Life membership recipient the epitome of passion
Taranaki dairy farmer and Holstein Friesian breeder Wayne Taylor has been recognised for his contribution to the Holstein Friesian breed with a Holstein Friesian NZ Honorary Life Membership Award.
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.
The scheme will use genomic screening to provide farmers with elite Holstein Friesian bulls for artificial breeding, whilst giving LIC an opportunity to tap into diverse cow families in Holstein Friesian NZ member herds for its breeding programme.
While the Discovery Project – another HFNZ/ LIC joint venture – requires high-BW heifer calves to populate the programme, the new Holstein Innovation project focuses on diversity: while bulls will still need to be of suitable genetic merit (BW), some compromise can be made.
Bull calves should be nominated as soon as they are born, and HFNZ and LIC will mutually agree which nominated bulls are to be genomically screened and later purchased, if successful, with up to five young bulls entering LIC’s Sire Proving Scheme (SPS) annually. Bulls have the potential to be marketed from one-year-old through to daughter proven, both domestically or internationally, and Holstein Friesian NZ will have the ability to sell semen to members in the bull’s first year of semen production.
Holstein Innovation will also include an accompanying female programme, which will see up to 200 nominated females genomically screened annually.
Mating of the nominated females will include the option to utilise LIC’s elite young sires, or daughter proven sires, at no cost. Resulting progeny – both heifers and bulls – will be genomically screened.
HFNZ Holstein Innovation Committee Chair Doug Courtman says Holstein Innovation will shine the light on bulls that are not traditionally sought after for marketing.
“It is an opportunity for breeders to put forward bulls that might not have otherwise been marketed,” Courtman says. “With LIC seeking alternative bloodlines, the Holstein Friesian breed’s genetic strength will only increase.
“The elite young Holstein Friesian bulls chosen will deliver increased diversity and faster rates of genetic gain on farm.”
Farmer-led charity Meat the Need has expanded its offerings, following a new partnership.
OPINION: Sexual harassment is a choice. When someone sexually harasses someone, it's an effort to bring the recipient 'down a peg or two' by attacking that person's dignity through sexualised means.
Confusion seems to reign in the supermarkets, especially in China where consumers are faced with multiple messages about products and have little time to work out if the messages are correct.
A review into the Wairoa flooding event on 26 June 2024 has found the flood was caused by a combination of factors leading to the river backing up and overflowing.
Breeding better and more efficient sheep is the major focus of a Pāmu (formerly Landcorp) farm in the Central North Island.
The future will see a continuation of the trend to fewer and larger farms, most of which will be ‘family corporates’, says AgFirst chief executive James Allen.
OPINION: How do you get people to stop drinking milk and switch to foods like fruit, vegetables, nuts and grains?
OPINION: It seems that our friends at Greenpeace are never satisfied.