Competitiveness of the Ayrshire breed in agricultural enterprises of the Russian Federation

The work is devoted to the study of the competitiveness of Ayrshire cows at large agricultural enterprises in Russia, throughout the country. We used the materials of the yearbook on pedigree work in dairy cattle breeding in the farms of the Russian Federation for 2022 (VNIIplem, 2023). The sample included 1435.4 thousand probonited cows of five main dairy breeds - Ayrshire (including Karelsky type), Holstein black-motley, red-motley, Kholmogorsk and black-motley. The indicators of milk productivity of cows for lactation were taken into account: milk yield, percentage of fat and protein in milk, production of milk fat and protein. The parameters of cow reproduction were studied: age at the first hotel, average age in calves, age of cow retirement in calves, duration of service and dry periods, calves yield per 100 cows. It was established that in terms of gross milk productivity for lactation, ayrshirs take second place after the leading Holstein: milk yield of 7545 kg of milk, 316.9 kg of milk fat and 255.8 kg of milk protein against 9526 kg, 370.6 kg, 314.4 kg, respectively, in Holstein. However, in these indicators, ayrshirs surpass the other three main Russian dairy breeds (black-motley, Kholmogorsk and red-motley). A significant advantage of Ayrshire cows over animals of all compared breeds, including Holstein, was recorded in terms of the percentage of fat in milk (4.20% versus 3.89-4.02%) and protein (3.39% versus 3.17-3.30%). Ayrshire cows in all categories of farms surpass Holstein in terms of duration of economic use (3.56 calving versus 2.94 calving). It is noted that ayrshirs - one of the few breeds in Russia due to their zootechnical value avoided Holsteinization.The presented materials indicate the high competitiveness of the Ayrshire breed throughout Russia and indicate the feasibility of a priority increase in the number and further improvement of ayrshires in the country. The Ayrshire cattle breeding area can be expanded by introducing it to unconventional regions, particularly Siberia (including the Asian North and Arctic zone) and the Far East. To further increase the competitiveness of Ayrshire cattle, it is necessary to increase the breeding value of the Ayrshire bulls used, to introduce modern methods of large-scale, genomic breeding.