Ruth combines strength with American roots

Powerstar × Taos × Charl × Bourbon. The preference for American genetics at the Flemish dairy farm Zwanebloem Holsteins is clearly reflected in the pedigree of the young CRV bull Zwanebloem Cheers. “We breed for cows with high kilograms of fat and protein and sufficient strength. The cows must have the capacity to produce large volumes of milk. You often see that combination in animals with American bloodlines,” explains Wannes Masscheleyn. In Adinkerke (Belgium), Wannes runs a dairy farm together with his brother Reinout, milking more than 900 high-producing cows. The rolling herd average exceeds 13,000 kg of milk, with 4.40% fat and 3.60% protein, while the cows are milked three times a day.

Around nine years ago, the great-granddam of Zwanebloem Cheers – a distant descendant of the famous American cow Whittier-Farms Lead Mae and EX95 score – arrived in Adinkerke as an embryo. “Jan van den Oord of Drakkar Holsteins contacted us to ask if we would be willing to implant some of his embryos. One of those embryos resulted in the birth of Zwanebloem Bourbon Ruslana,” Masscheleyn explains. As a heifer, Ruslana moved to the Netherlands for IVF sessions before returning to the Flemish dairy farm. “She was a solid cow with somewhat coarser legs but an attractive udder. A true working cow rather than a show cow. That is something I see throughout the family: cows with some extra muscle and a lot of strength in the front end,” says Masscheleyn. Ruslana scored 86 points and, as a first-calf heifer, produced 15,651 kg of milk with 4.06% fat and 3.64% protein in 495 days. The Bourbon daughter laid an important foundation for the cow family on the Masscheleyn farm. Her daughter, Zwanebloem Charl Rutanya 1, also embryo-born, continued the family line. As a calf, Rutanya had a slow start. “She did not drink well and therefore developed more slowly. But because of the cow family she came from, we were determined to give her every chance. We waited to inseminate her until she had grown sufficiently,” Masscheleyn recalls. That patience paid off. Rutanya calved at two years and four months of age and produced 15,525 kg of milk in 406 days, with 4.51% fat and 3.44% protein, confirming the family’s strong production potential. Rutanya’s first offspring carried the family line forward in Adinkerke.“I had mated Rutanya as a heifer to Taos, a Renegade son that produces strong, fertile cows with a little extra muscle,” Masscheleyn remembers.

The resulting calf was Zwanebloem Taos Ruth 2470. According to Masscheleyn, she did not stand out particularly as a calf, but her genomic results certainly did. “She performed well for NVI, but her TPI genomic breeding values were considerably higher than expected,” he explains. As a result, Ruth was sent to the Netherlands for oocyte collection. She was mated to bulls such as Sheepster, Maxwell and Powerstar, and several of her daughters are now in milk. “Our two highest-ranking calves for TPI are granddaughters of Ruth. A Hi-Note descendant scores 3459 TPI, while a Golley daughter from a full sister to Cheers scores 3408 TPI,” says Masscheleyn. After returning to Adinkerke, Ruth calved with Zwanebloem Cheers. Like his dam, Cheers ranked highly for NVI but even better on a TPI basis. “Cheers was a Powerstar son free from the muscle weakness haplotype. Because of his excellent all-round breeding values, CRV purchased the bull. After the next index run, Powerstar’s index increased significantly and Cheers improved as well.”

Meanwhile, Ruth is working through her second lactation. As a heifer she had a cautious start, producing 11,437 kg of milk in 371 days with 4.35% fat and 3.84% protein. “She is really the kind of cow that never stands out and never causes any problems. She became in calf again very easily, and in her second lactation she has really taken off,” says Masscheleyn. After 390 days, she had produced 21,542 kg of milk with 4.66% fat and 3.48% protein, averaging 55 kg of milk per day. “She has now been milking for more than thirteen months and is still producing 40 kg of milk per day. In milk recording she peaked at 72 kg of milk.”

Masscheleyn also describes the Taos daughter as an easy cow to work with. “When she had to be photographed, the photographer was finished in ten minutes.” Ruth received 87 points for conformation. “She is a wide cow of moderate stature, with extra muscle and a shallow, attractive udder. Those are exactly the characteristics I also see reflected in the figures of Zwanebloem Cheers, our first bull to be used by AI organisations.” Cheers has already been given ample opportunities within the home herd. “Cheers is an excellent all-round bull, both for TPI and NVI. He has genuine American bloodlines, but with added strength and a little extra muscle,” concludes Masscheleyn. “That is exactly the type of cow we like to see here.”