Nuffield #7 The Week of Living Danishly (Day 4)
Day four and I headed through the thickest, coldest fog (past two road accidents…) an hour and a half south west to start a day of farm visits. My day, organised by a researcher at Aarhus University and the helpful people at Viking Genetics, took in three very different farms.
Kittens at the Jersey farm, they had a calf pen to themselves
Foster Cow System
The first herd farm had a 130 cow organic herd, made up of a mix of Holstein, Jersey, and Danish Red genetics. The main milking herd was milked through two robots, but a group of around 15 cows were kept apart and not milked- the nursing cow group.
The farmers had previously tried a dam rearing system, but it had not worked (high SCC, low milk production, reluctance to visit the robot, difference in quarter fill confusing the robots, calves not eating any concentrate or silage). They had been running a foster cow system for over two years, and consumer demand was their main reason for doing it.
The farm was one of three now supplying branded cow calf contact milk through Thise, one of Denmark’s organic dairies, but they were not receiving any extra for doing this, despite the milk retailing for more than the organic product.
Cows calve in individual pens, and stay there for 24-48 hours to make sure that the calf can suckle. Pateurised and frozen colostrum is also thawed and each calf receives 4 litres by bottle- less for small Jersey types. After this the pair move into a straw group pen next to the robot. The cow has access to the robot but the calf will also suckle, as they feel that getting a full course of colostrum is critical. This relationship lasts for between one and two weeks. The cow is then taken into the milking herd, and the calf and another of the same age are fostered onto a foster cow.
The foster cows are selected as barren cows, usually in their fifth or sixth lactation, who have quiet temperaments. They are referred to as retired cows. Fostering starts in a small pen to make sure that all parties take. The farm works on the basis of each calf needing around 12 litres of milk a day, so the cow’s yield is taken as a gauge and each cow will foster between one and three calves based on her production- but usually two.
Some foster cows fail at the job application stage and won’t foster calves, in which case another cow is tried. They are kept in a pen for up to a week, and then move into a bigger group. These groups are put together so that calves are never with other calves more than a month older than them. In the summer they go outside and strip graze, but in the winter stay inside and eat a TMR ration. Today the milking herd had access to outside, but were choosing to stay in- a local farmer had zero grazed a field so all animals were having grass and silage mix.
Pens inside are designed so that each cow and her calves has 20m2 of straw yard. There is also a kindergarten area for calves to have concentrate feed and minerals. Bulls are castrated (after weaning they are sold to an organic rearer to raise for beef) and all calves are well handled.
The weaning process starts at three months, where the cow with the oldest pair of calves is taken out. Cows gradually leave the group until only one is left, at which point they move to a system where the calves can access the cow but the cow cannot access the calves. The gate between the two is gradually shut for longer and longer period of time, until the calves and cow can see each other, but can’t touch. At that point weaning is complete.
Depending on the cow, some will foster a second pair of calves, and others will then be culled. The foster cows are fed a milking cow ration to maintain yield, which means they are in excellent condition, and the farmers believe that the system gives the foster cows motivation and a purpose and this can give older animals a new lease of life.
Breeding wise the farm uses sexed semen on the best cows (judged by robot data) and favourites, and the rest to Charolais and Limosin. All heifers are served with Angus. Dry cows are vaccinated with Rotavec Corona (or the Danish equivalent), and the herd tests quarterly for Johne’s disease as part of their milk contract. They would not run the system if they had the disease.
They are in a discussion group with some other cow calf contact farmers, and think their system is a good one. They have tried full day dam contact but couldn’t get it to work on their milk contract and infrastructure, and think that half day contact would be a challenge because of separating into two herds and needing an extra shed. They also like that their system gives the calves constant cow contact. They also noted that some cows refuse to suckle their own calves in the initial contact period, and those calves have to be fostered early and/or bottle fed colostrum if required.
Jersey Herd
My second visit was to a pedigree Jersey herd of 160 cows, milked through two GEA robots. The purpose of this visit was to learn more about how the breeding plans i discussed earlier in the week are implemented on farm.
Heifers are reared on the farmer’s father’s farm, and both they and the dairy cows wear heat detection collars. The system is set up so that the AI technician (from Viking Genetics) is automatically contacted when a cow is bulling, the robot drafts her out, and the breeding plan is there for the technician to know which bull to use.
30% of the herd are served to Danish Blue, and the rest to sexed semen. Cows get beef if they are not pedigree Jersey, have a low genetic merit, or have been served sexed twice already and not gotten in calf. Heifers get four shots at sexed and then have Aberdeen Angus. Beef semen usage could be higher, but the farm breeds surplus Jersey heifers and sells the lower index animals for export.
The dairy x beef calves are sold to a neighbour (a retired dairy farmer) at between two and eight weeks old. They have the same treatment as heifer calves- three litres of colostrum and then milk powder (the beef calves actually have a litre more of milk to help them grow faster)- and are kept in pens in the same mobile calf houses. There are very few Jersey bulls born on the farm (because of the 100% sexed semen usage for dairy) but any that are born will be castrated and reared through for beef on the farm.
Calf Rearer
My final farm visit of the trip was to Kjargaarden, the second largest calf rearer in Denmark. They sell on 3600 calves a year to Danish Crown, and there were 2800 animals on the site when I visited. The business also owns four farms for finishing pigs, and 1500ha of arable land, mostly potatoes and malting barley.
Calves are bought in from 25 dairy farms, which range in size from 100 to 1000 cows. None are Jersey herds, and the calves that are purchased are now 65% dairy x beef because of the increase in sexed semen usage. Calves are collected and brought to the site every other Monday, and must be a minimum of 50kg. The age range is three to six weeks old.
On arrival they are split into groups according to type- Holstein bulls, dairy x beef bulls, and dairy x beef heifers. They are fed milk until they weigh 80kg, and are then weaned. A few weeks after weaning they move into bigger groups, and then onto cubicles.
The whole system is indoors, and two different TMR rations are prepared according to calf age. Five full time members of staff and one part time work with the calves. No calves are dehorned or castrated, and all are sold at around ten months of age to Danish Crown under the Danish Calf Concept. Some are also part of a Future Beef Project and so have their intakes and growth rates measured to look at sire performance.
A long row of pens for the youngest calves. There are two facing rows, with some individual pens for calves who are not good drinkers. The total area has space for 700 calves, but some are always empty and cleaned waiting for the next arrivals.
Supplier farmers are paid based on the calf’s weight, genetic merit, and breed. As usual in Denmark data is king and the farm keeps meticulous records of calf weights and health. All staff members have access to the data by app and can check each calf’s breeding and source farm. Data can be checked between source farms e.g. to check if one farm has calves that have a higher incidence of illness.
Dairy x beef bulls grow around 100g/day more than the purebred Holsteins and the dairy x beef heifers, who return similar growth rates.
The calves were kept in a mixture of buildings, but lots of work had been done to improve them, including installation of fans. Slurry from the cubicle sheds (slats) and straw from the yards was collected and taken to an anaerobic digester.
Lessons Learnt
Foster cow systems can work inside and outside
Foster cow systems can work where dam rearing isn’t feasible
Keep reared calves in groups of similar age, and handle regularly
Colostrum intake is crucial, even when calves won’t be artificially reared
Kindergarten areas must be Jersey proof
Farmers in Denmark are also challenged by cow-calf contact systems where there is no additional return for their milk
Foster cows can rear multiple pairs of calves
Fostering can have psychological benefits for cows e.g. second lease of life
Mechanical straw dispensing is a useful labour saving device in Denmark
Data is king, queen, and prime minister
Treat all calves equally
Medium sized herds in Denmark are turning to robots to make up for lack of labour, bigger ones have to use rotaries and so can’t fix the issue with automation
Calf rearers have a choice of supplying farmers, so dairy farmers must keep them sweet through delivering healthy, well grown calves with the genetic potential to perform as beef calves
Holstein bulls are nasty and will beat up dairy x beef calves- so keep separate
The increase in sexed semen usage is great for dairy farmers AND for calf rearers
There are limited options for Jersey bull calves, but farmers can accommodate the small number born from sexed semen by rearing alongside heifers to finish- either for sale or own consumption
