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Six years later: 3STAR cows prove their class at Aalshorst Holsteins
Dairyfarmer and breeder Roland Schoten
Six years ago, Tim and Roland Scholten of Aalshorst Holsteins shared their experiences about participating in the 3STAR EmbryoProgram in a testimonial titled “Joining the 3STAR EmbryoProgram leads to great successes”. What once started with the purchase of several embryo combinations has since grown into an outstanding practical example of sustainable breeding, high lifetime production and excellent conformation.
The testimonial featured four young cows from the program:
- Aalshorst K&L Aiko 1 P RDC (s. Apoll P Red)
- Aalshorst K&L Lol 2 PP Red (s. Apoll P Red)
- Aalshorst K&L Fina 3 (s. Finder)
- Aalshorst K&L Zalia 1 RDC (s. Barolo)
At the time they were promising young dairy cows — today they can truly be described as proven success and production cows!
Impressive lifetime production and conformation
Two of the original four cows are still actively producing in the Scholten herd today:
- Aalshorst K&L Fina 3 VG-88 has currently produced 75,844 kg of milk with 4.20% fat and 3.50% protein in seven lactations.
- Aalshorst K&L Aiko 1 P RDC VG-89 has produced 76,011 kg of milk so far with an impressive 5.19% fat and 4.21% protein, also in seven lactations.
A 7-year-old Benz daughter from Fina 3, Aalshorst K&L Fina 5, is currently in her fifth lactation and is on her way to reaching 60,000 kgM. From the VG-89 Apoll P Red daughter, the Scholten family is currently milking a fourth calving Hotspot P daughter. As a heifer she was classified VG-86 and has already produced more than 50,000 kgM.
The other two cows only left the herd after highly successful productive lives:
- Aalshorst K&L Lol 2 PP Red VG-86 with an outstanding lifetime production of 71,516 kg of milk
- Aalshorst K&L Zalia 1 RDC VG-89 with a lifetime production of 59,574 kg of milk
Even more breeding power is hidden within the genes of Zalia 1 RDC. Her dam, HWH K&L Aik Zalia RDC VG-88, was sold as a heifer by HWH Holsteins and GenHotel to Caudumer Holsteins. There she produced the well-known Finder daughter — and maternal sister to Zalia 1 RDC — Caudumer Zalia 2 RDC VG-87, who developed into a key cow within the family and is nowadays best known as the granddam of the bull Caudumer Fynn.
Production capacity and longevity also appear deeply rooted within the Lol family. The full sister to Lol 2 PP Red, Aalshorst K&L Lol 1 P Red VG-85, proves this with her current lifetime production of no less than 90,902 kg of milk in eight lactations. This makes her one of the highest lifetime production cows currently in the Scholten herd.
With these results, the Aalshorst/3STAR cows perform far above the Dutch average. In 2025, the average lifetime production of culled dairy cows in the Netherlands was 37,977 kg of milk, with averages of 4.42% fat and 3.59% protein.
Practical results confirm the strength of the 3STAR Breeding Program
Today, approximately 30% of the milking herd consists of direct EmbryoProgram results or descendants from these animals. Besides the high production levels, the conformation results also proved to be exceptional. On average, all classified cows from the 3STAR BreedingProgram at Aalshorst Holsteins scored nearly one classification point higher compared to the home-bred herd mates.
These results once again underline what the 3STAR EmbryoProgram stands for: access to proven international cow families combined with sustainable performance in practice. The testimonial from six years ago already referred to “practice proofs” — today we can conclude that this promise has more than been fulfilled.
We would like to thank the Scholten family for their trust, the pleasant cooperation and especially for the expertise and herd management that made these impressive results possible!