Nuffield #4 The Week of Living Danishly (Day 1)
So after almost a year of waiting, late last night I finally touched down on global soil as a Nuffield Scholar (note that I didn’t write “foreign”, as both Scotland and Norfolk are certainly that). Although I’ve spent most of the past 24 hours in a mask, COVID seemed a million miles away as RyanAir squished us like sardines into a transfer bus (unsurprisingly, the flight was delayed by two hours as the first aeroplane actually broke down), and not at any point was I asked for a COVID test result or proof of vaccination.
The weekend got off to a gentle start as I stopped twice on the way to Manchester to stay with friends. With lots going on at the farm and at work I did feel guilty about leaving, but I did also draw a perverse pleasure from spending most of Sunday sitting in the airport, breathing into a mask, and reading a whole book in one sitting (broken only to attempt to find food, a bleak prospect when half the restaurants were shut and the rest had ran out of most of their menu).
After a spectacularly short hotel stay (about three hours of sleep) in a hotel in Copenhagen airport I set off on another flight- this time to the Jutland city of Aalborg. The plane was barely in the clouds before we swooped back for landing, cruising over a landscape of ruler straight roads, flat green fields, and squares of woodland turning russet red.
Perhaps the most concerning part of this trip was my decision to hire a car, as I didn’t want to be at the mercy of lifts and public transport. Given that my sole overseas driving experience has been in Australia (a country where, crucially, they drive on the left hand side of the road) I wasn’t really that happy about the prospect. At least, I told myself, I was getting in in Aalborg, not in Rome or Los Angeles or Paris.
However, sitting behind the wheel on the left hand side of the car, I had a problem,. No matter how many times I jigged the USB cord, turned the bluetooth on and off, opened the map app, and Googled “how to pair iPhone with Peugeot 208”, the car did nothing but flatly inform me that it wasn’t compatible with my device.
Thankfully, I was in Aalborg, and so I left everything in said car and walked back to the terminal, where the incredibly nice Alamo rental car lady actually patted me on the back and walked out to help me. When she couldn’t fix it either, she brought out a Garmin GPS in a little case.
That’s the thing about Denmark; one day in and I can only tell you how nice everyone is. Everyone. Reception staff working the midnight to 7am shift, shopkeepers, semen salespeople. They also clock off at 3pm (more further down) so perhaps that is why.
Danish people are also almost uniformly tall and attractive. At five four, I suspect that the car rental lady was actually patting me because I’m the same height as her primary school aged grandchildren. And everyone is blonde.
Once out of the airport it was pretty much straight onto the motorway heading south. This is the main road to Aarhus, Denmark’s second city, but the road was two lanes and the traffic was light. The cars that were there weren’t in a rush, and it was a fairly unstressful way to get to grips with driving the way most of the world do it. What I saw of the Danish countryside was flat, and mostly arable crops. In total i saw two fields of cows (perhaps unsurprising as it is November) and not even a suggestion of the pigs that make Danish bacon famous.
Viking Genetics
The purpose for the trip south was to visit Viking Genetics, a breeding company who sell 90% of Denmark’s semen and who have helped me put together most of this trip. They have a really exciting portfolio of beef and dairy bulls, and I found it really interesting to learn about how they select beef bulls for the stud, and pre-empt certain breeds through targeting desirable bloodlines, and carrying out embryo transfers.
I visited their stud farm (didn’t actually see the animals) where they stand 450 bulls, and the headquarters where their Danish breeding advisors work from when selling semen and working with farmers on breeding plans. Here’s a bit of what I learnt.
Danish Cattle Industry
Dairy is Denmark’s biggest cattle industry. Of the semen sold, just 3% goes to beef herds, and those tend to be small, often ran by people who also work full time jobs. Most of the beef comes from the dairy herd, a mix of older cows and ten month old animals. Beef from older animals is mostly imported, and so Denmark has scope to grow that sector.
The average herd size in Denmark is 200 cows, with Jersey herds (who make up 14% of the national herd) being slightly larger. Around 20% of herds are organic, and 45% graze. 90% of milk is sold to Arla. Some herds are still tethered, but investment in the last 20 years means that the majority are now housed in cubicles or straw yards.
Male sorted beef semen is one of their products, and one that we discussed throughout the day as a way to increase the value of beef calves. I was interested to not hear any real discussion around farmer concerns about conception rate- my concern with sexed beef semen would be that cows with poorer fertility tend to be served to beef, so why add to their disadvantage by sexing it? Danish farmers don’t seem to have that worry.
My interest in Denmark was mostly around their ethical practices- they are a few years ahead of the UK in terms of their dairy bull calf strategy, and they have a fair amount of cow calf contact herds (which I will learn about later this week).
Denmark’s interest in eliminating dairy bull calf euthanasia stems from, I was told, initial concerns about the food waste of not utilising calf meat, rather than a strict ethical stance. This turned farmers towards sexed semen, and a commitment to end all euthanasia by 1st January, 2022 has pushed that further. This is particularly marked in Jerseys; last month 92% of Jersey semen sold was sexed. Norway’s proportion of sexed Jersey semen is actually higher, but I was told that their driver is breeding surplus heifers to export.
Other breeds have also lifted their sexed semen use, although Holstein calves currently have a market to be exported to the Netherlands for veal, or reared in Denmark for the same.
The current drive is then for selecting cows for sexed semen through genomic testing to identify the best, and choosing the right beef bulls for the rest. There is a specific Nordic bull proof for beef on dairy, which shows big differences in bull index when a trait- for example calving ease- is compared. A bull with a good calving ease on beef cows can show difficult calvings in dairy, and this index also shows calf survival and growth.
I really liked how this index was used to help farmers choose the best bulls, and recognised that beef semen has two very different uses.
Danish Blue is the best selling beef breed, but organic herds are not allowed to use it due to the perceived risk of difficult calvings. Crossed with a Jersey, the calves can hold their own against Holstein bulls reared for beef.
There is also a market here for Jersey beef, with restaurants recognising its superior taste- while there are no generic outlets, it seems that Jersey breeders are expected to find local markets for any bull calves born as a result of sexed semen not being completely sorted.
Cow selection for sexed is done mostly through genomic testing, and fertility is maximised through use of technology. Viking Genetics reports a 8-10% lower conception rate on sexed. There are few block calving herds in Denmark, so these figures relate mostly to all year round calving herds.
Data
One of the things that did strike me about Denmark, and which did send me straight back to horses, was the use of performance recording. In the UK milk recording isn’t done by all farmers, and nor is recording of which bull sired which cow. In Denmark there is compulsory recording of all births, weights (either in kgs or in small/medium/large), calving ease, every vet treatment administered, compulsory weights at older ages, and slaughterhouse data. This means that there is a wealth of information on performance of different bloodlines. In the same way that continental sport horse breeders long excelled in breeding competition horses because of their systems of grading and recording. Danish dairy farmers are reaping the rewards of having the data needed to choose the best bulls for dairy beef.
Viking Genetics are also part of SimHerd, a piece of software which simulates different breeding scenarios- % of sexed semen, beef, and conventional- and looks at that option’s profitability per year. Using a farm’s fertility data, calf mortality, and replacement rate, it can model for individual farms, and looks like an incredibly exciting tool for making breeding decisions.
ProCross
In the UK we’re all getting a bit excited about Viking’s ProCross breed, due to its potential benefits as a cow that can perform well and live a long life, but also produce calves with better values for beef. Interestingly the ProCross isn’t widely seen in Denmark, but the company is seeing lots of interest across the world, from countries as diverse as South Africa and Russia.
Russia are also importing Jerseys, and looking for the best, which drives the demand for genetically testing cows, and using sexed semen to breed surplus heifers to sell.
Mink
During the pandemic, Denmark’s entire mink population was culled due to their hosting a mutation of the virus. The industry was compensated but is currently in something of a limbo, as the government won’t give a date for re-stocking, or even state whether that will be allowed at all. With the shift in the breeding strategy in Denmark, and potentially sheds being empty, I can’t help but wonder if some of the 1400 mink farmers will see a segue into rearing beef.
Lessons of the Day
At the start of any trip like this I am concerned that I’ve come to the right places and asked the right questions. Viking Genetics were brilliant hosts and gave me a comprehensive run down of the Danish dairy industry, as well as vital information on Denmark’s particular strategies, and the steps that they have taken to make the industry more ethical (and potentially more environmentally friendly, as beef from dairy = lower carbon footprint, as does more efficient management). My key learnings would be:
Jersey beef has a market of its own, but it is a top end one
Jersey x beef calves can hold their own
Heifer beef calves may not match the growth rates needed for Denmark’s ten month finishing age, but there are options for slower growing animals to graze poorer grass and establish their own market
Beef from dairy has environmental benefits, even it that starts with displacing imported beef
Beef semen for dairy cows needs to be evaluated differently to beef for beef
Calving ease is king
An industry can make a seismic shift to sexed semen, but will need some help along the way
Selection of best cows starts with genomics, but can work with phenotypic data for cross breeds
We need comprehensive ways to show farmers how using sexed and beef semen can impact the profitability and carbon footprint of their herds
ProCross and Viking Genetics’s other three way breeding strategies have great potential in the UK for producing a cow that has milk and meat value, and therefore can champion efficient milk production, integrated beef, and be better for the environment
Data = better
Spread the risk with beef bulls as well as sexed semen bulls- dairy farmers already use different dairy bulls, but there are still some who use one sexed and one beef bull. Using multiple bulls can overcome issues with fertility, but also any risks associated with one bull throwing big calves
Male sexed beef is often overlooked but really does have a role to play
Living Danishly…
A little tribute to one of my favourite authors, Helen Russell.
On leaving VG at 3.30 today (a Monday) the roads were rammed with cars. Danes really do leave work early.. No wonder they’re so nice.
