| The Finnish
Ayrshire cow has survived the extreme climate of Finland
for 150 years. During that time it has developed to what
it is today: One of the most profitable breeds in the
World. Due to careful selection for health and fertility
traits, high yields of Finnish Ayrshire has not effected
mastitis resistence, calf mortality or fertility. Low
somatic cellcounts, easy calvings and super fertility
makes Finnish Ayrshire the most popular breed in Finland
- 74% of Finnish dairy cows are Ayrshires! This superior
breed can easily produce high yields even in Finnish
Lappland, far North from the Arctic Circle, and as easily
resist the heat stress of South African climate when
exported there. The best individuals have produced over
17000 kgs milk yearly, and there are more than a hundred
pure-bred Finnish Ayrshire herds with over 10 000 kgs
average production! The high components of ayrshire milk
is one of the reasons which has kept Ayrshire so popular
among the cattle breeders: In 2000 the ayrshire milk had
an average of 3,41% protein and 4,36% butterfat compared
to the holsteins 3,34% protein and 4,00% fat levels. Finnish A.I. co-operatives have just made the decision to keep bulls alive while waiting their proofs to come. One barn for waiting bulls is ready and the first bulls have moved in. That gives us in few years the possibility to collect and sell more semen from the very best bulls. Ayrshire suits well for crossbreeding programs, and it is a very considerable choice to improve fertility, mastitis resistence and calving ease as well as yields and components - without a risk to get undesirable genetic resessives like CVM or BLAD. The ASMO Nucleus Herd for Finnish Ayrshire is the first nucleus herd for red and white breeds in the World. Within the ASMO program about 70 heifers-in-milk will be tested every year for their production and functional traits. About 20 of them will be selected as donor cows. The selection is based on Total Merit Index, but the type traits and especially the udder comformation is considered very important as well. In the figure you can see the genetic trend of the udder comformation in the ASMO nucleus herd. The goal is to produce 60 embryos from every donor cow per year by both flushing and using the OPU technic. Click here for more information about the ASMO herd. If you need information of the embryos for sale, please e-mail to: tiina.kajakoski@faba.fi
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