BlO—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 12,1982
Holstein popularity leads the daily industry
LANCASTER Holstems have
contributed to the good life of
American farm families for more
than 100 years. Their ability to
profitably produce high quality,
nutritious milk under all climates
and a variety of management
systems has made them one of the
most popular dairy breeds in
America, according to the Holstein
Association of Brattleboro, Vt.
Holstems are number one both in
milk production and in income
over feed costs. U.S. Holstems
offer the world’s dairymen an
opportunity to reach the same
level of total production with fewer
cows and less energy.
But how did this all come about 9
The Holstein cow originated in
Europe. Her parents were the
black cows and the white cows of
the Batavians and the Fnesians,
two migrant European tribes, who
moved together into the fertile
Rhine Delta region about 2,000
years ago.
That Rhineland region became
the Netherlands and for many
years the Holstein cow was bred
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through a process of ruthless
culling to obtain those animals
which would make the very best
use of the area’s most abundant
resource, grass.
Much later, after the New World
was settled and markets began to
develop for milk in America,
forward-looking American
breeders turned to Holland for
their seed-stock.
Winthrop Chenery, a
Massachusetts breeder, purchased
a Holland cow from a master of a
Dutch sailing vessel who had
landed a cargo at the Boston port.
The cow had furnished the crew
with fresh milk during the voyage
She proved to be such a satisfac
tory producer that Chenery made
later importations in 1857,1859 and
1861. Many breeders soon joined
the race to establish the Holstein
upon these shores.
But, after approximately 8,800
animals had been imported, cattle
disease broke out in Europe.
Imports ceased. No longer were
seed-stock animals available from
the old country.
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And so, the American breeders
gathered together, formed then
associations, merged them in 1885
into the Holstem-Fnesian
Association of America, and with
their own Herd Book and their own
foundation stock, they set about
the tremendous task of building
their own Holstein breed.
Today’s Holstein cow is a large,
stylish animal, with outstanding
milk producing capability and
distinctive color markings of black
and white or red and white.
A healthy, newborn Holstein calf
will weigh 90 pounds, or more, at
birth. A mature cow, in milk,
should weigh about 1,500 pounds
and stand 58 inches at the withers.
The breed is homed, but horns
are rarely seen on the animals
because they are removed or
prevented from growing by
dairymen for the sake of safety
and good management
The Holstein has emerged as the
major dairy breed in the United
States. Holstems are raised suc
cessfully in every state and
produce 85 percent of all the milk
consumed in the country. Unex
celled production, physical
adaptability to commercial con
ditions, greater income over feed
costs, longer productive herdlife
and higher salvage value are
major contributing characteristics
for the breed’s popularity and
dominance.
It’s a staggering fact that of the
11 million milk cows in the country,
more than 9 million are Holstems.
They are bred, raised and milked
by about 300,000 dairy farmers,
who use a variety of management
systems to improve their herds’
productivity and profitability in
each region of the country.
The strength and ruggedness of
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Holsteins allow them to adapt
easily to a wide range of climatic
variations. They produce well in
the hot, and areas of the south
west, the" tropical climates of
Florida and Louisiana, the high
altitudes of the Rocky Mountains
and the temperate environment of
the Com Belt and Atlantic states.
Wisconsin, New York, Penn
sylvania, Minnesota and California
lead the nation in numbers of
Holstein cows. Herd sizes range
from 30 to 3,000, with West Coast
herds tending to be larger than
average.
One and one half million of the
country’s Holstems are registered
in the national herdbook of the
Holstem-Fnesian Association of
America, allowing then- ancestry
to be traced back to the original
importations. This population is
used as the source of genetically
superior breeding stock for the
entire industry.
Because of their superior per-
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formance, Holsteins have earned
worldwide acceptance In recent
comparison tests in Germany, the
offspring of U S. Holstein bulls out
yielded offspring of German bulls
by more than 2,300 pounds of milk
and 75 pounds of fat per year. In
the Netherlands, where Holsteins
originated, crossbreeding ex
periments with Dutch Fnesians
resulted in a 1,625 pound milk
increase and 17 pound butterfat
increase over the native cattle.
U.S. Holsteins, completing their
first lacations in Eastern Europe,
produced twice as much milk as
the native cows.
Such convincing evidence of
Holstein’s production superiority
lias created an active export
market. Currently, U.S. Holstein
females, bulls and frozen semen
are being exported to about 50
countries and used extensively to
improve foreign food supplies and
dairy farmer income.