AI-Powered Cow Matchmaking Boosts Herd Performance for Waikato Dairy Farmer

Matthew Zonderop launched Perfect Cow Breeding Systems at Fieldays last year after toying with AI to find suitable bulls to mate with his 400 crossbreed cows.

At the start of the season last year, he did a full genomic trait analysis of the herd with a system developed using AI for a perfect cow.

He then picked out cows from his herd with poor performing traits and matched them to bulls with stronger and enhancing corrective traits.

Zonderop ended up using 12 bulls across the herd. While this is normal, he says the bulls were targeted at specific animals.

A 50/50 sharemilker, Zonderop genomically tests his herd replacements every season. The initial results "were already looking positive", he says.

"Then LIC came back with their full analysis, and it showed even better results than I had expected," he told Dairy News.

"Overall, the picture is looking very good: we've increased milk solid components without significant lift in litres and gains in fertility.

"We've got a medium-sized animal which suits our grass-based system and we've gone for the basic things around body condition score, fertility, milksolid components and calving  ease - things essential in our system."

Whether the tinder-matched offsprings produce more milk remains to be seen.

He says the calves are the first ones out of the system and will come into milking the following season.

"Then we should see the productivity gains on those animals, be it calving ease, udder confirmation or even just more milksolids production and without the compromises that can happen when selecting your bull team".

Zonderop says while farmers will see short term benefits, Perfect Cow is all about developing animals for the future.

"It's a generational thing - each generation you are building towards a more robust animal with higher milksolids for less feed, cow overall confirmation, isn't that what we are all trying to achieve?"

Perfect Cow Breeding Solutions is generating interest among herd improvement companies and rural professionals.

However, uptake among farmers remains subdued, says Zonderop.

It might be a trust issue, he thinks.

"Farmers would be saying, who is this guy, suddenly telling me how to breed my cows - which is completely understandable and I accept that.

"I'm not a geneticist, just a farmer who knows that data works for my herd and which can translate to another herd."

The launch of Perfect Cow Solutions generated media interest and Zonderop remains hopeful of getting more farmer enquiries.

Zonderop says the first year of 'marriage' between AI-selected bulls and his cows has gone well.

"There are no marital issues as yet and we're certainly not filing for divorce."