also the challenge to con­ tinue its improvement. Only three alternatives are open in the course a breed will take: mere perpetuation of numbers, decadence, or Im­ provement. The choice must be made by the breeders. 3 4 CIRCULAR No. 543 HERD DEVELOPMENT IS A LONG-TIME JOB To develop a uniform herd of animals which will breed true, so that each new generation may be regarded with confidence, is a long-time­ even a lifetime-undertaking; and one who is setting out to build up a dairy herd, either grade or registered, should undertake the job with full realization of that fact. He should decide on one breed, and then stay with it. If he has a herd of no particular breeding and wishes to "grade it up," he should select a registered sire and follow him with another of the same breed, and so on. Success is not likely to be at­ tained by frequent changing of breeds or by crossing breeds. Not necessarily a "purebred" business. That a dairy farmer, in order to make his business more profitable, should choose a definite breed and then confine his efforts to it, does not mean necessarily that he should go into the purebred business. As a matter of fact, he prob­ ably should not try to develop a registered herd unless ( 1 ) he is financially able to take the greater risk involved in owning the more expensive animals, and (2) he has some reasonable assurance that he has the interest and the skill necessary to select and develop superior animals that will further improve the breed. At present less than 5 percent of the cows that may be classed as representatives of one or the other of the major dairy breeds are registered in the various breed associations. That grade cows are not losing favor with dairymen is evident from the fact that while the total number of dairy cows in the country as a whole has increased about 4 million head since 1920, the total number of annual registra­ tions in the various breeds was less in 1940 than in 1920. Grade cows will undoubtedly continue to produce most of the nation's milk. They are cheaper to own than registered animals and thus involve less financial risk, and they can be graded up until they will produce milk practically as economically as the purebred animals. In dairy herd improvement associations in Illinois grade cows produced in 1939-40 an average of 796 pounds (8.8 percent) less milk an­ nually than the purebred cows, and 23 pounds (6.3 percent) less butter­ fat. 1 Part of this advantage was no doubt due to the better feeding and care given the registered herds; tho care and feeding are much the same among the herds in dairy herd improvement associations, and many of these herds, selected at random, contained both grade and T F. Kendrick. State summary report of dairy herd improvement associa­ tions for the testing year 1939-40. Bureau of Dairy Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture. BREEDS OF DAIRY CATTLE . 5 registered cows. There was in fact very little difference in the profit­ ableness of milk and butterfat pro,duction in the grade and in the registered herds. Special function of registered herds. While it is true that many grade herds are practically as economical producers of milk and butter­ fat as registered herds, and a registry certificate is 'no guarantee of high production, it is also true that high-producing grade herds have become high producers only thru the influence of registered bulls. Most high-producing grade cows are descended from registered bulls for the two or three preceding generations at least. Since purebred cattle are more homozygous (less variable) in their characters than are grade cattle, and therefore breed truer, there is little cause for fear that grade herds will ever entirely replace reg­ istered cattle. Purebred animals have an undisputed place in the hands of breeders who seek to develop superior strains for seed stock for the further improvement of both registered herds and grade herds. As grade herds improve and the spread between them and registered herds becomes narrower, still better registered bulls are needed in order to continue the improvement. The day is past when an animal in a commercial herd is to be looked upon with special favor and considered more valuable than another merely because it is registered. Since the improvement of dairy cattle depends upon the use that is made of superior purebred sires, the breeder of registered animals is at once faced with a challenge and a serious responsibility. He should be willing to accept both; or in fairness to his customers and to his own interests he should not engage in the purebred business. WHAT TO CONSIDER IN CHOOSING A BREED Five major dairy breeds-Ayrshire, Brown Swiss, Guernsey, Hol­ stein-Friesian, and Jersey-constitute about two-thirds of the approxi­ mately 36 million cattle of all ages being kept for dairy purposes in the United States in registered or grade herds. The other one-third of the dairy-cattle population includes mixed or scrub cattle of no particular breed, a larger number of dual-purpose or beef animals that are milked only part of the year or when prices are more favorable to dairy products than to beef, and some numerically minor dairy breeds." The major breeds are much alike in average productive capacity and general body conformation. All possess marked development of the mammary gland, with the rest of the body subordinate to it or de­ signed to contribute to its maximum functioning.