Plan based on farmer needs

Maximising genetic gain is important if New Zealand is to continue being world leading. Genetic gain expressed in Breeding Worth (BW) results in cows that are more efficient producers, meaning they need less feed for each kilogram of milk they produce. Right now we are missing out on genetic gain due to slow on-farm adoption of genomics, fragmented datasets and multiple versions of BW presented to farmers.

That's why New Zealand Animal Evaluation Ltd (NZAEL), a DairyNZ subsidiary, is proposing a single, independent BW index that will include all useful genomic information and make NZAEL's BW more reliable and the sector standard.

Having more reliable information allows farmers to make better decisions, which will help ensure genetic gain is the best it can be for Kiwi dairy farmers. This will help New Zealand keep up with the rest of the world when it comes to rates of genetic gain - meaning our farmers will be able to breed better animals every year.

We want to help all dairy farmers in New Zealand unlock additional potential profit - for their benefit and that of New Zealand as a whole. The work we have done shows us this change is the right thing to do. However, we need an operating model that is fair to all participants - a model that encourages all sector participants to get involved will see everyone working together and give us the greatest chance of success. We have developed a proposal and are now consulting with farmers and sector participants to get feedback to improve our thinking.

To be clear: NZAEL is not seeking to own genomics data. Commercial breeding companies will retain ownership of the genomic data they have invested in collecting.

However, as an industry good organisation we are requesting access to it so the whole sector can benefit. This is the same approach taken to the current phenotypic data - such as herd testing data - that flows into the Dairy Industry Good Animal Database.

This is a significant change for the sector and brings plenty of challenges, but we believe we would be remiss in our duty to farmers not to work towards this change. This is about dairy farmers and us all working together to get the best outcomes.

We believe the development of own BW with genomics by NZAEL as an industry good body, on behalf of the sector, is a positive use of farmer levies.

NZAEL works closely with world-renowned experts - agricultural geneticist Dorian Garrick and AbacusBio managing director and agricultural scientist Peter Amer - who have made it clear New Zealand's rate of genetic gain has not improved to the level we should expect in the past 10 years.

Jim van der Poel is DairyNZ chairman.