Swedish Red Cattle, also called Swedish Red-and-White Cattle, (in Swedish

Swedish language

Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...

: Svensk rödbrokig boskap or Svensk röd och vit boskap) are a dairy cattle

Dairy cattle

Dairy cattle are cattle cows bred for the ability to produce large quantities of milk, from which dairy products are made. Dairy cows generally are of the species Bos taurus....

 breed from Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 that originated from English Milking Shorthorn

Milking Shorthorn

The Milking Shorthorn or Dairy Shorthorn is a breed of dairy cattle that originated in Great Britain. It developed from the Shorthorn, which itself came from County Durham, Northumberland and Yorkshire in north eastern England....

 dairy cattle and Scottish Ayrshire cattle

Ayrshire cattle

The Ayrshire cattle is a breed of dairy cattle originated from Ayrshire in Scotland. The average mature Ayrshire cow weighs 1,000-1,300 pounds . Ayrshires have red markings. The red can be an orange to a dark brown, with or without coloured legs. They are known for low somatic cell counts,...

. They are a robust and resilient, well known for their calving ease, fertility, udder health, and longevity. They are a multi-purpose breed, with some potential in meat production.

Breed characteristics

Swedish Red and White are medium sized cows, and are mostly red with patchy white spotting. They give approximately 8000 kg of milk per year, with a fat content of 4.4%, and a protein content of 3.6%. They are approximately 140cm tall and weigh 500-600 kg.

History

In the 1920s, the Red Pied Swedish Breed (RSB) was largest in terms of size in Sweden, but merged with the Swedish Ayrshire Breed in 1928, forming the SRB breed. Over the last five decades, genes of red breeds in Scandinavian countries are being incorporated into the SRB breed as a part of a joint breeding program. This breeding program involves incorporating red dairy genetics from Sweden, Finland, and Denmark, as well as from the Norwegian Red

Norwegian Red

Norwegian Red is a breed of dairy cattle developed in Norway. Often shortened to simply NRF, it has a red and white or black coat...

 (NRF) breed.

Current status

Crossbreeding of Swedish Red with other breeds is popular in other countries and continents, especially with the Holstein

Holstein

Holstein is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is part of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germany....

 breed in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

. However, reoccurring problems in the Holstein breed are calving difficulties, high Somatic cell count

Somatic cell count

Somatic cell count is an indicator of the quality of milk. Somatic cells are leukocytes . The number of somatic cells increases in response to pathogenic bacteria like Staphylococcus aureus, a cause of mastitis. The SCC is quantified as cells per ml...

(SCC), fertility, and longevity. These problems could be a result of breeding programs which are overly focused on high production. To combat these problems, Swedish Red genetics are being incorporated into North American Dairy herds. Another factor playing a role is the changing of milk pricing in both the United States and Canada. This is due to the Multiple Component Milk Pricing adopted in January 2000. Instead of being paid a flat rate for the amount of milk produced, the milk components will be assessed and milk cheques based on the amount and quality of these components. Swedish Reds have a higher protein and fat content than purebred Holsteins, furthering the incentive for North American producers to incorporate these genetics into their herds.

Despite their popularity in North America,‘Holsteinization’ of breeds is becoming increasingly common in Sweden. For example, the Swedish Friesian, Svensk Laglandsboskap (SLB) now known as the Swedish Holstein, is a direct example of this. Due to a lack of competition production wise between the original SLB when compared to the North American Holstein, the proportion of North American Holstein genetics are steadily increasing in this particular type of cattle. In 1975, the proportion of these genes in Swedish cattle was only 6%. In 2005, it has increased to over 90%.