No bull in breeding seminars

No bull in breeding seminars

Breed values, indices and traits are phrases that can make even the most passionate dairy farmer put the whole issue of breeding into the “too hard” basket, or simply reach for bull of the day when mating comes around.

Nita Harding, General Manager of the Dairy Women’s Network, says the organisation’s upcoming Dairy Days seminars, “aim to take the mystery out of breeding, providing dairy farmers with the opportunity to have the value and returns from good breeding decisions explained. These workshops will be a great opportunity to ask questions without feeling like you need to be a geneticist to understand the answer.”

The nationwide Dairy Days seminars will be led by CRV AmBreed’s marketing manager, Peter Berney. He is a passionate advocate for taking the mysteries out of an area with the potential to be the most sustainable means of production growth in any dairy herd.

“When you think of spending money on something like urea, you will get one burst and then need to look at the next application. Spending money wisely on good genetics can deliver returns that flow through the herd for years afterwards, and can ultimately save money by generating stock that are more efficient converters of feed into milk solids,” he says.

The seminars include a breeding plan for every farmer’s herd, helping them to identify gaps in their herd’s performance that breeding can help fill.

Issues within herds may include fertility problems, calving issues or milk solid ratios that can be addressed over time by better understanding bull traits and heritability. Peter Berney is also keen to dispel the “one size fits all” approach to breeding, urging farmers to consider their unique herd situation in terms of feed levels, stocking rates and farm intensity.

“The genetic requirements for a herd run under a high input system with high per head production will be significantly different to an all grass, average stocking rate operation.”

There is no silver bullet solution lying with any one bull, and for many farmers targeting individual cows with specific bulls may simply be impractical. Discussion at the Dairy Days will include practical steps to tailor particular genetics to particular cow groups within the herd, aiming to fix the “holes” within those groups.

Peter Berney aims to highlight the practical effects of modern breeding goals, as farmers have bred to lower cow live-weights in recent years. He points to smaller calves with narrow mouths growing into the equivalent cows.

“The effects of the smaller animal have bought smaller muzzles, and that simply lowers their bite ability, and capacity to input grass for milk conversion. The trick is to avoid compromising production in pursuit of those lower live-weights.”

Similarly the pressure to breed “easy calving” cows can create the same problems.
He expects those attending the Dairy Days to be challenged on their conventional breeding decisions, and come away with far clearer goals on what they want to achieve.

But like all good things the outcome of good breeding takes time, requiring patience to create and determine what offspring are worth keeping from those better informed breeding decisions.

The upside of waiting, however, is the good returns that better decisions may deliver.

Nominating specific quality bull genetics for a herd will only cost around 7c/kg milk solids for an average farmer, miniscule against big ticket items like fertiliser or wages, both which exceed 50c/kg MS of farm working expenses.

“You will get a cumulative gain in your herd productivity, and may even see costs drop as cows become more efficient, allowing you to take feed out of the system.”

Dairy women interested in attending the Dairy Days can find dates and times on the Dairy Women’s Network website: www.dwn.co.nz

ENDS

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