EHRC Conference

EHRC Conference Hungary 2017

The 15th European Holstein and Red Holstein Confederation Conference was hosted by the Hungarian Herdbook on 18th and 19th September.

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three bridges.

Agriculture was part of the collective system under Soviet rule. Much of the land has now returned to original owners.

President Kathleen Watson and I attended as delegates from IHFA. We were accompanied

by Evelyn O’Sullivan, Cork Convention Bureau and Failte Ireland, who assisted in our bid to host the Conference in 2021. I am glad to report that our bid was successful. Please save the date for 2021.

The Holstein Friesian breed was introduced in the late 60s and early 70s with the importation of 25,000 heifers from North America. These have been kept pure and not crossed with the native population of Simmenthal and Hungarian Grey.

Hungary has a population of 10 million with 4 million living in the capital Budapest and its environs. The country was under Soviet rule following the Second World War, achieving political freedom after the fall of communism 1989-91. They are EU members since 2004.

As a result of collectivisation, the dairy herd is concentrated in 500 farms delivering 80% of the national processed milk pool. Average production is 10,000 litres, increasing from 7,000 litres in 2001. The average dairy herd size is 400 Holstein Friesian cows.

The country is landlocked, divided by the river Danube which also divides the capital Budapest, with Buda south of the river and Pest north of the river. Both are joined by

We were made very welcome by our hosts and everyone was very hospitable. Great emphasis was placed on their culture and artisan foods.

IHFA President Kathleen Watson with her husband John, presented with the host bell by Suzanne Harding, Secretary General of EHRC, with Evelyn O’Sullivan of Cork Convention Bureau and Charles Gallagher, chief executive of IHFA at the EHRC Conference 2017 in Budapest

The Conference Topics Claw health Presentation by Christen Bergsten, Professor Swedish University of Agriculture.

digital and inter digital dermatitis accounts for 50% of infection.

However, prevention is preferable through flooring, bedding, hygiene, nutrition and genetics.

There is need to gather more data. The Nordic countries have the best database and introduced claw health into their Index in 2005. Their data indicates a difference of 3%

Lameness is a worldwide problem with incidence ranging from 10% to 40 % in herds.

Claw and leg lesions can be treated. Sole ulcer accounts for 90% of claw horn disorder and

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in sole ulcer prevalence between the top 100 bulls and the bottom 100 bulls.

it out to 650 farms with 150,000 cows genomically tested. All young stock and cows in first lactation were tested. The cost is €19.50 per female.

W Duursma from Holland is a dairy farmer and is using genomic mating in his herd. Last year he milked 240 cows with 2.6 employees.

Output was 2.25m litres milk which equates to 940,000 litres and 81 cows manged per employee. He estimated that g-mating is adding €1.69c/litre. His breeding goal weightings are production 39%, health 39% and conformation 22%.

Next was a presentation by K Stock, VIT Germany on standardising trait description and recording methodology. They found heritabilities varying from 5 to 15%.

The presentation by N Charfeddine, Conafe, Spain, described how they are working with foot trimmers since 2012. There are 30 trimmers scoring in 1,800 herds with 180K cows recorded. They have indicated a farm cost of €48 per cow or €3,276 average per farm to treat. Heritability in their study indicates claw health at 5% heritable.

Genomics In a presentation by Egbert Fedderson he described how the German breeding organisations were introducing a new genomic service to establish a female training population, KUHVISION. They have rolled

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In discussion it became clear that he was using 60 bulls per year for mating the herd and that he had disappointing results in some years but that the overall average was on an upward curve.

Sexed Semen J. Ethema of Viking Genetics presented a paper on use of sexed semen and use of genomics in their research herds. The additional value of using sexed semen was €20 per cow per year.

Genomics was capable of adding a further €6 to €10.

Feed Efficiency

Sue Bryan NWF UK consultancy gave some stats on how cow size and chest width has increased since the 1930s and that DM intake of 21.5 kgs per head per day is required for a 550 kg body weight - head room at the feeding barrier is critical for maximum intakes.

G De Jong of Wageningen research centre Holland gave a presentation on BV’s for feed efficiency. 3,200 cows in first, second and third lactations were studied.The question he posed was the options as to produce more milk with the same size cow or produce more from the same amount of feed?

Long-lasting cows There was a presentation on ketosis by Z M Kowalski from Poland where they carried out a major study.

Heritability of dry matter Intakes varies from 0.28 for lactation 1 to 0.2 for lactation 3, with a standard deviation of 1.24 kgs per day lactation 1 to 1.5kgs per cow per day for lactation 3. The relationship between body weight and milk yield response is low around 10%. Variation in intake in bull progeny can vary from 1 to 3kgs per day.

R Finocchiaro gave a presentation from Anafi, Italy. She described feed efficiency as the quantity of milk production per quantity of dry matter intake. Feed cost is 50% of the cost of production so improvement in efficiency has a large effect on profitability. Feed efficiency is difficult to measure and is expensive. It needs more research.

The next presentation was by Celine Le Laurent from Tregor Holsteins, France. They have a herd of 110 cows. She spoke on the role of the Association and how independent advice was key in the modern age where there in undue influence from commercial operators with a vested interest.

The final presentation was by Gabor Bakus, Hungary, around managing cows in a large scale environment and the challenges that this poses for effective management. The question posed is long-lasting cows versus economical lifetime. Quality water, air and feed are key ingredients that need to be considered as well as breeding, genetic advancement and growth targets.

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The day finished with a Gala dinner where everyone enjoyed a lovely meal and entertainment.

The second day consisted of the General Assembly of EHRC in the morning, two farm visits and a visit to an AI station in the afternoon.

General Assembly There was a presentation by Interbull for the delegates at the General Assembly which gave an update on proposals for breed associations from the ICAR Conference held earlier in the year in Edinburgh, Scotland.

1. GenoEx-PSE Exchanging SNP data for parentage. Interbull maintain that the data would only be used for parentage service. Discussions around ownership, control, security, process, charges into the future are among key considerations.

2. InterGenomics Holstein This group is set up to give critical mass to countries outside of Eurogenomics and the North America & Canadian group in sharing DNA data. IHFA were asked to join and exchange data. How will an international evaluation through this group help with reliability of the breeding values is for discussion with ICBF.

3. Exchange of recessive traits.

The proposal is to exchange data on genetic traits three times a year when the breeding values are sent to Interbull. This is probably a good proposal as recessives will be identified in a timely manner. I raised the issue around lethal gene and to find a more appropriate description that will not alarm the consumer!

They are proposing that all terms are covered under the exchange of genetic traits.

I made a presentation representing IHFA in our bid to host the European Conference in 2021 and the European Judges Workshop in 2019.

We were successful on both counts. This will help focus an international audience on Ireland and the quality of our cows.

Champion of the Show

Judging of the Hungarian Holstein Show

The final day took us on a visit to a stud farm where horses were bred for carriage racing.

Then on to a Holstein Show. The number of classes were limited to cows in milk. The numbers and quality would be similar to a local county show. The judge was Soren Kristenson from Denmark who selected his cows on dairy strength and quality udders with full milk.

At the end of a long day we were treated to a boat cruise on the Danube which was a highlight of the tour. Budapest illuminated showing off its architecture and beautiful neoclassical buildings was an awesome sight.

Buildings such as Buda Castle, a medieval castle very much influenced by Turkish and Roman architecture.

The Champion and Reserve were two quality cows bred in the one herd, Holstein-Fritz tehen. This herd also exhibited at the recent European Show in Colmar, France.

I wish to thank IHFA for affording me the opportunity to represent the Association, EHRC Committee for a wonderful conference and the Hungarian Association who were marvellous hosts.

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