With healthier, stronger and more productive cows coming from crossbreeding, more and more dairy farmers are no longer sticking with the stereotypical black and white cow. One of these farmers is Glengarry County’s Sebastian Nussbaumer, located west of Alexandria. Nussbaumer began cross breeding cows in the early 1990s. He has found numerous benefits. "The top three reasons why I like the crossbreeds are that they do well on home grown feed. They are healthier than purebreds. They are easy to manage," he says. He also notes that they live longer, are better after calving, average one more year of lactation, have stronger frames and better udders. Nussbaumer uses three breeds to create his crossbreeds. He starts with Brown Swiss, breeds them with Swedish Reds and then with Holsteins. "We have found that the second generation is usually the best. They are the healthiest and live the longest."

Nussbaumer says that the only disadvantage is colour. "You never know what you are going to get. I would rather have a healthy animal than one that has a nice color." While there is no market established, Nussbaumer believes it is coming soon. He personally sold four crossbred calves last year at prices similar to what purebreds would fetch.

The lack of a market does concern some experts currently conducting research on crossbreeding. OMAFRA dairy genetic improvement specialist Blair Murray is part of a research team that is involved in a nation wide project that compares Norwegian Red/Holstein crossbreeds with purebreds. "We are still early in the research, but we have found few disadvantages. We have seen that breeding seems to be easier with crossbreeds. They tend to get a better fertility rate, five to nine per cent better than purebreds. The concern is that there is no established market for crossbreeds. Selling replacements in Eastern Ontario could be a concern."

OMAFRA does not have an official position on crossbreeding but hopes the new research will help farmers make better breeding decisions.  Many associations are involved with the project, in cluding Eastern Breeders. Genetic programs and communications supervisor Paul Stewart says that Eastern Breeders was approached to find farmers who would be part of a crossbreed trial so that data could be collected and examined. "There are approximately 10 farms experimenting with the crossbreeds in Eastern Ontario. There are 100 farms across Canada that are taking part in this research." Despite knowing the number of farms involved in the research, Stewart says that there is no way of knowing how many farmers in Eastern Ontario are using crossbreeds. Stewart believes that this research will create networks for sharing information and is the first step in farm health and fertility.

Gencor general manager Brian O’Conner is also involved with the research and says there is already evidence supporting crossbreeding because of its impact on calving. He believes that the real evidence has yet to come. "Once we can compare milking patterns of crossbreeds and purebreds we will be able to see if there are any benefits in milk production."

The other argument for crossbreeding comes from another research project participant. Semex representative Ted Burnside imports Norwegian Red semen from Norway for their research. He argues that crossbreeding reduces the possibility of inbreeding. "Inbreeding is very low in crossbreeds," he said. "In Holsteins, it is about five per cent. Using crossbreeds will lead to healthier cows that have more resistance to disease."

Not everyone involved with this crossbreeding project believes that crossbreeding is the future. Holstein Canada’s Brad Sayles is part of the project but believes there is still too much uncertainty that comes with crossbreeding. "There is a lot of inconsistency in crossbreeding. You may get what you are looking for in the first generation but after that you never know what you will get," he says. Holsteins Canada’s responsibility in the crossbreeding project is to register and classify animals. They will be providing sire information such as the breed, country of origin and the registration number. The classification will be done in the same manner used for purebreds so that comparisons between animals can be made.

When asked if more farmers will try crossbreeding, Nussbaumer says, "The industry is growing. However, many farmers don’t want to take a chance and leave the security blanket provided by purebreds."