Holstein Friesian
The Holstein Friesian is an international breed or group of breeds of dairy cattle. It originated in Frisia, stretching from the Dutch province of North Holland to the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It is the dominant breed in industrial dairy farming worldwide, and is found in more than 160 countries. It is known by many names, among them Holstein, Friesian and Black and White.
With the growth of the New World, a demand for milk developed in North America and South America, and dairy breeders in those regions at first imported their livestock from the Netherlands. However, after about 8,800 Friesians had been imported, Europe stopped exporting dairy animals due to disease problems.
Today, the breed is used for milk in the north of Europe, and for meat in the south of Europe. After 1945, European cattle breeding and dairy products became increasingly confined to certain regions due to the development of national infrastructure. This change led to the need to designate some animals for dairy production and others for beef production; previously, milk and beef had been produced from dual-purpose animals. Today, more than 80% of dairy production takes place north of the line between Bordeaux and Venice, and more than 60% of the cattle in Europe are found there as well. Today's European breeds, national derivatives of the Dutch Friesian, have become very different animals from those developed by breeders in the United States, who use Holsteins only for dairy production.
As a result, breeders have imported specialized dairy Holsteins from the United States to cross-breed them with European black-and-whites. Today, the term Holstein is used to describe North or South American stock and the use of that stock in Europe, particularly in Northern Europe. Friesian is used to describe animals of traditional European ancestry that are bred for both dairy and beef use. Crosses between the two are described as Holstein-Friesian.
Breed characteristics
Holsteins have very distinctive markings, usually black and white or red and white in colour, typically exhibiting piebald patterns. On rare occasions, some have both black and red colouring with white. The red factor causes this unique colouring. 'Blue' is also a known colour. This colour is produced by white hairs mixed with the black hairs giving the cow a bluish tint. This colouring is also known as 'blue roan' in some farm circles. No two Holsteins will look exactly identical due to the inherent randomness of the manifestation of the piebald gene. Holsteins are famed for their high dairy production, averaging of milk per year. Of this milk, 858 pounds/383Kg are butterfat and 719 pounds/326Kg are protein.A healthy calf weighs or more at birth. A mature Holstein cow typically weighs, and stands tall at the shoulder. Holstein should be bred by 11 to 14 months of age, when they weigh or 55% of adult weight. Generally, breeders plan for Holstein heifers to calve for the first time between 21 and 24 months of age and 80% of adult body weight. The gestation period is about nine and a half months.
History
Near 100 BC, a displaced group of people from Hesse migrated with their cattle to the shores of the North Sea near the Frisii tribe, occupying the island of Batavia, between the Rhine, Maas, and Waal. Historical records suggest these cattle were black, and the Friesian cattle at this time were "pure white and light coloured". Crossbreeding may have led to the foundation of the present Holstein-Friesian breed, as the cattle of these two tribes from then are described identically in historical records.The portion of the country bordering on the North Sea, called Frisia, was situated within the provinces of North Holland, Friesland, and Groningen, and in Germany to the River Ems. The people were known for their care and breeding of cattle. The Frisii, preferring pastoral pursuits to warfare, paid a tax of ox hides and ox horns to the Roman government, whereas the Batavii furnished soldiers and officers to the Roman army; these fought successfully in the various Roman wars. The Frisii bred the same strain of cattle unadulterated for 2,000 years, except from accidental circumstances. In 1282 AD, floods produced the Zuiderzee, a formed body of water that had the effect of separating the cattle breeders of the modern day Frisians into two groups. The western group occupied West Friesland, now part of North Holland; the eastern occupied the present provinces of Friesland and Groningen, also in the Netherlands.
The rich polder land in the Netherlands is unsurpassed for the production of grass, cattle, and dairy products. Between the 13th and 16th centuries, the production of butter and cheese was enormous. Historic records describe heavy beef cattle, weighing from 2,600 to 3,000 pounds each.
The breeders had the goal of producing as much milk and beef as possible from the same animal. The selection, breeding and feeding have been carried out with huge success. Inbreeding was not tolerated, and families never arose, although differences in soil in different localities produced different sizes and variations.
A Corporate Watch report on Dystopian Farming cited a 2004 study from the Journal of Dairy Science identified that between 96 and 98% of UK Holsteins were inbred to some degree, compared with around 50% in 1990. More generally the rate of inbreeding in the UK has risen significantly since 1990.
United Kingdom
Up to the 18th century, the British Isles imported Dutch cattle, using them as the basis of several breeds in England and Scotland. The eminent David Low recorded, "the Dutch breed was especially established in the district of Holderness, on the north side of the Humber; northward through the plains of Yorkshire. The finest dairy cattle in England...", of Holderness in 1840 still retained the distinct traces of their Dutch origin.Further north in the Tees area, farmers imported continental cattle from the Netherlands and German territories on the Elbe. Low wrote, "Of the precise extent of these early importations we are imperfectly informed, but that they exercised a great influence on the native stock appears from this circumstance, that the breed formed by the mixture became familiarly known as the Dutch or Holstein breed".
Holstein-Friesians were found throughout the rich lowlands of the Netherlands, northwestern provinces of Germany, Belgium and northern France. The breed did not become established in Great Britain at the time, nor was it used in the islands of Jersey or of Guernsey, which bred their own special cattle named after the islands. Their laws prohibited using imports from the continent for breeding purposes. After World War II, breeders on the islands needed to restore their breeds, which had been severely reduced during the war, and imported almost 200 animals. Canadian breeders sent a gift of three yearling bulls to help establish the breed.
The pure Holstein Breed Society was started in 1946 in Great Britain, following the British Friesian Cattle Society. The breed was developed slowly up to the 1970s, after which there was an explosion in its popularity, and additional animals were imported. More recently, the two societies merged in 1999 to establish Holstein UK.
Numbers
Records on 1 April 2005 from Nomenclature for Units of Territorial Statistics level 1 show Holstein influence appearing in 61% of all 3.47 million dairy cattle in the UK:- Holstein-Friesian : 1,765,000
- Friesian : 1,079,000
- Holstein : 254,000
- Holstein-Friesian cross : 101,000
- Other dairy breeds: 278,000
Definition
Holstein in this instance, and indeed in all modern discussion, refers to animals traced from North American bloodlines, while Friesian refers to indigenous European black and white cattle.Criteria for inclusion in the Supplementary Register of the Holstein UK herd book are:
Class A is for a typical representative of the Holstein or Friesian breed, as to type, size and constitution, with no obvious signs of crossbreeding, or be proved from its breeding records to contain between 50% and 74.9% Holstein genes or Friesian genes. If the breeding records show that one parent is of a breed other than Holstein-Friesian, Holstein, or Friesian, then such parent must be a purebred animal fully registered in a herd book of a dairy breed society recognized by the Society.
Class B is for a calf by a bull registered or dual registered in the Herd Book or in the Supplementary Register and out of a foundation cow or heifer registered in Class A or B of the Supplementary Register and containing between 75% and 87.4% Holstein genes or Frisian genes.
For inclusion in the Pure herd book, a heifer or bull calf from a cow or heifer in Class B of the Supplementary Register and by a bull registered or dual registered in the Herd Book or the Supplementary Register, and containing 87.5% or more Holstein genes or Frisian genes will be eligible to have its entry registered in the Herd Book.
Production
The breed currently averages 7,655 litres/year throughout 3.2 lactations with pedigree animals averaging 8,125 litres/year over an average of 3.43 lactations. By adding, lifetime production therefore stands at around 26,000 litres.United States
History
Black and white cattle from Europe were introduced into the US from 1621 to 1664. The eastern part of New Netherland, where many Dutch farmers settled along the Hudson and Mohawk River valleys. They probably brought cattle with them from their native land and crossed them with cattle purchased in the colony. For many years afterwards, the cattle here were called Dutch cattle and were renowned for their milking qualities.The first recorded imports were more than 100 years later, consisting of six cows and two bulls. These were sent in 1795 by the Holland Land Company, which then owned large tracts in New York, to their agent, Mr. John Lincklaen of Cazenovia. A settler described them thus: "the cows were of the size of oxen, their colors clear black and white in large patches; very handsome".
In 1810, a bull and two cows were imported by the Hon. William Jarvis for his farm at Wethersfield, Vermont. About the year 1825, another importation was made by Herman Le Roy, a part of which was sent into the Genesee River valley. The rest were kept near New York City. Still later, an importation was made into Delaware. No records were kept of the descendants of these cattle. Their blood was mingled and lost in that of the native cattle.
The first permanent introduction of this breed was due to the perseverance of Hon. Winthrop W. Chenery, of Belmont, Massachusetts. The animals of his first two importations, and their offspring, were destroyed by the government in Massachusetts because of a contagious disease. He made a third importation in 1861. This was followed in 1867 by an importation for the Hon. Gerrit S. Miller, of Peterboro, New York, made by his brother, Dudley Miller, who had been attending the noted agricultural school at Eldena, Prussia, where this breed was highly regarded. These two importations, by Hon. William A. Russell, of Lawrence, Mass., and three animals from East Friesland, imported by Gen. William S. Tilton of the National Military Asylum, Togus, Maine, formed the nucleus of the Holstein Herd Book.
The Trina Holstein breed was established by the Merrill farming family in Maine in the early 20th century, begun by "Trina Redstone Marvel" and continued at Wilsondale Farm in Gray, Maine. Trina has traced back sixteen generations to one of the first cows imported into the United States. There are thirty generations of Trina Holstein offspring today.
After about 8,800 Holsteins had been imported, a cattle disease broke out in Europe and importation ceased.
In the late 19th century, there was enough interest among Friesian breeders to form associations to record pedigrees and maintain herd books. These associations merged in 1885, to found the Holstein-Friesian Association of America. In 1994, the name was changed to Holstein Association USA.