Jutland cattle (Heidekoe) of the Stroomdal herd: Evaluation of pedigree information and genetic comparison with the Dutch native dual-purpose cattle breeds

Centre for Genetic Resources, the Netherlands (CGN) offers technical and strategic support in the development of sustainable breeding programmes and the conservation of genetic diversity within the Dutch livestock breeds. Apart from the Dutch livestock breeds officially recognized by the Dutch government, CGN (at request) offers advice to other organisations involved in other (native) livestock breeds as well. With a focus on the conservation of genetic diversity and sustainable use of available breeding animals. Jutland cattle (Heidekoe in Dutch) is a cattle breed that originally lived in the Netherlands and was kept for a specific purpose, namely grazing the heath. After all the animals disappeared from the Netherlands, a reintroduction of the Jutland cattle breed in the Netherlands was initiated at the start of this century. At this moment (2021) there are approximately one hundred animals living in several herds on the heath where they are deployed for grazing and to complement the sheep herds. Given the limited number of animals, proper registration and a well-thought-out breeding programme are essential to secure the breed’s future health. Thanks to the hair samples and the genotypes provided by ‘Stichting Schaapskudde Het Stroomdal’, CGN was able to perform the analyses in this report. CGN offers her knowledge and support for the follow-up of the recommendations described in this report in order to maintain the Jutland cattle population in the Netherlands and to expand the population into a healthy breeding population. The report was initially written and available in Dutch. Due to the transboundary status of Jutland cattle and the collaboration of some Dutch breeders with Jutland cattle breeders in Denmark, we decided to translate the report to English as well. We hope to stimulate a transboundary cooperation and possibly exchange of more breeding animals in the future. Hereby I would like to thank my colleagues Fenna van der Poel en Noelle Hoorneman for the support in translating this report.