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LIC has added 200 bulls to its sire proving scheme.
Most are the result of a contract mating between a top cow and one of LIC’s top bulls; all have passed inspection by LIC’s breeding team.
Simon Worth, livestock selection manager, says the bull calves are chosen for their potential to produce high performing, efficient dairy cows. The bull calf’s parentage, DNA profile and physical traits are all taken into account.
“We personally eyeball each calf to make sure of their physical condition.”
The bull calves will now be put through their paces, to see if they will be up to joining the Premier Sires.
Each will be named and reared to maturity, undergoing health testing, vaccinations and training. Their first semen collection will take place at one year of age, and their first daughters be born the following year.
Worth says getting a bull to Premier Sires status is a long game and only about 1% of all the calves inspected by LIC each year will make it.
“It takes four years for a bull to become daughter proven, which is when we can get the first lot of production and conformation information from their two-year-old daughters.
Calves that enter the sire proving scheme are bought by LIC.
LIC chief executive David Chin says meeting the revised methane reduction targets will rely on practical science, smart technology, and genuine collaboration across the sector.
Opening a new $3 million methane research barn in Waikato this month, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay called on the dairy sector to “go as fast as you can and prove the concepts”.
The Government has announced it has invested $8 million in lower methane dairy genetics research.
The first calves of a new crossbred dairy-beef offering are now on the ground at a Pamu (Landcorp) farm near Taupo.
Academic and former Fonterra director Nicola Shadbolt has been elected as LIC director.
Acclaimed fruit grower Dean Astill never imagined he would have achieved so much in the years since being named the first Young Horticulturist of the Year, 20 years ago.
The Ashburton-based Carrfields Group continues to show commitment to future growth and in the agricultural sector with its latest investment, the recently acquired 'Spring Farm' adjacent to State Highway 1, Winslow, just south of Ashburton.
New Zealand First leader and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has blasted Fonterra farmers shareholders for approving the sale of iconic brands to a French company.
A major feature of the Ashburton A&P Show, to be held on October 31 and November 1, will be the annual trans-Tasman Sheep Dog Trial test match, with the best heading dogs from both sides of the Tasman going head-to-head in two teams of four.
Fewer bobby calves are heading to the works this season, as more dairy farmers recognise the value of rearing calves for beef.
The key to a dairy system that generates high profit with a low emissions intensity is using low footprint feed, says Fonterra program manager on-farm excellence, Louise Cook.
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