Razas Lecheras Importantes

A. Holstein Friesian
When migrant European tribes settled the Rhine Delta
region called The Netherlands close to 2,000 years ago,
they wanted animals that would make the best use of the
land.

The black animals and white cows of the Batavians and

Friesians were bred and strictly culled to produce animals
that were the most efficient, producing the most milk with
limited feed resources. These animals genetically evolved
into the efficient, high producing black-and-white dairy cow,
known as the Holstein-Friesian.
Imports to America
With the settlement of the New World, markets began to
develop for milk in America. Dairy breeders turned to
Holland for their cattle.

Winthrop Chenery, a Massachusetts breeder, purchased a

Holland cow from a Dutch sailing master who had landed
cargo at Boston in 1852. The cow had furnished the ship’s
crew with fresh milk during the voyage. Chenery was so
pleased with her milk production that he imported more
Holsteins in 1857, 1859, and 1861. Many other breeders
soon joined the race to establish Holsteins in America.
After about 8,800 Holsteins had been imported, a cattle
disease broke out in Europe and importation ceased.
Americans Build Their Own Breed

In the late 1800’s there was enough interest among

Holstein breeders to form associations to record
pedigrees and maintain herdbooks.
These associations merged in 1885, to found the
Holstein-Friesian Association of America.
In 1994 the name was changed to Holstein Association
USA, Inc.
Holsteins are most quickly recognized by their distinctive color markings
and outstanding milk production.

Physical Characteristics
Holsteins are large, stylish animals with color patterns of black and white
or red and white. A healthy Holstein calf weighs 90 pounds or more at
birth. A mature Holstein cow weighs about 1,500 pounds and stands 58
inches tall at the shoulder. Holstein heifers can be bred at 13 months of
age, when they weigh about 800 pounds. It is desirable to have Holstein
females calve for the first time between 23 and 26 months of age.
Holstein gestation is approximately nine months. While some cows may
live considerably longer, the average productive life of a Holstein is 3 to
4 years.
Milk Production
The 1999 average actual production for all U.S. Holstein
herds that were enrolled in production-testing programs and
eligible for genetic evaluations was 21,167 pounds of milk,
775 pounds of butterfat and 683 pounds of protein per year.
Top producing Holsteins milking twice a day have been
known to produce up to 67,914 pounds of milk in 365 days.
Superior Performance
Holstein dairy cattle dominate this country’s milk production industry. The reasons
for their popularity are clear: unexcelled production, greater income over feed
costs, unequaled genetic merit, and adaptability to a wide range of environmental
conditions. Added up, this means more profit for the dairy producer who milks
Holsteins. This point becomes even more clear when you consider that nine of
every 10 dairy producers currently milk Holsteins.
Nineteen Million Registered Holsteins
More than 19 million animals are registered in the Holstein Association’s
herdbook. The ancestry of most of these animals can be traced to animals
originally imported from the Netherlands.
Holsteins identified with the Association account for nearly 20 percent of all U.S.
dairy cattle. The upper end of this population is looked upon as a source of
superior breeding stock, providing genetics for the dairy industry worldwide.
Genetic Improvements
The artificial insemination (AI) industry has had a tremendous impact on
genetic improvement of the breed. Since perfection of the semen freezing
process in the late 1940’s, AI has allowed the use of superior, proven bulls
by Holstein breeders across the country. Today, AI accounts for 85
percent of Holstein births.
AI made the development of reliable, unbiased methods to evaluate
Holstein genetics possible. With AI, a single Holstein bull can sire as
many as 50,000 daughters. Type and production information on all
these females makes it easier to predict performance of future offspring
and evaluate the quality of genetics transmitted from sire to offspring.

In the late 1960’s, the AI industry, the Dairy Herd Improvement

Association (DHIA) and breed organizations, including the Holstein
Association, worked together to develop genetic tools dairy producers
could use to breed their cattle for improvement. They used type and
production information and research data from universities to develop
measures Holstein breeders now use to evaluate bulls and select sires
according to their needs.
Active Export Market
Holsteins can now be found on every continent and in almost
every country. Such convincing evidence of genetic
superiority has created an active export market for Holstein
genetics. Currently, live Holstein females and males and
frozen embryos and semen are being exported to more than
50 countries and used extensively to improve foreign food
supplies and dairy producer incomes.
B. Brown Swiss
Origin of the Breed
The Foundation Stock.
Concerning the origin of the Brown Swiss, Prentice,1 who made an exhaustive study of
the origin of the various dairy breeds, has stated:

Brown Swiss cattle, therefore, first became prominent among dairy breeds about a 100
years ago. The exact date when this fashion arose is not certain, but it was at some time
in the first half of the 19th century.

The Brown Swiss breed in the United States was declared a dairy breed in 1906, and in
1907 a classification for Brown Swiss was provided at the National Dairy Show. Many
writers have suggested that the breed is centuries old and that little crossing with other
breeds has been done for hundreds of years. As is the case in the origin of the other
breeds of livestock, this conclusion seems to be more romantic than correct.
The Brown Swiss, as we know it in the United States today, originated in the cantons of
Schwyz, Zug, St. Gallen, Glarus, Lucerne, and Zurich of Switzerland. The canton of
Schwyz was the scene of most of the early improvement, and in Switzerland the breed
is often referred to as Schwyer or Brown Schwyzer. Unimproved cattle similar to the
Brown Swiss have been in this territory for a considerable period of time. All the cantons
in which the breeds originated are inhabited by German speaking people, and apparently
large cattle were brought in from Germany to improve the cattle of Switzerland, which until
about 1860 were often quite lacking in size. The brown cow is known as Braunvieh in
German speaking countries; Bruna Alpina in Italy, Brunedes Alpes in France, and Pardo
Suizo in Spain and Latin America including Brazil.
The Pinzgaur breed, which is apparently a native of Austria, seems to have been the
breed from that country that was used in the improvement of the Brown Swiss. The
predominant cattle of Schwyz in about 1860 were of a chestnut to a dull black color,
and most of the cattle were darker on their fore- and hindquarters than of their bodies.
Many of them carried a light-colored or light grayish stripe down their backs. This
variation of color pattern was apparently introduced from the Pinzgau, and the Brown
Swiss of the modern day seem to have acquired the light dorsal stripe from these cattle
brought in from Austria. Since no records of the breed were maintained for a good
many decades after the formation of the breed, it is altogether possible that other cattle
could have been used in the improvement. Direct evidence of such crosses is lacking.
Breed Activity in Switzerland.
There has been extremely little promotion of the Brown Swiss breed in its native country
although it has been exported to Russia, Italy, Germany, the United States, and many
other countries where it has gained a very favorable reputation. Herd Books for the Brown
Swiss did not appear in its native land until 1911, although such a Herd Book has
appeared 20 years earlier in the United States. Such breed promotional activities as are
carried on the Switzerland are largely under the auspices of a government subsidized
association that sponsors shows and sales of purebred livestock. A Brown Swiss Cattle
Breeders Association, which was organized in Switzerland, has been active in promoting
shows and in the production testing and classification of the breed.
 Introduction of the Brown Swiss to the United States

The first Brown Swiss cattle were brought to the United States in 1869 by Henry M. Clark
of Belmont, Massachusetts, who visited the canton of Schwyz and secured a bull and
seven females from Col. G. Burgi of Arth, Switzerland. When the Brown Swiss Cattle
Breeders Association was organized, the bull was registered as William Tell 1, and the
females were registered as Zurich 1, Lucerne 2, Gretchen 3, Brinlie 4, Lissa 5, Christine 6,
and Geneva 7. These cattle were subsequently sold to D. Hall, Providence, Rhode Island,
and D.G. Aldrich, Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1882, Scott and Harris, Wethersfield,
Connecticut, imported 19 cows, and in 1889, George W. Harris of the firm established a
purebred herd later operated by his sons, George M. and Rodney W., of Wethersfield,
Connecticut. Five other importations within the 10 year period following 1882 included
those of L.J. McCormick, Chicago, Illinois; William Koch, New York, New York; J.C.
Eldridge, Middle Falls, New York; E.M. Barton, Hinsdale, Illinois; and McLaury Brothers of
New York.
A notable importation of the breed was that in 1906 by E.M. Barton who brought 34
cows and five bulls to this country. One of these was the bull Junker 2365, dropped in
1904, which became Grand Champion at the National Dairy Shows in 1907, 1908, and
1909. He sired daughters that made excellent production records and had a very
important influence in the breed.2 In 1906, importations were stopped because of
foot-and-mouth disease, and only three cattle have been brought from Switzerland
since that date. There has been a total of only 155 head of Brown Swiss brought form
Switzerland and recorded in the Herd Book in this country. A very steady growth of the
breed from this very meager beginning has been most gratifying to those sponsoring
the development and improvement of the Brown Swiss.
C. Jersey
The Jersey breed originated on the Island of Jersey, a small British island in the English
Channel off the coast of France. The Jersey is one of the oldest dairy breeds, having been
reported by authorities as being purebred for nearly six centuries.

The breed was known in England as early as 1771 and was regarded very favorably
because of its milk and butterfat production. At that early date, the cattle of Jersey island
were commonly referred to as Alderney cattle although the cattle of this island were later
referred to only as Jerseys. Jersey cattle were brought to the United States in the 1850's.

Adaptable to a wide range of climatic and geographical conditions, outstanding Jersey

herds are found from Denmark to Australia and New Zealand, from Canada to South
America, and from South Africa to Japan. They are excellent grazers and perform well in
intensive grazing programs. They are more tolerant of heat than the larger breeds. With
an average weight of 900 pounds, the Jersey produces more pounds of milk per pound of
body weight than any other breed. Most Jerseys produce far in excess of 13 times their
bodyweight in milk each lactation.
The modern Jersey breed is unexcelled in dairy type. Breeders in the United States
commonly referred to two distinct types of Jerseys in the past, these being the Island and
the American; this distinction is not commonly made at present. It should be recalled that
this is a different usage of the word "type" than is usually implied and refers to the general
size and quality of the animal rather than to its use for dairy purposes. The Island-type
Jerseys excelled in refinement and those qualities that were deemed necessary to win in
the show ring. Refinement and beauty of such cattle in mature form led to the marked
superiority of cattle imported from the island of Jersey or their direct descendants in
winning most of the major awards of the American show ring. The so-called American-type
Jerseys were noted much more for production than for beauty. Cattle referred to by this
description are usually larger, a bit coarser, and have been bred for years for those
qualities that suit them for milk and butterfat production. Some have referred to them as
the "Farmer's" Jersey. Usually after two or three generations in the United States in the
hands of the ordinary feeder, the refinement of the Island cattle gives way to the larger
and less refined American kind.
In recent years there has been less concern about these type variations; no doubt the
program of type classification has tended to reduce the extremes. Additional emphasis
on milk production and less stress on butterfat production had, no doubt, resulted in
general acceptance of Jersey cows with more size and scale. Recent importations of
Jerseys have consisted of larger cattle than many previously brought to the United States.
Their offspring have not only been acceptable in type but have also been used
advantageously in improving production.
Cows show very marked refinement about their heads and shoulders, carry long, straight
top lines, and usually carry out long and level at the rump. For their size, they are usually
deep in the body and full and deep in the barrel. There is no more appealing dairy animal
than the well-balanced Jersey cow, and although usually somewhat more nervous in
disposition than the other dairy cows, she is usually docile and rather easy to manage.
Jersey cows usually have an extreme weight range of between 800 and 1200 pounds,
but medium-sized cows are usually preferred.
Jersey bulls, while small as compared to the other dairy breeds, are extremely masculine.
They are quite muscular about their crests and shoulders and are considerably less
refined throughout than are the females. The same general qualities of straight lines and
diary conformation as are found in the cows are desired in bulls. They usually range in
weight from 1200 to 1800 pounds, but as in the females, medium weights are usually
preferred. Jersey bulls are known for having the least docile temperament of the common
breeds of cattle. It is folly to trust any dairy bull and particularly Jerseys past eighteen
months of age.
Modern Jerseys may be of a wide range in color. There is little preference today between
the solid and broken colors although most breeders slightly prefer the cattle with an
unbroken color pattern. Most prefer the dark tongue and switch, but this is more a matter
of an identification point than a point of discrimination. The color in Jerseys may vary from
a very light gray or mouse color to a very dark fawn or a shade that is almost black. Both
the bulls and females are commonly darker about the hips and about the head and
shoulders than on the body. Most breeders slightly prefer the medium shades of color to
the extremes, but nearly all of them realize that type and producing ability are far more
important than the shade of color or whether the color is solid or broken.