Genealogical structure and herd productivity of Holstein cattle in CJSC "Slavyanskoe" of the Orel region

The Holstein breed is widespread in many countries of the world. In Russia, this breed is increasing in numbers not only due to imports, but also due to the absorption of the Black-and-White breed by it. However, in most herds, the number of lines of this breed is declining. There is a need to study genealogical structure of the breed and its genetic trend. The article presents the results of assessing the genealogical structure of the herd and the milk productivity of Holstein cattle. The studies were carried in CJSC "Slavyanskoe" with a total number of herd with 800 milking cows. It has been established that the genealogical structure along the lines has not changed significantly in recent years, however, the number of animals of the M. Chieftain line has decreased in the herd - from 28 to 14 animals. The genealogical structure of the herd was represented mainly by sires, the seed of which was sold by LLC ‘’Alta Genetics Russia’’ and LLC ‘’Centerplem’’. The analysis showed that in two lines of the herd during the last year of breeding, only 6-10 sires had 15 or more daughters, from 2 to 7 sires had 10-14 daughters, from 7 to 17 sires - 5-9 daughters. No more than 4 daughters were in 92 sires of the R. Sovereign line and in 148 bulls of the V.B. Ideal. When assessing milk productivity, 425 cows were assigned to the Vis Back Ideal line, 325 - to the Reflection Sovereign line. The cows of the lines Vis Back Ideal and R. Sovereign (425 and 351 heads respectively) currently used in the herd showed 8514 and 8621 kg of milk, exceeded their mothers by 343 and 449 kg of milk in 305 days of the first lactation. On the basis of the conducted research, it is recommended for the production to seek for opportunities to purchase the sperm of sires from other countries and breeding organizations. When selecting sires, one should pay attention to the need to increase the percentage of fat and protein in milk.