Friday, 19 October 2018 10:19

Innovation to underpin LIC’s growth

Written by 
LIC’s investment in R&D and innovation is over 5% of its revenue ($13.2 million in 17-18 year), well above the New Zealand primary sector average of around 1%. LIC’s investment in R&D and innovation is over 5% of its revenue ($13.2 million in 17-18 year), well above the New Zealand primary sector average of around 1%.

The future growth and sustainability of the New Zealand dairy industry will be underpinned by innovation and investment in research and development (R&D). 

That was the message from LIC board chair and Nelson dairy farmer Murray King at the farmer-owned cooperative’s annual meeting in Hamilton yesterday. 

LIC shareholders, directors, shareholder councillors and staff heard how LIC has an ambitious R&D investment programme that will drive its sustainable growth and profitability into the future and deliver more value to its farmer shareholders. 

King said LIC’s investment in R&D and innovation is over 5% of its revenue ($13.2 million in 17-18 year), well above the New Zealand primary sector average of around 1%.

“LIC has always been a heavy investor in R&D, on behalf of our shareholders and the industry, and for some time now we have been talking about our work to transform the business and deliver a more sustainable and agile co-operative.

“We are now more match-fit than ever and better positioned to deliver great outcomes for our farmers.

“We are taking what we learnt from our transformation programme, the methods we have adopted and efficiencies we have gained to unlock new opportunities and deliver even more benefits for our shareholders. A sustainable and prolonged industry-leading focus on innovation and R&D is critical to that.”

Over the last year LIC has introduced SPACE, a pasture management system which utilises satellite technology to estimate a farm’s pasture cover.  

This technology can deliver significant benefit to farmers and the uptake has been excellent, says King.

“Our work to refine this service continues and soon we will be implementing updates to further improve its accuracy by removing distortions caused by shadow or cloud. We will also be extending the service to cover more areas in the country, so more farmers can access the benefits.”

King also highlighted LIC’s ongoing focus on delivering genetic gain to the New Zealand dairy herd and how its cutting-edge genomics research will help lift the bar even higher, and at a faster rate.

“Over the last 15 years we have invested more than $40 million in genomics research and our knowledge and understanding has come a long way in that time. 

“Genomic selection is now a key part of our breeding scheme in conjunction with the more traditional methods of sire proving. As technology evolves and our genomic dataset grows, so too does our selection intensity and accuracy, and this ultimately allows farmers to access more of the elite new genetics earlier.

“We recently received a significant funding boost from the Government’s Endeavour Fund for a major project. This is an exciting project which applies the latest genomic technologies to breed healthier, more efficient dairy cattle and could deliver significant productivity and environmental gains for the New Zealand dairy industry.”

More like this

LIC ready for challenges ahead

Herd improvement company LIC says it's well-positioned for the challenges ahead and remains focused on its core purpose - delivering value for farmer shareholders.

Breeding heat-tolerant cows for Africa

LIC is embarking on a ground-breaking project aimed at breeding heat tolerant and disease resistant dairy cows for Sub-Saharan Africa, in collaboration with the global leader in precision breeding, Acceligen, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Scheme to pick high potential 'underdog' bulls

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.

Featured

Better animal genetic gain system

A governance group has been formed, following extensive sector consultation, to implement the recommendations from the Industry Working Group's (IWG) final report and is said to be forming a 'road map' for improving New Zealand's animal genetic gain system.

SIDE 2025's new schedule, venue

Annual farmer gathering, the South Island Dairy Event (SIDE), is set to make history as it heads to Timaru for the first time.

Taranaki piggery goes solar

Installing 400 solar panels at their Taranaki piggery and cropping operation will have significant environmental, financial and animal welfare benefits for the Stanley family.

National

The show is on!

It was bringing in a new Canterbury A&P Association (CAPA) show board, more in tune with the CAPA general committee,…

Food charity to hold online auction

Meat the Need, New Zealand’s dedicated charity delivering locally sourced protein meals to food-insecure communities, is launching an online National…

Machinery & Products

An ideal solution for larger farms

Designed specifically for large farms that want to drill with maximum flexibility, efficiency and power, the new Lemken Solitair ST…

Landpower increases its offering

Landpower and the Claas Harvest Centre network will launch the Claas Scorpion and Torion material handling solutions to the market…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Leaky waka

OPINION: Was the ASB Economic Weekly throwing shade on Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr when reporting on his speech in…

Know-it-alls

OPINION: A reader recently had a shot at the various armchair critics that she judged to be more than a…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter