Cattle Herd book and Record Keeping in Central Serbia

Abstract

Serbia has a tradition of cattle production, and the area of Central Serbia, as a hilly region is suitable for farming of the combined Simmental and dairy Holstein-Friesian breed. The first Herd Book of Serbia was founded in 1935. The high quality breeding animals registered in the main register and the herd book are under the control of production performance. According to the expert report of the Institute for Animal Husbandry and the results of the implementation of the breeding program in 2017, on the territory of Central Serbia, there were 147,997 high quality breeding animals of the Simmental and 17,192 of Holstein-Friesian breed in the main/parent herd. Both breeds of national interest for rearing in the territory of Central Serbia are included in the breeding – selection programs for cattle for milk production, which are implemented through the cooperation of farmers and local breeding organizations in the field. In the territory of Central Serbia there are 157 registered local breeding organizations that are carrying out the activities of cattle recording/registering and selection. In this paper the data of the Main Breeding Organization in cattle breeding, the Institute for Animal Husbandry, and its annual report are used. A tabular analysis and a five-year trend of animals are presented according to: the number of registered animals, linearly evaluated first calving females, the realized yield of milk, milk fat and protein, as well as the trend of the number of bull dams in the population. Based on the analysis of the results of work on the selection of bovine animals, it can be concluded that some progress has been made in the production of milk of both breeds. It is important to emphasize that the mentioned results are reflected on the productivity of the entire population of cattle in Central Serbia.