BAVARIAN FLECKVIEH Rebuild Dairy Herd

They believed the Fleckvieh, a
dairy breed from Germany, would
lengthen the longevity of their
cattle by adding physical strength
and body thickness to the cows
without decreasing milk production.
They also hoped the side
benefits of crossing with Fleckvieh
would increase feed efficiency of
the offspring and enhance the
value of crossbred steers for beef
production.
The performance of the young
cross-bred cattle suggests the
Fleckvieh influence is paying off.
So much so, in fact the Brauns
l The barn is home to 700 dairy cows.
BAVARIAN FLECKVIEH
Rebuild Dairy Herd
Braunsdale Farm, Canada
l Originally written by Raylene Nickel, published in New Holland News 2011-07-16
The black-and-white color of the Braun family’s dairy cows would usually mean they are Holsteins.
But a closer look shows subtle differences that suggest the work of another breed.
The unusual coloration comes from the crossbreeding of the Holsteins with Bavarian Fleckvieh.
Leo and Greg Braun, father-and-son dairy partners from Blumenort, Manitoba, began out-crossing
their 700-cow Holstein herd to Fleckvieh in 2007.
envision an eventual shift to 100
percent Fleckvieh genetics.
To make the switch they will breed
subsequent generations of crossbred
females to purebred Fleckvieh
bulls. With increasing generations
of Fleckvieh, the brown-andwhite
color of the Germany-bred
cattle will begin to dominate the
herd.
„With the first cross of Fleckvieh,
the most noticeable structural
changes in the heifers is more
muscling over the back along with
a wider, rounder rump“ said Greg.
„They have stronger legs than
straight Holsteins and a sharper
angle to the hooves, which corrects
a lot of foot problems often
associated with Holsteins.“
The improved hoof structure and
thicker muscling contribute to the
increased longevity for which
Fleckvieh is noted. Over time, the
Brauns believe, the Fleckvieh
influence will help them reduce
their annual cull rate to 20 percent.
„A typical cull rate in a Holstein
herd is 30 percent,“ said Greg. „In
North America it’s a struggle for
dairy producers to replace culled
animals annually simply because
life expectancy of Holsteins has
dropped so low. A lot of dairy
producers are turning to crossbreeding
in order to improve longevity.“
A lower incidence of post-calving
problems is another strength of
the Fleckvieh-cross females. „After
calving, the part-cross Fleckvieh
heifers have had fewer infections
and fewer metabolic problems.
Within 2 weeks they just fly
along,“ Greg said, „producing 66
pounds of milk a day. We’ve been
very impressed by their performance.“
12 FLECKVIEHWORLD 2011/2012

Braunsdale Farm, Canada
The Brauns have found calving
ease of the Fleckvieh crossbreds to
be similar to that of their Holsteins.
The disposition of the Fleckvieh
tends to be calmer and more
confident. Their milk tends to have
a higher protein and butterfat
content than that of Holsteins.
Feed savings is yet another benefit
of crossing with Fleckvieh. While
developing the first generation of
crossbred heifers, the Brauns fed
Fleckvieh crossbreds and purebred
Holstein heifers in the same
groups. They saw significant differences
in performance between
the two types of cattle.
„The Fleckvieh crosses out-performed
the Holsteins by half a score,
in terms of maintaining body
condition,“ said Greg. „Across the
board we’ve experienced a 20
percent reduction in the amount
of grain we feed to our young
stock. We saw that the crossbreds
were able to maintain and grow
with less grain than the Holsteins.
We’ve had to pull back on the
amount of grain in our heifer
rations.“
The increased feeding efficiency of
Fleckvieh cattle offers potential
for increasing earnings from
l The milking house of the braun family.
steers. When the Brauns produced
straight Holstein cattle, they
found that their Holstein bull
calves had little value when sold
either as young calves or heavier
steers headed to feedlots. Commercial
feeders typically sidestep
Holsteins because of reduced feed
efficiency.
The Fleckvieh-cross steers promise
a different feeding scenario.
Last year the Brauns experimented
with the feeding of a small
group of crossbred steers. They
fed the steers to finish weights
of 1400 to 1500 pounds at 15
to 17 months and marketed
them directly to a processing
plant.
„The performance of the steers
looks promising,“ said Greg. „It
appears that they can gain
weight like any other beef breed.
We see a lot of potential for
Fleckvieh steers to create additional
income for our farm.“
The enhanced feeding efficiency
of the Fleckviehs appears to
contribute to their ability to do
well on a high-forage ration. The
Brauns saw this in the young
stock grazing grass in the summer.
„The Fleckvieh-cross cattle
l Leo and Greg Braun, father-and-son dairy partners from Blumenort, Manitoba.
seem better able to maintain
themselves on grass than the
Holsteins,“ said Greg. „I think
they would be a good fit for a
dairy operation dependent on
grazing cows in the summer.“
In the Braun’s confinement facilities
for cows, grazing plays a
minor role. High forage rations
for indoor feeding offer future
efficiencies for reducing feed
costs. Having cows that thrive on
forage is the key to realizing
these efficiencies.
„Part of our goal is to improve
the forage crops on our farm and
increase the amount of forage
we feed,“ said Greg. „In other
words, we’re trying to get more
milk out of the forages we grow
on our own land. Because we
buy all of the grain that we feed,
the possibility of getting more
milk out of forage holds economic
promise for us, especially as
grain prices go higher.“
The Brauns produce forage crops
on 2,000 acres, growing alfalfa,
FLECKVIEHWORLD 2011/2012 13

l The cows are milked with a rotary milking parlour.
l The calf barn of Braunsdale farm.
barley, and Italian ryegrass. They
harvest as haylage, the barley,
ryegrass, and 90 percent of the
alfalfa. The remaining alfalfa is
baled for dry hay to feed young
stock.
The Italian ryegrass is a biennial
that does not produce a seed in
the first year. The Brauns establish
new crops of ryegrass annually.
„We get a good leafy plant yielding
high quality haylage,“ said
Greg. „But the crop likes to have
moisture.“ With average growing
conditions the ryegrass yields 6
to 8 tons of haylage per acre. The
ryegrass haylage contains 16 to
20 percent protein, depending
on stage of harvesting. It has a
digestibility similar to other
grasses. „Like other grasses it has
good sugar levels to support
rumen activity,“ said Greg.
To plant and harvest the forage
crops they engage custom operators.
That frees the Brauns and
their 10 full-time employees to
focus their energies on managing
the dairy cattle and facilities.
The Brauns’ evolution to the
Fleckvieh breed began with
careful research. They visited a
handful of dairy producers in
Canada which had already been
crossing their Holsteins with
Fleckvieh.
„These farmers told us their vet
bills decreased when they stared
crossbreeding, and the longevity
of their cows increased,“ said
Greg.
Their research of Fleckvieh cattle
also took them to Germany
where purebred Bavarian Fleckvieh
cows made up the milking
herds. Like the Brauns’ own herd,
the German cows they saw were
fed and managed in confinement
facilities.
In the herds they visited, average
annual milk production was
around 22’000 pounds per
cows. They found healthy, productive
cows as old as 8 to 12
years of age.
„It was an eye-opening experience
and changed the way I
look at dairy cattle,“ said Greg.
„In North America we have a
certain type of animal in mind
when we envision a dairy cow.
We tend to expect a body that is
sharp and edgy. But to see the
success the German producers
were having with these roundbodied,
dual-purpose cows that
could produce both milk and
beef literally changed the way I
look at cattle.“
The Brauns returned home from
Germany determined to completely
overhaul the genetics of
their herd, beginning by breeding
every cow to a Fleckvieh
sire. „We were truly impressed
with what we had seen, and we
were quite comfortable in thinking
we could get both milk and
beef from the same breed. We
thought we had everything to
gain and nothing to lose by
switching to Fleckvieh.“
Braunsdale Farm, Canada
To start their crossbreeding they
bought frozen semen from purebred
Fleckvieh sires. The genetics
are handled by supplier Dr. John
Popp, Erickson, Manitoba. Popp,
also a beef producer, owns Big
Bear Genetics and specializes in
Fleckvieh genetics and dairy
nutrition.
His company introduced Bavarian
Fleckvieh genetics to North
American dairy producers when
10 years ago he and his late
father began sourcing semen
from high-quality Fleckvieh sires
in Germany. Big Bear Genetics
also offers frozen embryos of
full-blood Bavarian Fleckvieh
breeding.
The Bavarian Fleckvieh is a distinct
dairy breed separate from
the beef strain of Fleckvieh more
commonly found in North American
herds. Both strains originate
from the Simmentaler breed of
cattle.
The Brauns have introduced
Fleckvieh genetics into their herd
by several means. They’ve bred
cows by artificial insemination,
purchased frozen embryos, and
bought purebred sires derived
from German embryos from Big
Bear Genetics.
„The genetics of the sires we use
are all above average,“ said
Greg. „We look for sires proven to
have the genetics for good milk
production, with strong feet and
legs, and well-conformed udders
in the females. We believe Fleckvieh
dairy cattle offer a lot of
advantages, especially in places
and during times when the price
of milk is low,“ he said. „Producers
can always fall back on the
animals’ beef production as an
additional source of income
along with the animals’ ability to
utilize forages more effectively.“
14 FLECKVIEHWORLD 2011/2012
l