increase font size
LIC fresh liquid bull semen straws being prepared for shipment to the South Island.
Animal breeding company LIC says its fresh liquid bull semen is literally flying out the door as demand rockets.
The cooperative chartered a plane this month through Mainland Air to airfreight over 70,000 straws of semen (its biggest inter-island shipment) from Hamilton to Nelson, Christchurch, Invercargill and Dunedin.
The shipment is just one of many LIC will be making as its team works to impregnate four million cows over the coming months.
The 12cm long straws were stored in secure chilly bins as cargo during the flight with care and speed of delivery critical to maintaining the semen’s integrity.
LIC says for the first time it has chartered a plane for its semen delivery to the South Island, ensuring there is no interruption to its supply chain during the pandemic.
It also supports other traditional air and land transport options the cooperative is currently using to transport fresh semen quickly.
LIC’s general manager NZ Markets, Malcolm Ellis, says the shipment marks an exciting milestone as it’s the biggest individual consignment to date to the South Island by LIC.
“We’re seeing strong demand across our AB product options this year. Our delivery of fresh semen via our powerful Premier Sires teams continues to be a defining contributor of genetic merit to the national herd.
“This year we are particularly experiencing phenomenal growth in the area of fresh sexed semen which delivers a 90% chance of producing a heifer calf enabling farmers to target valuable heifer replacements from their most productive cows ensuring the rate of genetic gain within their dairy herds is optimised.”
It’s exciting to see the scale of this delivery taking place and ensuring the continuation of our incredible national dairy herd supported by committed and passionate farmers.”
Caption: LIC fresh liquid bull semen straws being prepared for shipment to the South Island.
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.
New Zealand Young Farmers (NZYF) has launched a new initiative designed to make it easier for employers to support their young team members by covering their NZYF membership.
Sheep infant nutrition maker Blue River Dairy is hoping to use its success in China as a springboard into other markets in future.
Plentiful milk supplies from key producer countries are weighing down global dairy prices.
The recent windstorm that cut power to dairy farms across Southland for days has taught farmers one lesson – keep a generator handy on each farm.
The effects of the big windstorm of late October will be felt in lost production in coming weeks as repair crews work through the backlog of toppled irrigation pivots, says Culverden dairy farmer Fran Gunn.
With the current situation in the European farm machinery market being described as difficult at best, it’s perhaps no surprise that the upcoming AgriSIMA 2026 agricultural machinery exhibition, scheduled for February 2026 at Paris-Nord Villepinte, has been cancelled.
OPINION: Last week India's powerful Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal was in the country for another round of negotiations on a…
OPINION: Two types of grifters have used the sale of Fonterra's consumer brands as a platform to push their own…
