The benefits of crossbreeding include better feed efficiency, higher fertility and longer life.
Mike Osmundson of California began in 1999 to search for a good three-way cross and settled on Holsteins, Montebeliardes from France and VikingRed from Nordic countries.
Montebeliardes are durable, low-input and fertile. They contribute to the 10 to 15 per cent less feed the crossbreeds need to produce their milk.
The VikingRed are hardy with few health issues and high fertility.
“The resulting off-spring are an interesting variety of color patterns, but uniform in size, and easily achieve the desired goals,” said Glenn Carlisle, of Carlisle Dairy + Forage Consulting, LLC, of Dover, Ohio.
He noted that 90 per cent of purebred Holsteins are descended from six sires.
The red in the crossbreds shows up in succeeding generations, they are shorter and not as tall as Holsteins.
Carlisle said their milk has more butterfat, protein and other solids.
The cross-bred cows are more profitable than their Holstein herdmates, according to the report from a 10-year study with high-performance Minnesota dairy herds.
The study was conducted by three researchers from the University of Minnesota. The final results of the study were presented in a July 2019 conference in the Netherlands.
