Pure breeding of Dutch cattle in Russia was
conducted on only a small scale. The central, Ukrainian, Siberian
and other strains of Black Pied cattle were formed by adsorptive and
reproductive crossing.
The various strains of Black Pied cattle were
approved as a planned breed in 1925. Therefore, some animals were
imported from Germany, the Netherlands, Estonia and Lithuania during
1930-40 and distributed in various parts of the country.
The imported sires improved milk production,
feed conversion efficiency, and beef qualities. Five thousand head
of the Dutch breed were imported during 1957-65. The production of
the female ancestors of 107 bulls was 6-7000 kg of milk with butterfat
content of 4.4-4.6%.
The Black Pied breed is noted for high milk
production (the highest among the dairy breeds), good conformation
and good beef qualities. Due to the high productivity, adjustment
to machine milking, well-defined beef features and the ability to
acclimatize, the population of this breed is increasing year by year.
By the beginning of 1980 the number of Black
Pied cattle in the USSR was 16 449 000 excluding the Baltic population.
In numbers they are second (25.2%) among 50 cattle breeds in the country.
The Black Pied breed includes varied groups
of animals, originating from different maternal stocks under different
climatic and feeding conditions. The crossing of the local low-grade
cattle - Great Russian, Siberian, Trans-Ural, Central Asian, Grey
Ukranian - with Dutch bulls started at different times.
The basic aim was to form a breed adapted to
many different regions but originating from a single foundation breed.
This unified breed was recognized in 1959.
The Black Pied breed comprises five large populations:
Central (mid-Russian), Baltic, Ural, Siberian, and other zones, namely
Ukraine, Byelorussia, Central Asia, and parts of Transcaucasia.
The animals of the Central group are the largest
(live weight 550-650 kg), with a more compact conformation, relatively
short legged and a good exterior appearance. This group is noted for
the highest milk production (5500-6500 kg) with low butterfat content
(3.6-3.7%).
On the other hand, the Ural strain is of a
lighter, fine-boned solid type (500-600 kg live weight) with longer
legs, less pronounced beef features, and high milk yield (5000-6000
kg) and butterfat content (3.8-3.9%).
The Siberian strain is an even lighter type
(450-550 kg), with good milk yield (4500-5000 kg) and medium butterfat
content (3.7-3.8%).
The remaining groups are intermediate between
the three leading strains. The Baltic population
A network of selection centers was set up in
the USSR in 1975. The All-Union Research Institute for Livestock Breeding
and Genetics has become the center for work with the Black Pied breed.
It unites the breeding activities of the leading breeding stations
and zonal institutions that deal with this breed.
The main goal of this selection center is to
breed highly productive strains, types, herds, and lines of the Black
Pied breed, by raising valuable sires for the A.I. stations, progeny
testing them, storing semen of the improved sires, and using it for
improving the great mass of the Black Pied cattle.
The comprehensive measures undertaken have
made it possible to improve the productivity and the pedigree value
of the Black Pied cattle in the working zones of the selection centers.
The principal indicators of the activity of
the breeding farms are the number and quality of the pedigree young
stock produced and primarily of the sires. Realization in the last
15 years of this large-scale selection program has allowed a new approach
to line breeding of the Black Pied cattle.
In the breeding herds, bulls are produced by
intra-line assortative mating with the use of moderate inbreeding.
In the commercial farms the breeding activities are confined to the
rotational crossing of lines within the breed. This increases the
productivity, viability and fertility of the offspring.
The successful use of selection to breed, assess
and use the better genotypes assisted in the formation of highly productive
herds of the national Black Pied cattle.
The average milk yield of 11 100 cows of the
leading herds surveyed in various regions of the RSFSR in 1984 was
5559 kg, with a butterfat content of 3.82%.
The best breeding stations are as follows:
Petrovski in Leningrad region (1080 cows, 6671 kg milk, 3.91% butterfat);
Lesnoye (750 cows, 6604 milk, 3.89% butterfat); Petrovskoye in Moscow
region (750 cows, 5630 kg, 3.94% ); Zarya Ko izma in the same region
(3150 cows, 5450 kg, 3.78%); Imeni Lenina collective farm in Tula
region (1000 cows, 5480 kg, 3.90%).
The milk production of the champion Black Pied
cows with a milk yield per lactation of over 10 000 kg and with a
lifetime production of 90-100 000 kg points to the high potential
of this breed.
At the six base farms of the All-Union Institute
of Animal Breeding and Genetics alone over 100 cows with a milk production
of 10 000 kg or more have been bred.
In Sverdlovsk region the milk yield of over
22 000 cows was 4800-5000 kg with 3.86-3.90% fat. At the leading breeding
stations over 240 cows have a yield of 6500-7500 kg of including 206
cows with a yield of over 7000 kg.
The milk production of the best cows on the
farms of the Ural area is as follows: Aida 220 (the record holder
for lifetime production) produced in 13 lactations 117 720 kg of milk
with a butterfat content of 3.75%, or 4415 kg of milk fat; she belongs
to the stud farm No. 9 of Perm region. Cow Volga 3790, in her 3rd
lactation produced 17 517 kg of milk with 4.20% butterfat; she was
kept at Rossiya breeding center in Chelyabinsk region. Gornaya 6329
at the same farm - 5th, 13 849 kg, 4.10%; Yagoda 6010 - 3rd, 13 146
kg, 3.93%.
The Black Pied breed accounts for the greatest
numbers of champions with milk yields over 10,000 kg - 79 out of 212.
The breeding program of the Black Pied breed
aims to produce a type with a milk yield of 6.0-7.5 thousand kg, butterfat
content 3.8-3.9%, live weight of cows not less than 600 kg, udder
index of 43-45% and milk flow speed of 2.0-2.5 kg per minute by using
Holstein-Friesian sires from the U.S.A. and Canada.
By the beginning of 1985, the basic numbers
of highly productive halfbreds were bred at the leading breeding centers
namely: Lesnoe and Petrovski in Leningrad region, Zarya Kommunizma
in Moscow region and at Imeni Lenina collective farm in Tula region.
Valuable sires have been bred in these Herds as well.
The best cows at the leading farms of the selection
center are united in the super-elite group. The milk production of
these animals is 6.2-7.7 000 kg with a butterfat content of 3.99-4.27%.
They are used to produce replacement bull calves.
The breeding establishments of this country
have valuable sires. The milk production of their dams and of the
female ancestors of their sires ranges from 6250 to 8300 kg with butterfat
content 3.99-4.48%.
The major suppliers of the replacement bulls
for the breeding centers are the farms of Moscow, Leningrad, Perm,
Chelyabinsk, and Sverdlovsk regions. Bulls of more than 70 related
groups and lines are currently in use; 45 of them are represented
by small numbers of descendants and have only local importance.
The sires of the lines Rikus 25415 (16.5%),
Poseidon 239, and Oreshek 1 are widely used among the national lines.
The descendants of the well-known Dutch bull Annnas Adema 30587 through
the related groups of Keimpe 48326/43454 (21.7%) and Frizo Vouter
44116 (8.4%) have been widely distributed (30.1%).
Studies at the breeding station Lesnoye and
at the breeding farm Torosovo in the Leningrad region have shown that
selection has had only a minor effect on the frequency of specific
erythrocyte antigens. This relative stability suggests that these
polymorphisms are of adaptive significance.
Reference:
Dmitriez, N.G. and Ernst, L.K. (1989) Animal
Genetic Resources of the USSR. Animal Production and Health Paper
Publ. by FAO, Rome, 517 pp.
Photographs:
Dmitriez, N.G. and Ernst, L.K. (1989) Animal
Genetic Resources of the USSR. Animal Production and Health Paper
Publ. by FAO, Rome, 517 pp.
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