Dansk
The article has been printed in VikingNyt, August 2024
Last year, the breeding advisors at TINE in Norway started using SimHerd Expert in their breeding advice. A few years earlier, they had gone on an inspiration trip to Denmark, where they visited VikingDanmark, among other places. There, they were greatly inspired by how Danish breeding advisors could set the right breeding strategy using SimHerd calculations.
Hilde Tveiten
Breeding advisor at TINE
“We at TINE Advisory started using SimHerd in 2023 after a long process of adapting the model to Norwegian conditions. It was an educational journey that highlighted how different the challenges are from country to country, even when the main focus is the dairy cow.”
Quotas still impose limitations in Norway
A dairy farm in Norway is similar in many ways to a Danish dairy farm, but the market conditions are very different. In Norway, farmers receive subsidies for each animal in the herd, so it is important to fill every space in the barn. However, they can’t simply fill the barn with dairy cows and produce large amounts of milk, as they are still subject to a strict quota system and face very high construction costs.
Maximum contribution margin per stall space
As a result, the SimHerd calculations in Norway are very different. Instead of focusing on how much the number of young stock can be reduced, Norwegian breeding advisors must design the herd so that all spaces in the barn are filled, and each space provides the highest possible contribution margin (CM).
“High slaughter prices mean that many dairy farmers also generate income from meat production, often through full fattening of bulls. Due to large geographical distances, we also have a limited market for live animals,” says Hilde.
BeefxDairy heifers are inseminated with beef semen
The highest possible contribution margin is achieved by using sexed and beef semen, as is also done in Denmark. The use of sexed semen has increased significantly in recent years. To maximize the contribution margin and make the system work, it is common practice to inseminate meat-cross heifers with beef semen, resulting in a calf that is 75% beef breed. The meat-cross heifers thus produce both a good slaughter carcass and a valuable slaughter calf.
SimHerd helps set the strategy
The simulation of different breeding strategies allows us to establish a long-term strategy that takes milk production into account while also optimizing meat production. There is great value to be gained here for many, and it provides strong motivation for both the farmer and the advisor. Additionally, there is a lot of learning in seeing the effect of how changes impact the overall operation in the long term,” says Hilde.
“SimHerd helps us navigate a daily life with more and more choices and many pitfalls. The concept of ‘heifer anxiety’ is well-known among Norwegian dairy farmers – the fear of not having enough heifers to fill the barn and meet the milk quota.”
TINE already has 15 SimHerd advisors spread across the country and is very proud to be able to offer Norwegian dairy producers SimHerd analyses on their farms. They look forward to learning how to make even better use of the tool’s possibilities in the coming years.
