Cattle breeding has evolved over centuries of farming practice. The most popular types of cattle we have today are the result of many years of selective breeding techniques. Farmers use many methods to keep track of cows, from GPS ear tags to hot branding. This is done to single them out from the rest for selective breeding.
Selective cattle breeding produces the best cows.
Do you know which is the most popular cow for dairy? It’s the Holstein cow! A Holstein cow can produce an incredible amount of milk per day. Please read my article on the best dairy cows for more information on cows with the best milk yields. This cow is the result of selective breeding to make her the milk machine she is today. Selective breeding has produced many wonderful specimens that are ideal for either dairy or beef.
Selective breeding made the best dairy cows of today produce four times more milk than the cows of eighty years ago. Another example of selective breeding is Hereford cattle which have been selectively bred over many years to preserve their special quality of beef.
What is selective breeding?
Selective breeding in cattle breeding is when farmers select the breeds of cattle with specific phenotypic traits and have them reproduce together. This can also be done with the help of artificial insemination, which allows farmers to pick the sex of the calf to be born. Farmers will typically go for a larger population of females if it’s a dairy farm. But this type of selective breeding can be difficult and expensive. But if your cows end up producing more milk, the expense is worth it in the long run.
In selective breeding, cows are not chosen just because they produce more milk than others. But the composition of the milk is also important. For instance, the Guernsey cow produces high-quality milk that is golden in color. The milk is highly nutritious and has a higher fat content compared to the Holstein cow. Guernsey is a preserved breed and are not allowed to breed outside without control to preserve their specialty.
Dairy cows that are selectively bred have better milk composition and volume and excellent feed conversion. They also have good udder quality and might live longer than others. They can also be sturdier and resistant to changes in weather. All these factors make farmers rely on genetics to ensure a good herd.
Although antibiotics, immunizations and medications do have a role in controlling disease and taking care of the health of a cow, the most important player here is genetics. Selective breeding makes cows healthier and more resistant to disease. So milk production is not the only advantage of selective breeding.
The bull market
The bull market refers to the bull semen of good quality bulls that are ideal for selective breeding. The value of the sample is decided by the quality of the bull throughout its lifetimes from which the semen was harvested. The genes of the bull are taken into consideration, and the calf achieved from inseminating using the selected semen is supposed to be of the best characteristics in the bull’s genes. The value of bulls is determined by how their calves perform after insemination with their semen.
Disadvantages of selective breeding.
All is well with selective breeding when it gives you a high yield and quality meat. But there are a few downsides to this method. One is that cattle that have been selectively bred too extensively suffer from a low fertility rate. This may be due to energy being directed to milk production and not enough left for sustaining a pregnancy. When cows are milked from the first days of calving, getting them pregnant again is difficult.
Summary
Selective breeding is a breeding technique that has been used for many centuries to produce the highly efficient milk and meat-producing cattle of today. The best cattle are tracked and inseminated with high-quality semen of bulls with exceptional genetics, and the resulting calves produce a good herd. Selective breeding has distinctively improved cattle farming and made them more resistant to disease and healthier overall.