When it comes to fertility, Jorick knows what he’s talking about. Together with his father and employees, he manages a mixed arable and livestock farm in Houwerzijl, the Netherlands, covering 180 hectares with 240 dairy cows and 130 young stock. In addition, he works two days per week as a veterinarian. Jorick Tromp consistently inseminates his best cows and heifers with SiryX and the other cows with beef semen. “That gives peace of mind,” the farmer notes. “We decide even before insemination whether to keep a calf based on the bull advice program SireMatch. That way we know for sure we won’t raise too many young stock. ”Sexed semen brings peace of mind to farm management. With CRV’s SiryX you can focus on heifer calves from your best animals. When using SiryX, on average 90% are heifer calves. This ensures you have enough replacement heifers, reduces the number of difficult calvings, and accelerates genetic progress.
SiryX brings peace of mind to your business operations
Jorick Tromp (32) still remembers it from his younger years: when a top cow calved of a bull, he used to be very disappointed. “When CRV introduced sexed semen (SiryX) to the market, we started using it on a few cows. We wanted to know how fertile the semen would be, and we were curious whether we would really get at least 90% heifer calves,” he says. “But it easily exceeded 90% heifer calves in his experience. And the fertility of SiryX proved hardly inferior to that of conventional semen.
SiryX and beef bulls
Jorick Tromp is satisfied with CRV
The Tromp family milks and feeds their cows automatically, and the animals achieve a rolling herd average of over 11,000 kg of milk with 4.75% fat and 3.60% protein. Using CRV’s SiryX is now a fixed element of their breeding strategy. “We inseminate the top 50% of heifers, the top 20% of first-calf cows, and the top 10% of mature cows twice with SiryX and then with conventional Holstein semen,” Jorick explains. “On all other animals we use a beef bull: Angus on the heifers and Belgian Blue on the cows.”
Using top animals for breeding
The Tromp family’s insemination strategy is based on a simple calculation. “To get enough replacement heifers into the milking herd, we need to keep about 65 heifer calves per year. We don’t want to raise more young stock because we want to use our phosphate rights for dairy cows,” the farmer explains. “By using SiryX, we know how many heifer calves to expect. And by using beef bulls on the rest of the animals, we prevent ending up with too many young animals anyway. ”Because only a limited part of the herd is used for breeding, Jorick says it’s extra important to select the best animals and make good mating decisions. “What we keep simply has to be top quality,” he emphasizes. “To get reliable insight into genetic potential, we use HerdOptimizer genomic testing. CRV’s mating program SireMatch makes selections and mating plans for us.”
No more second-guessing
“SiryX is more expensive than conventional semen,” Jorick admits. “But we order all our semen from CRV and benefit greatly from volume discounts. And since we need an average of two inseminations per gestation, the extrainvestment is quite modest. We easily earn it back because we can inseminate more animals with beef bulls. ”Structure in breeding brings peace of mind to farm management, Jorick experiences. “Everyone knows what needs to be done, even if I’m not home or if we’re busy with fieldwork. SireMatch shows which semen should be used for each animal. And we decide whether to keep a calf even before insemination. All black-and-white heifer calves stay; all other calves go. We don’t have to think about it anymore.” Would you also like to be sure that enough heifer calves are born on your farm? At CRV, SiryX is available from a large number of top bulls of multiple breeds. Ask your CRV representative about the current offer.