However, after about 8,800 Friesians (black pied German cows) had been imported, Europe stopped exporting dairy animals due to disease problems.

After 1945, European cattle breeding and dairy products became increasingly confined to certain regions due to the development of national infrastructure.

Today's European breeds, national derivatives of the Dutch Friesian, have become very different animals from those developed by breeders in the United States, who use Holsteins only for dairy production.

The Holstein is arguably the most well-known and easily recognized breed of cattle on Earth, and their appearance is an iconic component of many depictions of pastoral life in art and media.

Generally, breeders plan for Holstein heifers to calve for the first time between 21 and 24 months of age and 80% of adult body weight.

[6] Near 100 BC, a displaced group of people from Hesse migrated with their cattle to the shores of the North Sea near the Frisii tribe, occupying the island of Batavia, between the Rhine, Maas, and Waal.

In 1282 AD, floods produced the Zuiderzee, a formed body of water that had the effect of separating the cattle breeders of the modern day Frisians into two groups.

[8] A Corporate Watch report on Dystopian Farming[9] cited a 2004 study from the Journal of Dairy Science identified that between 96 and 98% of UK Holsteins were inbred to some degree, compared with around 50% in 1990.

The eminent David Low recorded, "the Dutch breed was especially established in the district of Holderness, on the north side of the Humber; northward through the plains of Yorkshire.

[citation needed] Further north in the Tees area, farmers imported continental cattle from the Netherlands and German territories on the Elbe.

[citation needed] Holstein-Friesians were found throughout the rich lowlands of the Netherlands, northwestern provinces of Germany, Belgium and northern France.

The eastern part of New Netherland (modern day New York and Connecticut), where many Dutch farmers settled along the Hudson and Mohawk River valleys.

Gerrit S. Miller, of Peterboro, New York, made by his brother, Dudley Miller, who had been attending the noted agricultural school at Eldena (Königlich Preußische Staats- und landwirthschaftliche Akademie zu Greifswald und Eldena; the latter today a locality of the former), Prussia, where this breed was highly regarded.

[18] The considerable advantage, compared to the UK, for example, can be explained by several factors: The golden age of Friesian breeding occurred during the last 50 years, greatly helped lately by embryo transfer techniques, which permitted a huge multiplication of bulls entering progeny testing of elite, bull-mother cows.

His descendants included: Brachyspina syndrome (BS) is a rare monogenic autosomal recessive hereditary disorder identified in this breed.

Although the idea of "dual-purpose" animals has arguably become outmoded, the fact remains that the Friesian is eminently suitable for many farms, particularly where grazing is a main feature of the system.

A separate "index" be composed to greater has been suggested to reflect the aspects of maintenance for bodyweight, protein percentage, longevity, and calf value.

British Friesian breeding has certainly not stood still, and through studied evaluation, substantial gains in yield have been achieved without the loss of type.

At the end of 1912, the herd book noted 1,000 males and 6,000 females, the stock which originally formed the foundation of the breed in England and Scotland.

The modern Friesian is pre-eminently a grazing animal, well able to sustain itself over many lactations, on both low-lying and upland grasslands, being developed by selective breeding over the last 100 years.

The general robustness and proven fertility provide an ideal black and white cross for Holstein breeders seeking these attributes.

The disposal of male black and white calves continues to receive media attention, and would appear to be a waste of a valuable resource.

One of the great strengths of the British Friesian is the ability of the male calf to finish and grade satisfactorily, either in intensive systems, or as steers, extensively.

A group of early breeders decreed that animals of any colour other than black and white would not be accepted in the herd book, and that the breed would be known as Holsteins.

Only a small number of carriers were identified over the hundred-year span from the early importations until they were accepted into the Canadian and American herd books in 1969 and 1970, respectively.

[34] Its first members were Milking Shorthorn breeders, who wanted a dairy registry for the cattle they had bred in prior years, including some red and white Holsteins.

Three other big names siring Red and Whites in the United States were Rosafe Citation R, Roeland Reflection Sovereign, and Chambric A.B.C.

The phrase "carries the red factor" had to be included in the description, and excessive promotion of unproven red-factor bulls was discouraged.

An American Breeders Service ad in the Canadian Holstein Journal in 1974 on Hanover-Hill Triple Threat mentioned one of several colour variants that were not true red.

In 1987, Holstein Canada and the Canadian AI industry modified their coding procedures to distinguish between Black/Red and true red colour patterns for bulls.