How VikingJersey Improved Health and Production for a Scottish Dairy

For Andrew and David Hastie, a key part of their sustainability journey is having the right genetics. The brothers milk 400 VikingJersey cows and rear 280 followers at Alderston Mains, near Haddington, East Lothian, United Kingdom.

The farm has constantly evolved under their stewardship. Eight years ago, labour shortages prompted a switch to robotic milking. Today, with a 50kW wind turbine, solar panels, and a 44kW anaerobic digester underway, they are on track to becoming self-sufficient in energy.

The Jersey breed has deep roots at Alderston Mains, having been first introduced by their grandfather in 1961. The brothers have remained loyal to the breed, which they say is a perfect fit for their Jersey milk contract with Graham’s Family Dairy. But four years ago, they switched to using exclusively VikingJerseys in a quest to improve feed efficiency, herd health and fertility.

VikingGenetics is at the forefront for these traits. In the Nordic countries, the base of Viking Genetics, they have the healthiest cows and lowest use of antibiotics worldwide and ahead of the curve when it comes to measuring feed efficiency.

Andrew explains: “We have been a closed herd since 2003. Previously we used a mix of bloodlines from New Zealand, Canada, Denmark and America. We settled on using largely American genetics, but we felt the animals were becoming too extreme.”

Andrew and David Hastie, VikingJersey herd in Scotland, UK

Smart breeding decisions

The Hasties are at the helm of genetic progress. They have been genomic testing heifers for 2.5 years and recently began using polled genetics.

Around one-third of cows and heifers have now been tested and ranked using the Nordic Total Merit Index (NTM) which balances production, efficiency, health, fertility and conformation.

Data is uploaded into VikingGenetics’ VikMate mating programme to match females with suitable sires. Heifers that are below-average for NTM are mated to Aberdeen-Angus, while the top animals are bred to high-ranking VikingJersey genomic bulls.

“We are now achieving a 49% conception rate to sexed semen – up 5%,” says Andrew, who heads up breeding.

Andrew uses a team of 12 genomic bulls each year. He selects sires scoring over 100 on NTM traits with emphasis on positive udder health.

NTM incorporates 90 sub-traits, providing a depth of information that Andrew values. “I love having all that data – it means we are not sleepwalking into future problems.”

Current sires used within the herd include VJ Sultan, a high fat and protein transmitter, and VJ Jojo, which boasts exceptional health traits.

While NTM scores guide dairy matings, phenotypic traits and milk records continue to play a part in their selection process.

The herd operates a 23% replacement rate with about half the herd bred to beef and surplus heifers sold. The herd boasts an NTM of six points above average and has the highest Profitable Lifetime Index (PLI) cow in the country with Alderston JoJo Holly which has a score of £591.

Health improvements

“Our primary goal is to have a functional cow that is healthy and long-lived,” says David. This goal is coming to fruition with notable health improvements.

The final four Lely Astronaut robots were installed in 2020, bringing the total to six (two A4 models and four A5). This allowed them to turn off their 24/40 swingover parlour. “The parlour was installed in 2017, but we felt the cows were being put under too much pressure on twice-a-day milking. There was a lot of milk on the beds which led to mastitis,” reflects Andrew.

Fat and protein have increased 0.2% since 2022 while milk yield has simultaneously improved. Milk improvements have largely come from heifers, they say, with first lactation animals now averaging 7,500 litres, up from 5,500 litres.

Since switching to robots and selecting for health traits, somatic cell counts have fallen from 300,000 cells/ml to 180,000 cells/ml. Mastitis cases have declined by 20%.

David credits the VikingJersey with better udder structure and durability. “We used to get udders blowing on heifers. Now we don’t, even though they are producing more milk.”

Adapting grazing and feeding

The brothers feel grazing is beneficial for cow health and mobility; however, it has posed one of the biggest challenges since moving to milking robots, but the brothers have overcome this by ‘constantly evolving’ to balance milking frequency and grass utilised.

“We want to choose to do things and not be told to do things like graze if it becomes compulsory at a processor level,” explains Andrew.

Cows typically graze from April after first cut through to September or October using a Grazeway gate that provides free access to grass.

“We utilise grass rather than graze,” says David, who explains grass only makes up 5-10% of total dry matter intakes. The grazing platform has also been reduced from 70 acres (28.33 ha) to 25 acres (10.12 ha) with more now cut for silage to reduce the need for topping.

“I used to chase milk from forage but now it’s about keeping cows happy and healthy,” adds David.

While at grass, cows are buffer-fed a mix of grass silage, homegrown wholecrop, and straights, including brewery by-products. They are fed a maximum of 10kg of concentrates in the robots.

Dry cows are used strategically to clean out paddocks. Cows 2-3 weeks off calving are housed and given a calcium binder 10 days pre-calving to prevent milk fever.

The introduction of polled genetics

In the last two years, the brothers say they have sacrificed some genetic gain in favour of polled genetics.

“We feel it’s the right thing to do; we want to be ahead of any changes to come,” explains David.

The polled gene is a dominant trait which means if a homozygous bull (with a polled gene from each parent) is mated to a horned cow, the offspring will be born polled.

The Hasties are using heterozygous (one polled and one horned gene) and homozygous bulls to introduce the gene to the herd. One-third of heifers born in the last two years are now polled.

Andrew adds: “In the future, we want to continue to drive improvements in fertility, milk quality and feet, as we believe this will help improve our overall milk performance.

“We believe the VikingJersey will continue to deliver and meet these breeding goals.”

Browse our Jersey bulls

Cow with the highest Profitable Lifetime Index (PLI) in the UK

The herd boasts an NTM of six points above average and has the highest Profitable Lifetime Index (PLI) cow in the country with Alderston JoJo Holly which has a score of £591.

In the picture: Alderston JoJo Holly PLI £591

Farm facts

Milking 400 VikingJersey cows plus 280 followers
Supplying Graham’s Dairy
Calving year-round
Beef calves sold at weaning to a beef farmer
Yielding 8,500 litres at 5.6% butterfat and 4.3% protein
Farming 350 acres (141.64 ha), predominantly grass alongside wheat which is grown as a break crop for grass.
Employ two people fulltime

VikingJersey at the heart of farm’s sustainability journey