ProCROSS makes a lasting impression
Date Posted: 2nd October 2023
William Chestnutt has been crossbreeding for the last five years. After moving his dairy herd away from traditional pure Holstein cows, he has achieved encouraging results.
“ProCROSS is clear, and this is how I see it. Two breeds are better than three.”
William Chestnutt is a fourth-generation dairy farmer from the north coast of Northern Ireland, close to Portrush town. William has been working on the 360-acre family farm since 2010.
For the past five years, he and his father James have been crossbreeding their dairy herd, moving away from traditional pure Holstein cows. After two enlightening tours to learn about the benefits of crossbreeding, William decided ProCROSS was the system his farm needed.
Using the three breeds – Holstein, Montbeliarde and VikingRed – on a rotational basis is helping Willian develop the cow he wants that suits his system.
Five years later, William is seeing good results in terms of production, fertility, and cow efficiency, but his main goal is to increase longevity.
William and his father milk 255 cows with 80 replacements and 100 heifer calves. The herd is predominantly autumn calving with over 200 cows calving between the second week of September and the end of November.
The Chestnutts are using the ProCROSS three-breed rotation with Holstein, VikingRed and Montbeliarde. “At the, start our herd comprised all Holstein Friesian cows, so we bred them to either the VikingRed or Montbeliarde and then their offspring were crossed to whichever breed hadn't been used,” says William.
Their cows are milked twice per day, with a current 12-month rolling production average of 8,900 litres at 4.12% fat and 3.46% protein.
“As of this year, we are using AI on all cows. When choosing bulls to use the four main traits I look for are good fertility, protein, fat, and yield,” he says, highlighting his breeding strategy.
“With each breed, we have a different focus. For example, when choosing a VikingHolstein bull I strictly look for a good fertility score and longevity. With Montbeliarde I like to keep an eye on temperament and calving ease,” he adds.
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