SOME ECONOMIC AND BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SIMMENTAL CATTLE OF THE ALTAI MOUNTAIN REGIONS

Abstract

In the article, the authors present data on the development parameters of replacement heifers, milk productivity, reproduction rates, and economic longevity of Simmental cows of domestic and foreign selection in the farms of the mountainous regions of the Altai Republic and the Altai Territory. For the first time, the authors determined the efficiency of breed use (EIP) according to the method of M.A. Svyazhenina (2012) and proposed to supplement this method with an indicator of the age of insemination of heifers. In all the herds studied, the authors note the optimal indicators of herd reproduction, which indicates the high adaptability of animals of these genotypes to extreme natural and climatic conditions. The productive longevity of cows of domestic selection is significantly higher (p<0.05) - by 53.5-96.0% than in animals of German-Austrian origin. In the mountainous regions of Altai, the use of cows of the Simmental breed of the German-Austrian selection is effective mainly due to their higher milk productivity. According to the average milk yield for 305 days of lactation - 5165.1 kg, full-aged cows of German-Austrian origin in the farm “Fokin” significantly (p <0.05) surpassed their peers of domestic selection by - 36.4-71.3%, the efficiency of using the breed in this farm amounted to 0.963. The efficiency of the use of the breed in the “OS “AESH” with an average milk yield per lactation of 3446.7 kg is also high - 0.925 due to the indices of economic longevity and reproductive ability. The average efficiency index was obtained in the Agricultural Production Cooperative Breeding Stud (APCBS) “Amursky” - 0.882 and Federal State Budgetary Institution “Experimental Station “Novotalitskoye” - 0.828. In the APCBS “Amursky” the decrease in the efficiency of the use of the breed was affected by the insufficient milk productivity of cows, and in the “Experimental Station “Novotalitskoye” - the late age of insemination of heifers, an extended service period and an insufficient period of economic use of animals.