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The age of cows on Dutch dairy farms was higher again last year. The average milk production per lactation barely increased, but the increased longevity resulted in higher than ever lifetime production. This has been revealed by the annual milk recording statistics of CRV for the 2020-2021 financial year.

Dairy farmer Hans Janssen wants to maximise the potential of what he has to the full. His land, the milking robots and the forage he grows on his farm. ‘We need cows that convert feed efficiently into milk’ he explains. ‘That is where breeding can also help.’

They are almost all older than ten years, have each produced more than 100,000 kg of milk – and some of them even 10,000 kg of fat and protein – and together account for a staggering 1.8 million kg of milk! This exceptional performance inspired CRV to make a video of these sixteen absolute champions in milk production owned by dairy farmers Jos, Ingrid and Ben Knoef in Geesteren. Eleven of these animals have a CRV pedigree or originate from CRV's breeding programme.

The cooperative organisations Royal Agrifirm Group and CRV will start up a joint project designed to measure the methane emission of individual cows in actual practice. The purpose is to gain greater insight into the differences between animals and rations. This knowledge will be used to develop new products that enable livestock farmers to control methane emissions. The researchers will focus on various aspects, such as feed advice, methane efficiency breeding values and improved methods for estimating methane emissions at the cow and farm level.

CRV has already been an active player with its own branch in the United States for 12 years. And while CRV might be just a minor player in the major league of the world's largest breeding population, it is currently showing stronger growth than fellow AI organisations. The message of health and efficiency is apparently also gaining ground with American farmers.

If you decide to completely revolutionise your herd management system, then also you need cows that perform best in the new system. This was the main reason for Jelle Hakvoort, who owns a dairy farm in Rutten, to start replacing his HF herd with crossbred cows. He is now well on the way towards a 100% Jersey herd. This makes the Hakvoort-Haarman farm partnership one of the first farms to milk a Jersey herd with a New Zealand pedigree.