increase font size
LIC scientists are advancing their quest to breed cows that are more tolerant to heat.
An advancement in tests on heat tolerant cows could mean good things for the dairy industry.
Livestock Improvement Corporation (LIC) has been working to investigate how slickcoated cows – cows bred with the ‘slick’ variation – fare in colder climates.
Cows typically experience heat stress on days 22°C with 75% humidity, something LIC says is a concern because NIWA predicts that by the end of the century, the frequency of ‘hot days’ with maximum temperatures exceeding 25°C will double under modest modelling scenarios.
LIC chief scientist Richard Spelman says the slick variation was discovered approximately a decade ago in Senepol, a Caribbean beef bred, and since then LIC has been cross-breeding Senepol cows with New Zealand dairy cattle.
“Where we’ve got to now is that we have animals on the ground which only have about 3% of the Senepol breed still in them and they also have the slick variation. The other 97% is elite New Zealand dairy genetics,” says Spelman.
The programme has found that cows with the slick variation have lower rumen temperatures (0.5- 1.0°C) when compared with non-slick cows under certain temperature and humidity conditions.
Spelman says that the major question that has been asked is whether the heat tolerant cows are more cold sensitive.
Subsequently, LIC has worked with both Lincoln University and Massey University to test that cold sensitivity.
“It wasn’t a very controlled setting,” Spelman says of the initial trial.
“You were really dependent on whether you’ve got a cold day so you couldn’t really control it at all.”
The solution that was found to this issue which was used in the trials performed this year was to use a refrigerated shipping container that has been modified and then the temperature can be changed.
The result of the trial was that both control animals (cows without the slick variation) and the slick animals reacted the same to the cold temperatures.
“We’re really pleased to see that they [the slick cows] aren’t more sensitive to the cold which is an important one for us as we continue to invest quite heavily into the breeding programme so these animals will be robust under cold conditions and better under warm conditions,” Spelman explains.
Spelman says that overall LIC’s research into the slick variation could have a positive impact for the industry.
“A lot of the information that we have for the future is around the forecast of increased dry or hot days through summer,” he says.
“So, if we take those assumptions, we’ll have more hot days, these animals won’t be affected by the heat so the animal welfare of the animals will be better,” Spelman explains. “The expectation is that they will continue to eat and potentially produce more milk through that hot period as well because they won’t be affected quite as much.”
Spelman says the next step for the programme is to undertake a round of mating this spring and if progress continues as planned, Kiwi farmers will be able to breed heat tolerant cows by 2029.
Progeny testing at Pāmu’s Kepler farm in Southland as part of Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s Informing New Zealand Beef programme is showing that the benefits of hybrid vigour could have a massive impact on the future of beef breeding.
AgResearch scientists have collected the first known data showing behavioural developmental impacts on lambs whose mothers were treated with long-acting drugs for parasites.
OPINION: We need to stop treating the dry period as just a rest between lactations and understand that it’s a significant biological reset that impacts the health and productivity of the next lactation.
Fifth-generation dairy farmer Rebecca Keoghan is the new independent chair of the Animal Evaluation Governance Group.
Management practices that aim to cull the poor performers rather than boost the best are a key to success for Canterbury deer farmer Stu Stokes.
New Zealand's largest celebration of rural sports athletes and enthusiasts – New Zealand Rural Games - is back for its 10th edition, kicking off in Palmerston North from Thursday, March 6th to Sunday, March 9th, 2025.
Southland breeder Tim Gow attributes the success of his Shire breed of hair sheep to the expert guidance of his uncle, the late Dr Scott Dolling, who was a prominent Australian animal geneticist.
Progeny testing at Pāmu’s Kepler farm in Southland as part of Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s Informing New Zealand Beef programme is showing that the benefits of hybrid vigour could have a massive impact on the future of beef breeding.
Vegetable grower NZ Hothouse Ltd has always been ahead of the game when it comes to sustainability, but new innovations are coming thick and fast.
OPINION: Submissions on the Government's contentious Gene Technology Bill have closed.
Alliance Group has secured greater access for chilled beef exports into China following approval of its Levin and Mataura plants to supply that market. With its first load of beef from Levin clearing Chinese customs in early January and a shipment from Mataura recently arriving in China, journalist Leo Argent talked to Alliance general manager safety and processing Wayne Shaw.
OPINION: Australian dairy is bracing for the retirement of an iconic dairy brand.
OPINION: Another sign that the plant-based dairy fallacy is unravelling and that nothing beats dairy-based products.
