Among them were Oygarden, Reg #252NR05848, with an index for overall production of 132, and two newcomers, Bosnes Reg #252NR10402, with a 121 overall Production index and Halsne Reg #252NR10406, with an overall Production index of 119.
This trio are all in the top 1% of the Norwegian Red AI sire team, for all recent times, and each is siring young AI bulls in Norway ! However, Oygarden, a perennial favourite, is siring sons throughout Scandianavia, and his own proof eclipses the red sires available around the world!
Interbull – not always generous to Norwegian Red sires
Interbull converted proofs have not always been generous to Norwegian Red sires, since the Geno sire proving system goes after facts, not educated guesses. For example, the Interbull system asks for proofs for rump conformation with respect to slope, as this is used as a predictor of calving ease, and female fertility. Veterinarians think that cows with sloping rumps from hip bone to pin bones are more likely to calve easier, and settle back faster for their next pregnancy.
However, the Geno system actually produces the sire’s proof on 250+ daughters for calving ease, and female fertility, thus Geno geneticists are questioning if they need to generate proofs for slope of rump. It seems the only reason might be to provide the information that dairymen in other countries use to predict these very important traits.
Another deterrent to accurate proof conversions is the lack of ties between many countries and Norway, which happens because many countries have not yet adopted across the breed sire ranking systems that make use of both purebred and properly identified crossbred dairy heifers. The USDA was one of the very first countries to adopt this sire evaluation system, however Canada has lagged behind in this innovation, as have many other countries. It seems that Genomic Selection is on the front burner while evaluations that take into consideration both purebred and crossbred dairy heifers wait in the wings.
Since Norwegian Red sires are used exclusively in dairy crossing programs they will not get recognition for their crossbred daughters until the Herd books adopt accurate sire ID and Dam ID for crossbreds as Holstein Canada has done nearly four years ago, and the across the breed proof system gets implemented. While the USDA has adopted the latter, there seems to be little interest in getting all crossbreds accurately identified.
There is money in this activity for Purebred Herd books, since commercial dairies want complete and accurate pedigrees and accurate genetic indices for crossbred heifers, since they are starting to command premium prices for their profit potential. There is evidence emerging in both Canada and the USA that Norwegian Red crosses on Holsteins and for that matter Swiss and Jersey crosses too will milk competitively with Holsteins, and outperform on fertility, calf viability, disease resistance and therefore on lifetime profits!
5848 Oygarden
In spite of these impediments, Oygarden has recently emerged as the «go to» sire in the Red Breed Interbull Conversions for both milk yield and protein yield in Canada and the USA. He is also an easy calver and his daughters are fast milkers with pleasant temperament. So he is an ideal mate for medium producing Holsteins with strong udder attachments, as he is going to produce milky crossbred daughters. Semen is still available, come and get it!