Friday, 11 October 2013 14:40

KiwiCross award good for youngsters

Written by 

LIC IS extending its annual Calf Club sponsorship to include a KiwiCross champion cup for group day events. 

 

General manager of genetics, Peter Gatley, says most calves born on New Zealand farms these days are crossbred. 

“Crossbreeding with straight-bred bulls has been practiced for decades, but only since 2005 have farmers been able to buy semen from an elite commercial crossbred bull team, KiwiCross. We’re mindful many herds these days are entirely crossbred, so it makes sense to have a crossbred category in calf judging…. 

“Hybrid vigour is one of the things that make crossbred cows well suited to commercial dairying, and it also helps with calf rearing.” 

Previously, children would have entered their calves in the Friesian or Jersey category depending on coat colour, but Gatley says they were sometimes marked down because of breed-specific judging criteria. 

“We know children work hard to select, rear and train a calf for their school’s Calf Club events, and many go on to compete at their local group day. We don’t want any children to be disadvantaged for choosing a crossbred calf,” he says.

All group day events registered on the co-op’s website will receive a champion cup for them to award the event’s top crossbred calf each year from then on.

Featured

Owl Farm marks 10 years as NZ’s first demonstration dairy farm

In 2015, the signing of a joint venture between St Peter's School, Cambridge, and Lincoln University saw the start of an exciting new chapter for Owl Farm as the first demonstration dairy farm in the North Island. Ten years on, the joint venture is still going strong.

National

Machinery & Products

New McHale terra drive axle option

Well-known for its Fusion baler wrapper combination, Irish manufacturer McHale has launched an interesting option at the recent Irish Ploughing…

Amazone unveils flagship spreader

With the price of fertiliser still significantly higher than 2024, there is an increased onus on ensuring its spread accurately at…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

The real emergency

The nutters of the green world, aided and abetted by the lamestream media, are rewriting the English language for the worse.

A very low road

OPINION: The self righteous activists at Greenpeace are copying the self-righteous lefties behind the ‘free Palestine’ movement – not surprising given…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter