Pamu and LIC to launch Synergizer
The first calves of a new crossbred dairy-beef offering are now on the ground at a Pamu (Landcorp) farm near Taupo.
A “one of a kind” Jersey bull, Okura Integrity, has been inducted into the LIC Hall of Fame.
Okura has been recognised for the profound influence he has had on the profitability of New Zealand’s dairy farmers and in-turn, the economy.
The accolade was announced to some of the country’s top bull breeders who came together in Hamilton for LIC’s Breeders’ Day event recently.
The annual event celebrates an exclusive group of farmers who supplied a bull calf to the farmer-owned co-operative which went on to form part of their elite teams of artificial breeding bulls the year before.
LIC’s General Manager of NZ Markets, Malcolm Ellis, said although the event is annual, a new inductee into the Hall of Fame doesn’t happen every year.
“For a bull to be inducted into the Hall of Fame he needs to have made a significant influence on the dairy industry by producing genetically superior female offspring that farmers want to milk. Inductees do not only excel through the performance of their own progeny but also through the contribution of their sons.
There was no doubt in our mind Integrity has met both of these criteria with ease.”
Integrity was first made commercially available to the nation’s dairy farmers as a young bullin 2011 after his ability to sire high quality dairy cows was predicted using genomic science.
The elite genetic merit that genomics predicted became reality when information from Integrity’s first crop of milking daughters became available.
“His stats were remarkable and he continued to be selected to the Premier Sires teams as a daughter proven bull.”
Integrity is likely to become the first bull from any breed to achieve eight years in Premier Sires, after being preliminarily selected for 2019.
This would also create another first – a Hall of Fame inducteewho is part of a current Premier Sires team.
“For most bulls, the Hall of Fame honour is received posthumously as the quality of a bull’s offspring and its peak influence on the dairy industry is often reached after the bull is no longer with us.
With a BW of 243, outstanding capacity and very strong udder breeding values, he’s still at the top of his game.”
He’s also proven to be an exceptional sire of sons.
“It’s likely three of his sons will join him in this year’s Premier Sires Daughter Proven team. He really is one of a kind.”
Having bred 16 bulls that have gone on to become part of LIC’s Premier Sires teams, Luke and Lyna Beehre’s Okura stud in Northland is synonymous with bull breeding. But receiving this accolade is a first.
“Getting an Okura bull on to the Hall of Fame has always been a dream of ours. Watching Integrity get his own proof and seeing his sons come through the ranks allowed me to hope he might get there one day,” Lyna says.
“Breeding a bull that has added so much value to individual dairy businesses and our industry is a great feeling. We’re very excited.”
About Okura LT Integrity
- Born in 2010, on Luke and Lyna Beehre’s Hukerenui farm
- Sired by Lynbrook Terrific ET S3J (a 2018 Hall of Fame inductee)
- Debuted on the Premier Sires team in 2011
- 229,300 inseminations
- 35,889 daughters
- 31 sons and 72 grandsons for the artificial breeding (AB) industry
- Current BW 243
- 57th inductee, 27th Jersey
Like many manufacturers around the world, European agricultural machinery and tractor manufacturers are currently operating in a difficult market environment. But they are heading to the world’s largest agricultural machinery event in Hanover next month with a degree of cautious optimism.
Established in 2021, the John Deere Technician of the Year Awards champion the important contribution parts and service technicians make to the Australian and New Zealand agriculture, construction and forestry industries.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) is calling on farmers from all regions to take part in the final season of the Sheep Poo Study aiming to build a clearer picture of how facial eczema (FE) affects farms across New Zealand.
New Zealand is closer to eradicating bovine TB than ever before, but possums remain a threat, says Beef + Lamb New Zealand.
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has joined the debate around the proposed sale of Fonterra’s consumer and related businesses, demanding answers from the co-operative around its milk supply deal with the buyer, Lactalis.
The ACT Party says media reports that global dairy giant Nestle has withdrawn from the Dairy Methane Action Alliance shows why New Zealand needs to rethink its approach to climate.
OPINION: Ageing lefty Chris Trotter reckons that the decision to delay recognition of Palestinian statehood is more than just a fit…
OPINION: A mate of yours truly recently met someone at a BBQ who works at a big consulting firm who spent…