Thursday, 15 December 2016 13:20

10,000th bull tagged

Written by 
LIC’s 10,000th bull, Arkan MGH Believer, with breeders Stewart and Kathryn Anderson. LIC’s 10,000th bull, Arkan MGH Believer, with breeders Stewart and Kathryn Anderson.

A milestone 55 years in the making was passed in a split-second: with one clamp of a tag punch LIC tagged its 10,000th sire proving scheme (SPS) bull calf.

It happened on the farm of dairy cattle breeders Stewart and Kathryn Anderson of Otewa, near Otorohanga.

“The young bull symbolises the huge contribution the scheme makes to New Zealand dairy farming,” says LIC chief executive Wayne McNee. Today most dairy cows grazing NZ pastures are from LIC bloodlines. The scheme started in 1961.

The tagging of the new young bull calf signals LIC buying him for his genetic potential. He has been named Arkan MGH Believer. Now he’ll be treated like animal royalty at LIC’s Newstead bull farm. 

If his resulting daughters end up high-performance in efficiency and productivity, he will ‘graduate’ to LIC Premier Sires status.

Potentially he’ll be worth millions of dollars to LIC and to the national economy by helping drive up genetic gain in the national dairy herd.

“It’s lovely of LIC to have chosen this farm to tag its 10,000th SPS animal,” says Kathryn Anderson. “It was exciting to have the co-op mark the occasion, and we felt humbled at having the honour and recognition of LIC marking the milestone here.”

Simon Worth, LIC bull acquisition manager, says the calf’s sire, Mourne Grove Hothouse, is among LIC’s best bulls, siring many outstanding daughters.

More like this

LIC ready for challenges ahead

Herd improvement company LIC says it's well-positioned for the challenges ahead and remains focused on its core purpose - delivering value for farmer shareholders.

Breeding heat-tolerant cows for Africa

LIC is embarking on a ground-breaking project aimed at breeding heat tolerant and disease resistant dairy cows for Sub-Saharan Africa, in collaboration with the global leader in precision breeding, Acceligen, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Scheme to pick high potential 'underdog' bulls

Holstein Friesian NZ, and herd improvement co-operative LIC have launched a joint sire proving scheme that aims to select and prove Holstein Friesian bulls for New Zealand dairy farmers.

Featured

Better animal genetic gain system

A governance group has been formed, following extensive sector consultation, to implement the recommendations from the Industry Working Group's (IWG) final report and is said to be forming a 'road map' for improving New Zealand's animal genetic gain system.

SIDE 2025's new schedule, venue

Annual farmer gathering, the South Island Dairy Event (SIDE), is set to make history as it heads to Timaru for the first time.

Taranaki piggery goes solar

Installing 400 solar panels at their Taranaki piggery and cropping operation will have significant environmental, financial and animal welfare benefits for the Stanley family.

National

OSPRI's costly software upgrade

Animal disease management agency OSPRI has announced sweeping governance changes as it seeks to recover from the expensive failure of…

Machinery & Products

Entries open for innovation award

Fieldays and its renowned Innovation Awards are celebrating their 57th year, marking a longstanding tradition in the agricultural calendar, with…

Milk Sustainability Centre launched

The recently announced Milk Sustainability Centre – a collaboration between global giant John Deere and milking and feed specialists De…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Chinese strategy

OPINION: Fonterra may have sold its dairy farms in China but the appetite for collaboration with the country remains strong.

Not fair

OPINION: The Listener's latest piece on winter grazing among Southland dairy farmers leaves much to be desired.

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter