Thursday, 24 June 2021 09:55

Genetics to help meet climate change targets?

Written by  Staff Reporters
CRV managing director James Smallwood says genetics has been identified as a means of building a long-term solution to climate change. CRV managing director James Smallwood says genetics has been identified as a means of building a long-term solution to climate change.

Genetics will play a key role in helping dairy farmers meet climate targets at a herd level, while maintaining the highest quality milk production, says CRV managing director James Smallwood.

His comments come following the release of the Climate Change Commission's final report, which sets out a plan for New Zealand to reduce its emissions and become carbon neutral by 2050.

"Genetics has been identified as a means of building a long-term solution to climate change," says Smallwood.

"As an industry, if cow numbers are reduced farmers will need to improve efficiency per cow to ensure farming remains sustainable, both environmentally and economically.

"With technologies such as genomic testing, we can work with farmers to identify superior animals in their herds.

By combining this technology with precision breeding tools, such as sexed semen from elite bulls, farmers have an opportunity to accelerate their herd's genetic gain in animal efficiency."

Access to quality data is crucial for making smart herd management and breeding decisions.

Farmers can use the data captured on farm from herd testing, DNA testing and herd recording to identify the elite animals that possess traits they want in future dairy herds.

Herd management tools like CRV's myHERD mean all this data can be captured in one place and used to help breed efficient, more sustainable cows, says Smallwood.

He believes meeting the targets recommended in the report will be a big job for both farmers and industry and says they will need support and access to new tools in order to achieve them.

"The industry requires ongoing investment in research, such as the current methane genetic trials. Farmers need tools to be able to accurately measure, report and reduce the environmental footprint of their herd."

CRV's grass-fed genetics breeding programme in New Zealand, combined with the company's global presence and years of investment overseas and locally, means the company is well-positioned to help develop tools and solutions, he says.

CRV Netherlands has been investing in individual feed intake collection for several years and is making excellent progress in terms of giving farmers real tools to breed a herd that produces more milk with less feed.

"Consumers are demanding more information about the provenance of their food. From greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprint to animal welfare, the spotlight is on New Zealand as a food producing nation.

"CRV has led the way in developing genetic solutions for breeding animals that are polled (hornless) and more tolerant to facial eczema and more efficient. We were also first to market with our sexed semen offering, which enables farmers to breed heifers from their best cows.

"There is no doubt these new targets are challenging, but they also present our dairy industry with an opportunity to step up and further strengthen our global competitive advantage. CRV is committed to working with farmers to do just that," says Smallwood.

More like this

No reason to demonise farming

OPINION: New Zealand has said it is going to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by ‘a lot’ and ‘in a short time’. One of those gases is methane. Our biggest producer of methane is livestock farming.

Bye bye Paris?

OPINION: At its recent annual general meeting, Federated Farmers’ Auckland province called for New Zealand to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

Protest planned outside dairy awards venue

As the dairy industry prepares to celebrate its top achievers at an awards night this Saturday, attendees are being warned to be aware of protests planned outside the venue – Baypark Arena, Mount Mauganaui.

Featured

LIC Space folds for good

Farmer co-operative LIC has closed its satellite-backed pasture measurement platform – Space.

Editorial: Time for common sense

OPINION: The case of four Canterbury high country stations facing costly and complex consent hearing processes highlights the dilemma facing the farming sector as the country transitions into a replacement for the Resource Management Act (RMA).

National

DairyNZ Farmers Forum underway

Over 300 farmers and rural professionals have gathered in Hamilton for the first DairyNZ Farmers Forum for this year.

Machinery & Products

Shearing legend hooked on CanAm

Sir David Fagan, world-renowned competitive sheep shearer with 642 shearing titles worldwide and a knighthood to his name, now runs…

50 years of tractor pull

This year, the Fieldays Tractor Pull, in association with PTS Logistics, mark a major milestone – 50 years of crowd-thrilling…

The Wrangler's birthday bash

It's the Wrangler Limited’s 30th birthday and to celebrate the milestone a prototype of the E Series Wrangler - a…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Free speech

OPINION: The Free Speech Union is taking this one too far.

Drug survey

OPINION: New national data from The Drug Detection Agency (TDDA), a leading workplace drug tester, shows methamphetamine (meth) use is…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter