GREEN TO GOLD GeNeTICS THAT TUrN PASTUre INTo ProFIT
CHANGe IN FoCUS DeLIVerS reWArDS P5 ProFITABILITy AND reTUrN oN CAPITAL CeNTrAL To THINKING P13 HeNK PoSTMUS: A QUeST For KNoWLeDGe P18
VoLUMe 8, NUMBer 2
Aaron Wallace, Editor
Welcome
CoNTeNTS
Welcome to another instalment of Green to Gold – the free publication from LIC providing insight to the farming endeavours and achievements of like minded farmers from around the globe.
3 5 8 10
SiRe SpoTLiGHT: Blitz and Brutus Change in focus delivers rewards Move to Australia paying dividends Crossbreeding in New Zealand dairy herds
THeSe FaRmeRS have a few things in common. Not only have they decided that partnering with LIC is one of the best ways to increase the genetic quality and output of their herds, but in doing so they are challenging the traditional way of farming in their country of residence – and they are very successful in the process. This edition of Green to Gold contains a range of articles to suit and challenge the interests of all progressive farmers. It is always great to receive feedback from our readers, so don’t hesitate to tell me what you like and what you would like to see more of – licnz@lic.co.nz. I would also like to encourage you to visit our website www.licnz.com. Best wishes from the team at LIC. s
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Profitability and return on capital central to thinking
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advice: Young stock reaching their genetic potential
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Big Numbers, amazing science, better dairy animal performance
18 20
Henk Postmus: A quest for knowledge
Happy reading Aaron Wallace
23 26 27
Focus on good grazing practices
cover photo: Charlie Russell. See story on page 12.
Contacts New Zealand LIC Private bag 3016 Hamilton Phone: +64 7 856 3094 Email: licnz@lic.co.nz
www.licnz.com Argentina LIC Latin America SA Independencia 2415 (6700) Luján. Bs. As. Phone: 02323-428799
Australia Livestock Improvement P/L 1/129 Ogilvie Ave. Echuca Victoria 3564 Phone: 1800 454 694 Email: gh@livestockimprovement.com.au
Chile Cooprinsem Ltda M. Rodriguez 1040 Casilla 827 Osorno Phone:+56 64 233393 Email: ia-sergio@telsur.cl www.cooprinsem.cl
China Beijing Zhonghao Jiatai Trading Co. Ltd Room A101 NO.14 Huishengyuan Chaoyang District Beijing City Phone: 0086-10-65502811 Email: hhtsbq@163.com
Ireland LIC Ireland Ltd Carrigeen Industrial Estate, Cahir, Co Tipperary, Ireland Phone: 1800 60 40 20 Mark Ryder (General Manager) Email: mryder@licireland.com
2 Green to Gold VOLUME 8, NUMBER 2
Eurogene AI services (IRL) Ltd Carrigeen Industrial Estate, Cahir, Co Tipperary, Ireland Phone: +353 (0) 52 7442940 Email: sales@eurogeneaiservices.com
Japan Surge Miyawaki Co., Ltd Sapporo Branch 1338-10 Higashiura, Tobetsu-cho, Ishikari-gun Hokkaido, 061-0213 Phone: 03-3449-3711 Email: ym@surge-m.co.jp
Northern Ireland AI Services (NI) Ltd Phone: 028 9083 3123 Email: info@ai-services.co.uk
South Africa Genimex PO Box 494 Irene 0062 Republic of South Africa Phone: 012 667 1012
The art of farming for semen production Converting feed into profit Greg Hamill: New GM of Australia
United Kingdom
Uruguay
Livestock Improvement (UK) Ltd Unit 7, Town Farm Workshops Dean Lane, Sixpenny Handley Salisbury, Wiltshire SP5 5PA Phone: 01725 553008 Email: rhassall@licuk.uk
Gensur Ltda Nueva York 1690 Montevideo Telefax: 924 6655 – 929 0260 Email: gensur@netgate.com.uy
USA
editorial enquires
LIC USA 10220 N Ambassador Dr. Kansas City, MO 64153, USA Phone: + 1 816 898 2512 email: pjwicks@att.net Taurus Service Inc Mehoopany, PA 18629, USA Toll Free Numbers: 1-800-836-5123 (U.S. Only) Phone: 570-833-5123, 570-833-5513 Email: taurus@epix.net www.taurus-service.com
Editor Green to Gold LIC Private bag 3016 Hamilton New Zealand Phone: +64 7 856 3094 Email: licnz@lic.co.nz
SIre SPoTLIGHT By Simon Worth, Bull Acquisition Manager
A double banger from GreeNWeLL New Zealand’s Bay of Plenty (east coast of the North Island) is somewhat of a nursery for Holstein Friesian breeding. THe ReGion pRovideS some of the very best Holstein Friesian bulls – and many go on
108237 Greenwell TF Blitz eT S3F Of all the 27 Firenze sons sampled in 2008, LIC sampled just the one (due to limited semen access). For this bull to then proceed, and graduate, as the most well balanced son of all is a fantastic result! Blitz stems from a truly impressive cow family.
Because of the family’s qualities, a Banquet daughter was selected to participate in LIC’s GeneRate programme in the 2006-2007 season. It was here the sire-dam combination, via embryo technologies, took place – and the following year Blitz was born. Five years on Blitz comes shining through with a tremendous proof. When comparing the top Firenze sons, Blitz takes the lead on fertility
to have a profound impact on the New Zealand dairy herd. The most celebrated of the Bay’s bulls to date is Athol Famous Prefect. Continuing the region’s proud legacy nowadays is the Greenwell prefix of Alan and Ann Looney of Opotiki. Their high production, ‘commercial’, herd is based 15 minutes West of Opotiki.
It is a classic example of sound breeding practices combined with an enthusiasm to adopt new technologies, which inevitably leads to success. Most breeders will admit it’s an achievement in itself to have cows recognised with qualities that warrant being offered a contract mating. However, top breeders will also say real kudos
108237 Greenwell TF Blitz eT S3F
comes when resulting bulls are ultimately selected, purchased, and – five years later – prove the worth of the investment put in to them. It takes about NZD$40,000 to accurately evaluate every bull through LIC’s structured Sire Proving Scheme. This process identifies which bulls are ultimately selected to represent the top teams, and thereby become the ‘drivers’ of genetic gain in New Zealand dairy herds. The success of the Looney’s breeding endeavours is therefore a credit to them: In the Alpha Nominated and draft Premier Sire teams, the couple has two impressive Greenwell bulls. Two-year-old Blitz daughter. Owner: Allomes Farming Ltd, Woodville.
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Green to Gold 3
while offering one of the very best somatic cell BVs. These BVs, together with the third-highest protein value, doesn’t come simply by chance. Add to the mix a formidable cow family and we have a bull aptly named – given that he’s blitzing the field! The vast majority of Blitz’s daughters have been evaluated for management and conformation traits, and it is clear why he is siring cows that farmers like: These mediumsized cows display great capacity, and strong udder attachments with correct front teat placement. A blessing to many is his ability to add slope to the rump angle. Add to this the ability to sire placid temperament, and it’s easy to
understand why Blitz is fast becoming a favourite. He’s not only a favourite with New Zealand farmers, but with Sire Analysts too – highlighted by the fact he enters the prestigious group to be used as sire of sons in 2012. In fact, given his usage as a young bull, we already have sons being proven! Early use of Blitz did not only come about through bull acquisition. Based on his genomic predictions, he also made an impact through the 2009 DNA Proven team. Because of this, Blitz will already be receiving his reproof this spring. While at the GeneRate herd, the same dam (of Blitz) also gave birth to a bull-calf sired by MacFarlanes Dauntless.
This bull was subsequently proven and he too has made the very highest ranks – his name, Brutus:
107015 Greenwell MD Brutus In Brutus we also witness a bull with a strong balance of traits. As with his half-brother, we see a nice combination of index and conformation traits. However, the real attraction is through some of the secondary traits – especially fertility and somatic cell scores. At 11.1% for fertility (within breed and 91% reliability), Brutus is one of the very best! On top of the benefit of high BW, he adds a somatic cell score of –0.55. Again, one of the very best!
What about the family of these two breed leaders?
107015 Greenwell MD Brutus
Their dam (No. 224) to date has averaged a truly impressive LW of 446 over her six lactations and currently sits with a BW of 247. The LIC bull acquisition team continues to work with her at a contract mating level, both via AI and ET work. Her dam is just as impressive. Sired by Walesa, she has averaged 256 LW over an inspiring 12 lactations. Behind the Walesa we discover a daughter of Crocketts Pollox who also stayed around for nine lactations. Conformation is also extremely sound throughout the pedigree. Although no official classification exists, No. 224 is absolutely VG status – at least in this writer’s opinion. Her dam’s conformation was also very sound and is well remembered by her tremendous capacity.
Through Brutus and Blitz we witness the result of a quality family. In fact we were not far away from having to write about a third Greenwell bull!
Two-year-old Brutus daughter. Owner: Sprayco Forestry Ltd, Te Puke.
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Debate recently saw another relative, Greenwell Betta, only just missing out on Premier Sires selection, given the emphasis we must place on a balance of traits. Although we are well within the genomic era, we are extremely mindful of not losing sight of quality cow families. Genomics needs to be utilised as an additional tool to help ‘finetune’ selections. Good comfort then should be seen through the likes of Greenwells HF Bonza, who has been a high profile DNA Proven bull, and sire of sons. This Higgins Format son is yet another from this inspiring family. It’s expected this story will yet have another chapter. s
CHANGe IN FoCUS DeLIVerS reWArDS A change in focus, from long winters and keeping cows indoors to shortening the winter by getting cows outside and feeding them more grass, has proved to be a winner for Noel o’Toole in more ways than one. THe SUcceSS oF THe STRaTeGy is evident today in a stocking rate of 3.7 per hectare and production of 412 kg solids per cow and 1530 kg milk solids per hectare, statistics any farmer would be proud of and which were formally acknowledged when Noel O’Toole was named the 2010 Irish Dairy Board Farmer of the Year. “We’d been putting a lot of effort into planning for long winters and weren’t concentrating on summer. But it wasn’t until a Discussion Group was set up in the late 1990’s, led by a Consultant from Australia (promoting New Zealand methods) that I realised we’d been looking at things wrong.
“Bryony Fitzgerald’s strategy was to simplify the whole process and run a simpler, more cost effective farming system which utilised grass growth. It made sense.” Noel O’Toole started milking cows on the land his grandfather bought in the 1920s. In those days the farm was “a little bit of everything, tillage and rearing starter cattle through to store.” It wasn’t until Noel took over the farm that the first cows were milked. “I started off small, hand-milking seven or eight British Friesian cows and gradually built up numbers by keeping replacements and buying in cows. We had a spread calving pattern; the cows were kept indoors for
Noel O’Toole, 2010 Irish Dairy Board Farmer of the Year.
the winter months and we’d be calving from early spring through to early summer.” It wasn’t until those Discussion Groups in the late 1990s that Noel became aware that there were other ways of dairying, which were simpler and potentially more profitable. “In addition to talking about the advantages of seasonal, grass based, low cost farming, Bryony talked about New Zealand cows and how they were bred to be hardy and fertile, so I gradually changed over to LIC semen. “Then we started cross breeding, putting Jersey bulls over the heifers for easy calving and when those heifers came through, we’d breed them to Friesian. “As a result of that strategy, around 50% of the herd today is Jersey x Friesian cross and the rest of the cows are pretty much all New Zealand type cows: lower, handier, maybe averaging 500 kg body weight or slightly less.
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Green to Gold 5
The herd is 50% Jersey/Holstein-Friesian cross.
“The crossbred cows had what I wanted – good fertility and good feet – they’d get in calf and could easily handle the walk to and from the milking parlour. They are aggressive grazers and easily maintained. “One of the first goals was to tighten the calving pattern from where it was (early spring to early summer) to what it is today when up to 90% of the herd calves within six weeks.” All cows are put to AI for seven weeks, and then a couple of Friesian and Jersey bulls to mop up. Heifers are mated to AI once, and then run with a Jersey bull.
When it comes to choice of bull, Noel gets together with other members of the Discussion Group to discuss the bulls on offer and which of them suit the respective farms, focusing on bulls which have good fertility. Then LIC representatives come down and discuss with us and decisions are made. “We want to maintain our compact seven week calving, so when we have enough cows to fill the herd we sell whatever is left. Any cows not calved by 5 or 6 April leave the herd. There is always a demand for surplus heifers and cows.” The average age of the herd is around 5-6 years. “Each year we replace 20% of the herd, getting rid of any cows which have high cell counts, foot trouble or are late calving.” Noel says the winter is relatively short and they are able to “graze cows for 300 days or thereabouts and in a good year we will get 320 days. “We start calving on 5 February and the cows are full time on grass once they’ve calved. “The heifer calves stay on the home block until they are weaned and then go to the grazing block. The male calves are sold off at 2-3 weeks of age.” Asked why the farm achieves milk solids per hectare almost double the national average, Noel says it comes down to one simple thing – “All our farm is in production. It’s fully stocked and we’re not taking out any feed, in contrast with a lot of farmers who close off paddocks for winter feeding. Winter feed is harvested from the outside blocks, except when we have surplus growth on the home block, it is baled and used as buffer feeding during times of poor growth.” The farm is low input but Noel admits they will feed concentrate when the milk payment justifies it. “For 3 years, we averaged around 450 kg concentrate per cow in the parlour. But last year, when there was an increase in milk payment, it made sense to feed more (600 kg).” When it comes to winning the Irish Dairy Farmer of the Year in 2010, Noel says he hadn’t given the competition serious thought “until a few different people encouraged me to enter. “Winning the regional competition was a great thrill. But it was a great achievement to win the national title.”
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It’s one thing to produce more milk, but you have to make profit from it.
The competition is judged on all aspects of dairying: Physical-Technical, Financial, Sustainability, Risk Management and Vision/Delivery. Future expansion of the O’Toole dairying business is restricted by a shortage of available land. “There’s no more land around us so our next move forward will be selling more replacement heifers, rather than producing more milk.” Noel and his wife Bernadette have six children – five sons and a daughter. “All of them are doing their own thing at the moment. Though I would be hoping some of the boys will come back to take over. “In the spring we have a student help us for three months and for the last two years I’ve had a lady milker who comes in five evenings a week. I milk mornings and weekends. Sometimes, the boys help out” When asked to comment on the future profitability of dairying in Ireland, Noel says that price volatility is a factor which farmers have to accept.
“The biggest thing in farming is that it has to be profitable. It’s one thing to produce more milk, but you have to make profit from it.” “The marketing of milk is my bigger concern. If the markets fail or the markets are weak, you have to be able to weather the storm.” s
Farm facts Farm Size
66 hectares in three blocks – 40 hectare milking platform, with two smaller blocks – replacement heifers and winter feed.
Location
East Galway, West of Ireland
Soil and contour
Free draining land able to handle the wet Contour is rolling, free draining south facing and warm.
Rainfall
1200mm of rain pa
Farm subdivision
Farm divided into 2 to 3 acre paddocks, New Zealand style
Herd
150 LIC crossbred cows 412 kg milksolids per cow 1530 kg milksolids per hectare 3.7 stock units per hectare
WWW.LICNZ.COM
VOLUME 8, NUMBER 2
Green to Gold 7
MoVe To AUSTrALIA PAyING DIVIDeNDS
John and Janelle Andreoli milk 180 cows at Naringal, Victoria.
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When John Andreoli was growing up on the family dairy farm at Kapuni in South Taranaki, New Zealand, he never dreamed he would, one day, be milking cows ‘on the other side of the ditch’ in Australia. THe GoaL on LeavinG ScHooL was to follow in his father’s footsteps and one day own his own farm. John worked as a herd tester before going 29% sharemilking at Auroa in Taranaki. Around the same time he trained as an LIC AB technician. “Janelle and I got married in 1984 and we went 50/50 sharemilking for around eight years before buying our own farm at Rahotu in Coastal Taranaki. Janelle originally hailed from Brisbane and had never lived on a farm but she loved the country life and was a midwife, so she had skills which have certainly come in handy over the years!” In 2002, the couple sold their farm at Rahotu and moved to Australia. “We looked at buying at bigger farm in New Zealand but the land prices were much higher than they were in Australia so it made economic sense to make the move.” They purchased a 326 acre going concern (or walk on walk off as they say in Australia) dairy unit which included the herd and all machinery, at Naringal in Victoria but the whole family (now comprising four children, 15, 13, 11 and 8) didn’t make the move for 12 months after the purchase. “The long lead time gave the kids time to adjust to the move, and they soon came to love the life in Australia, with frequent trips back to New Zealand to catch up with family and friends in Taranaki.” John recalls that the first few years in Naringal were tough. “The farm wasn’t achieving the production it was capable of and so we worked off-farm, Janelle at a nearby hospital, where she still works, while I worked as an AI Supervisor and did our own AB. “One of the main reasons we moved to Australia, beside cheaper land, was I wanted a challenge and I got one – in the first year here milk prices took a big drop which made things tight for a couple of years but it all came right in the end. Janelle working as a midwife two days a week certainly helps, and we manage to have a good holiday every year.
The Andreolis milk 180 cows, made up of 40 Jerseys and 140 Crossbred cows.
“The herd which came with the farm was Jersey but the previous owner only milked 135 cows so we had to find more. The local Field Officer from Warrnambool Cheese & Butter Factory helped us out and we purchased all the extra cows from another supplier who was retiring from milking cows.” Today the Andreolis milk 180 cows, a similar number to the herd they milked in New Zealand and the composition has changed so it’s now made up of 40 Jersey and 140 Crossbreds. The farm is pasture based dry land with no irrigation. Having good rainfall they are able to make their own silage and bits of hay, only buying in hay for the milkers during the dryer summer months. John says one of the major differences between dairying in New Zealand and Australia is the need to feed out in Australia and calving from Autumn to Winter with only around two weeks free. “Most farmers feed grain of some sort; we feed around 1 ton per cow of pellets over the season. The stocking rate is lower than New Zealand mainly because you have to farm for what Kiwis would call a drought, but that’s a normal dry summer here. “It usually stops raining from November/December until late March/ April so you have to make plenty of silage to get you through this period and keep the cows milking. You end up feeding out from December until July, when the cows have all calved.” In 2006 John and Janelle decided to begin crossbreeding because “we wanted more milk without compromising our fat and protein, and wanted a slightly bigger animal. We put all our Jersey cows to LIC Friesian bulls which had no calving problems. All the first cross animals were then mated to KiwiCross™ bulls.
“The production since the crossbred animals have come into the herd has gone in the right direction – UP – the last two seasons seeing an improvement of 7.5% and 4.5% respectively, and the trend is continuing this season. We’ve got a better herd and better genetics which does great production because we feed them well.” “We start calving from 20 May and have usually finished calving by 25 July. We also dry our last cows off around 25 April so we only have
about three weeks not milking cows - not two months like we did in New Zealand! “Our Somatic cell count is usually quite low as any cow over 600,000 on herd test gets a free ride on the truck to the meat works - the dairy company we supply grades you if you go over 300,000. We have never had a fertility problem as anything that does not get in calf also gets a free ride on the truck.” With around 75% of the herd being Crossbred now, great producers with good temperament, it’s no wonder John would love an ‘ALL BLACK’ herd!
“When you look at the Crossbred cows in the herd this year, they’re outstanding, in both looks and performance!” John and Janelle say. s VOLUME 8, NUMBER 2
Green to Gold 9
By Jack Hooper, Genetics Consultant
CroSSBreeDING IN NeW ZeALAND DAIry HerDS The primary goal of dairy cattle breeding is to increase the efficiency of milksolids production. In New Zealand, crossbreeding is a practical way to help achieve this goal. BECAUSE OF THIS, the number of crossbred cows is rapidly increasing, and the cows have a reputation for being ‘easy-care’. Herd owner experience backs up results from various studies, which indicate the following advantages of crossbreeding in New Zealand conditions: • Improved milk production traits; • Better reproductive results; • Better health (eg. lower somatic cells) and survival. The above improvements are the result of a phenomenon called heterosis (or hybrid vigour). When animals of different breeds are crossed at mating, the performance of the resulting crossbred animal, on average, can be greater than what is normally expected from the average of the parents. Crossing purebred animals of different breeds results in hybrid vigour 100 percent of the time. However, that does not necessarily translate into the same profit advantage for different types of crossbreeds. For example, because Holstein-Friesians and Ayrshire’s are more closely related to one another than, say, Jersey, the advantage obtained from crossing Holstein-Friesian to Ayrshire would not be as great as the advantage obtained from crossing Holstein-Friesian with Jersey, or from crossing Ayrshire with Jersey. From Bill Montgomerie (formerly of NZAEL), Crosses and Ticks (featured in Green to Gold Vol 6 No 1). Table 1: Percentage performance improvement of first cross (Holstein Friesian x Jersey) cows in New Zealand, attributed to hybrid vigour. Trait
Impact of hybrid vigour
Milkfat
+ 4.7%
Protein
+ 4.6%
Milk volume
+ 4.2%
Liveweight
+ 2.1%
Cow fertility*
+ 5.2%
Somatic cell count Days of herd life
- 4.1% (favourable) + 13.5%
* Number of cows re-calving in first 42 days of calving period.
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Two-year-old Solaris daughter. Owner: Tanad Farms, Te Puke.
Production Worth
Dam (breed 16ths)
The effects of hybrid vigour on milkfat, protein, milk yield, and liveweight are included in the Production Worth (PW) estimate for each
Sire (breed 16ths)
F16
F12J4
F8J8
F4J12
J16
cow within the New Zealand Animal Evaluation system. These effects
J16
100
75
50
25
0
remain as part of the lifetime performance of a cow, but are not passed
F4J12
75
63
50
38
25
onto offspring.
F8J8
50
50
50
50
50
F12J4
25
38
50
63
75
F16
0
25
50
75
100
The recent AE run (27 April 2012) quantifies these effects into actual production and liveweight: Trait
Value
Value for a 360 cow farm
Protein
8.2 kg
2,952 kg
Breeding Choices
Fat Volume
11.6 kg
4,176 kg
Various choices are available when it comes to crossbreeding, including
172 litres
61,920 litres
use of KiwiCross™ bulls teams, or the use of parent breeds from which
9.5 kg
3,420 kg
Liveweight
Multiply the effects of hybrid vigour by herd size and the outcome will produce significant improvement in production numbers.
to breed a crossbred animal.
The best genetics of any breed can be used to breed replacements, and genetic diversity complements the benefit of hybrid vigour.
Functional Traits
Herd owners may elect to breed a lighter type of crossbred; this is done
The production and liveweight traits that are included in the PW only
by back-crossing to the Jersey breed. However, currently there is strong
tell part of the story, and perhaps under-value crossbreeding and the
preference to capture some of the benefits of hybrid vigour and
efficiency of the crossbred cow.
maintain an efficient black cow (or an animal that is about 12/16ths
Further advantage is evident when the functional traits (such as
Holstein Friesian) – under good management systems these animals are
reproduction, health, and survival) are taken into account.
capable of producing at least 450kg of milksolids.
The advantage hybrid vigour provides when it comes to a cow’s functional traits is observed in the impact on herd life: for the first crosses, compared to the average of the straight-bred parents, the advantage is in excess of 220 days.
An example of crossbreeding to suit an individual farms preference
The additional herd life increases the potential profitability of crossbred herds in two major ways: 1. Reduces the need for replacements together with the associated cost of rearing and grazing. More cows in a mature age group increases total herd productivity. 2. Better health and fertility reduces intervention costs, and decreases the incidence of involuntary culling (increasing the scope for voluntary culling or reducing replacements). Herd life improvement is consistent with environmental and sustainability objectives of many dairy farms. Hybrid vigour should be used to supplement genetic gain, not replace it.
Later Crosses and Hybrid Vigour Strongest in the first cross between pure breeds, the effect of hybrid
Lincoln University Dairy Farm (LUDF) has a breeding objective of a ‘High performing efficient herd, genetically indexed in the top 5% nationally.’ In the 2011/2012 season the herd will achieve 470kg of milksolids per cow and 1860kg milksolids per hectare, on a full pasture-based system. The breed composition of the herd is an average of F9J7. The rising two-year-old heifers average F10J6. As herd numbers reduce (with a greater focus on cow productivity as a means of improving farm profitability), the herd is likely to shift through to F11J5 or further, still retaining some of the benefits of hybrid vigour. The mating plan to achieve this breed composition involves: • Mating cows less than predominantly Jersey (F6 or less) to LIC’s Holstein Friesian Premier Sires. These cows are pre-highlighted in Protrack when the Technician is on farm. • Balance of the herd to LIC’s KiwiCross™ DNA Premier Sires. • Mating yearlings to LIC’s KiwiCross™ DNA Premier Sires.
vigour is diminished but still important in subsequent crossing.
In each of the last few seasons LUDF (through good reproductive
Table 2 shows the impact of mating different breeds or crossbreeds. A
management and yearling matings to AI) bred more calves than
first cross cow (F8J8) mated to a Holstein-Friesian sire (F16J0) will still
required to enter the herd as replacements; a later selection is done on
retain 50% of the hybrid vigour and associated benefits.
the basis of genetic merit. s
VOLUME 8, NUMBER 2
Green to Gold 11
ProFITABILITy AND reTUrN oN CAPITAL CeNTrAL To THINKING
Increasing potential grass growth, knowing what grass is available and making sure the cows are able to maximise utilisation are three keys to success at the Glenapp estate, in Ayrshire, Scotland. in THe paST Two yeaRS farm manager and Estate factor, Charlie Russell and his committed team have developed a 405 hectare intensive grazing system, milking 720 Jersey, Friesian and New Zealand cross cows, block calving between early February and late April. The farm sits on a Greenfield site that was previously beef and sheep grazing. It hugs the Ayrshire coast and has a stunning view across the Irish Sea. “I hadn’t milked a cow before we started down this route,” says Charlie Russell. “And in fact there hadn’t been a dairy herd on the Estate since the 1960s. But I knew we can grow grass here and we thought we could grow it well.” Historically the 5,200 hectare Estate had a large suckler herd and followers and 5,000 breeding ewes, as well as an arable enterprise, commercial forestry and sporting department, and did well in livestock shows and sales. “Profit was being made but in reality it was not comparable to the capital tied up in the Estate and it was simply not sustainable in the long term,” explains Charlie. “A number of things prompted us to look strategically at the business,” he continues. “2005 saw the decoupling of the Single Farm Payment across Europe, which meant subsidies were not linked to the numbers of animals on a unit. “In 2007 a TB outbreak closed down livestock trading with the beef enterprise here for an entire year, highlighting to me the risk in the business. The decline in the relevance of milk quota was also pivotal because the kind of financial investment that would have previously
12 Green to Gold VOLUME 8, NUMBER 2
From left: Jim Murray, Mark Burns, Charlie Russell, Arnon Langridge and farm assistant Sam Lee.
been required was prohibitive. “Taking a longer term view I also felt that red meat could be produced at a lower cost elsewhere in the world and that transportation into our market place was becoming increasingly efficient,” said Charlie. The ability to have a clear relationship with the end user is also important to Charlie, who was keen to shorten the chain between producer and customer. There are five milk buyers operating in the vicinity and within 20 miles of the Estate are two large milk processors, one of cheese and the other chocolate, so he knew he would have a market place nearby. Charlie continues; “Profitability and return on capital are central to our thinking, and with a grass based system you can strip the costs out of the system whilst keeping the structure of the business on a firm footing. With a more intensive dairy unit you can be looking at
investing around £5,000 a cow in infrastructure, with this system it’s less than £2,000. “A trip to New Zealand in 2007 gave me a better understanding of the cost structure associated with grazing enterprises and in the summer of 2009 work began on the new 70 point rotary parlour.” A rotational grazing based dairy system is not the norm in this part of the UK but it was this type of innovative thinking that contributed to Charlie being awarded the 2011 Farmers Weekly Farmer of the Year. When it came to planning the new unit, Charlie was able to sit down with a map of the estate and put together a plan from scratch. “We looked at using one of the existing beef units as the base for the parlour but it became apparent that in order to get the best possible access to the grass we needed a new site,” he explains. This meant Charlie did not have to compromise but instead was able to design the unit that suits the system. “Not coming from a dairy background meant I held no preconceived ideas about how things should be done and was able to concentrate on a design that best suits our system. We’ve not compromised when it comes to tracks and water troughs,” he explains. “I thought I knew about growing grass before we started down this road, but I’ve learnt a thing or two about it in the last few years,” Charlie jokes. Knowing what grass is available to the cows is key to Charlie and his team. They use a C-Dax trailed pasture meter which allows them, in about 4 hours, to draw up an accurate picture of grass availability across all paddocks on a weekly basis. The dairy team then meet to discuss the grass wedge and look at allocation. “The team have to be flexible in their approach, assessing conditions and acting accordingly,” says Charlie. “For example low spring temperatures this year have meant reduced grass growth. We have had to make the decision to supplementary feed the cows to manage the
grass and ensure that it will perform well for us throughout the summer. “This year we have precision tested the whole grazing area to get a full understanding of our soil types. Every hectare of grazing land has the potential to provide 16 tonnes DM. Knowing exactly what the pH of the soil is and the availability of Ps and Ks across the whole paddock will help us achieve it,” says Charlie. “We can see a variation within the same fields of a pH of 6.6 to 5.4, and once we know the difference we can fertilise and lime accordingly. It costs £20/hectare but it should unlock the potential of the unit, improving the quality and quantity of grass we can grow. It costs us £28/tonne/DM for the grass we produce, £48/tonne/DM for silage and with most other feed stuffs costing over £100/t DM, financially it really makes sense.” “I knew we needed to stock the unit with the right type of cow to utilise the grass and be robust enough to withstand the walking, but when I was looking to build the herd in 2008/9 there simply wasn’t the choice and availability that there is now.
“I was looking for a New Zealand crossbred type animal that could produce milk from grass and work well within the system. I needed to secure animals in big enough numbers to start with a uniform health status,” he explains. Charlie sourced about 40% of the initial start up herd from the Jersey Island, which then had a closed island policy when it came to genetic availability. He also brought in British Friesians and crossbreds from Southern Ireland. “We worked closely with our vet, blood tested, vaccinated and if
70-point rotary parlour.
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Green to Gold 13
New Zealand crossbreds really make sense for the system run at Glenapp Estate.
necessary culled accordingly, in order to build the uniform health status,” Charlie says. The cows are a work in progress explains Charlie and the Estate has worked with LIC in the UK from the start to help improve the genetics. “We are looking for increased uniformity of cow so we can manage a herd as opposed to a group of individuals,” explains Charlie. “That first year, with a variety of cows being brought into the herd, we had cows that weighed between 340 kg and 730 kg.”
With that in mind, and with help and advice from LIC, the team at Glenapp put the Jersey cows to New Zealand Holstein-Friesian, the Friesian type cows go to New Zealand Jerseys, and cross-bred cows go to the KiwiCross™ bull. “We are about to start milk recording, about four or five times a year, to give some more information about what to breed from,” explains Charlie. “We need to ensure we are breeding the right cows for this intensive block calving system. She needs to produce milk from grass, walk well and her fertility must be good.” The dairy system continues to perform well at Glenapp; “This year we have produced 38% more milk than in the same period last year and we are 22% over budget. This year we calved 69% of cows in the first four weeks, with 83% of heifers in the first three weeks,” says Charlie. “I put this down to the fact our herd is maturing, our parlour is now working smoothly and crucially we are managing the cows better due to increased knowledge and data availability.” Staff quality is a driver of profit on the farm. Assistant Manager Jim Murray and Trainee Manager Mark Burns came from higher input type
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systems or from other non dairy roles but have very much bought into the system run here. Arnon Langridge, who has recently joined as Dairy Farm Manager at Glenapp Estate, farmed in the North and South Islands of New Zealand before spending two years managing a 1200 cow pasture based dairy farm in Missouri USA. “The climate here is quite like the South Island,” Arnon explains. “It’s not hot, which can be a real problem elsewhere, cows can deal and perform in the cold a lot better than in the heat. The soil type is good, there is plenty of rain and there is good access to reasonably cheap bought in feed when we need to look after the pasture.
“The cows suit the system here and the New Zealand crosses really make sense. They need to be able to walk well and they need to have more capacity than a Jersey but not so heavy that they poach the land.” With their eyes always on profitability Charlie and his team are constantly looking at ways to improve sustainability and returns per hectare. This throws up a whole new set of ideas about how to manage the distances cows walk and makes them consider splitting the cows into two herds and moving one herd to once a day milking on the outlying parts of the grazing block as the herd numbers increase. However as the dairy farm at Glenapp Estate develops in the future there is no doubt Charlie and his team will be innovative in their thinking and will challenge the perception of what can be done with upland dairy farming in Scotland. s
ADVICe By Greg McNeil, Reproduction Solutions Manager
yoUNG SToCK: reACHING THeIr GeNeTIC PoTeNTIAL young stock is an important asset to any farm; providing it with a future of high quality herd replacements. The benefits that should flow into your herd from top quality genetics need to be captured by ensuring calves and heifers reach target liveweights. wiTH THe maJoRiTy oF animaLS in New Zealand now spending their first two years of life away in the hands of a contracted grazier, many farmers will have experienced disappointment in their quality when those return home, says Greg McNeil, reproduction solutions manager for LIC. Greg says an ‘out of sight-out of mind’ culture is dangerous territory for any farm, especially with these important animals because their rearing in that first two years is crucial to their reproduction and production performance throughout life. Recent LIC research has identified heifer rearing as a significant contributor to the decline in the national herd’s reproductive performance and six-week in calf rate, with 73 per cent of stock below their liveweight breeding value based targets by more than five per cent at 22 months of age. The top quartile (25%) of animals still fell below target liveweight at 22 months. BUT the lower quartile were an astonishing 90kg below target liveweight. That’s 20% below target liveweight. In response to this, LIC encourage all farmers to keep a much closer eye on these important animals through this time, whether they are away or on the home farm. Weights need to be taken regularly. Farmers should track their performance and identify any that require special attention or treatment – as soon as possible. “By rearing young stock to their full potential, farmers will see improvements in their six-week in-calf rate which is essential for improving farm profitability,” Greg said. Ideally you need to set each animal’s target weight on their genetic make up and inline with your farm’s dates for planned start of mating and calving.
Heifer Liveweight Trends % of animals 5% above target, with 5% of target and below 5% of target 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%
6 months
>5% above target
15 months
22 months
5% above to 5% below target
>5% below target
In a recent study of 171,000 animals, 73% were more than 5% below their target liveweight at 22 months of age. In that same study, the average weight of a 22 month animal was 52kg (11%) below target. By pegging the targets to the farm’s planned start of heifer mating and planned start of calving, the true impact of current liveweights can be assessed because in seasonal calving herds, these events always occur at set times and targets must be achieved by all calves by those dates, whether they are born early or late. Farmers and their graziers must monitor young stock and ensure all heifers reach puberty and meet their targets in time, so they can fully express their genetic potential in the herd and remain there into their peak productive years. As customers start to see improved heifer rearing it will ultimately contribute to improvements in the six-week in-calf rate and reduced loss of young high genetic merit animals from the herd. s
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Green to Gold 15
By Dr Richard Spelman, General Manager Research and Development
BIG NUMBerS, AMAZING SCIeNCe, BeTTer DAIry ANIMAL PerForMANCe Here, we ask LIC’s Dr richard Spelman, General Manager research and Development, how the Genetics division is tapping in to a relatively new science called ‘sequencing’. richard explains how DNA sequencing will benefit dairy farm performance in the very near future. imaGine THe diameTeR of a single NZD$1 coin – about 22mm. Now picture 3.2 billion NZD$1 coins, all lined up next to each other. The trail would be 70,400km long – the journey enough to take you nearly three times around the world. That’s big. So is NZD$21 million – but that’s the level of investment the Government (Primary Growth Partnership), Fonterra, and LIC are putting in to what is termed the ‘sequencing project’.
It’s a seven year undertaking, and it is hoped the research will give New Zealand farmers, and the wider dairy industry, a further boost to its alreadystrong international competitive advantage. Sequencing involves examination of a bovine’s DNA, in the bid to map out every single one of its 3.2 billion base pairs (single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs for short). It’s a lot of information for one animal. But each one of the base pairs represent a potential variation in a dairy animal’s genetic traits. A unique variation might have no influence, but it could also uncover a ‘pot of gold’ of sorts. For example, a variation, or a combination of variations, might be key to explaining an animal’s extraordinary ability to produce
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milksolids. Finding out exactly what made Maori Bestman so special, or what makes Checkpoint so spectacular, is an intriguing proposition. Alternatively, a variation (or mutation) in a base pair might have a significant impact on health. During this year’s Breeders’ Day, Richard Spelman, LIC General Manager Research and Development, told top dairy breeders about some strange health traits exhibited by daughters of a bull called Halcyon. “I went to the bull farm to take a look,” Richard told the audience. “Halcyon possessed a strange phenotype (physical characteristics). Some of his daughters weren’t producing a great amount of milk, their coats looked different, and they had the unusual characteristic of standing in water. They had a thermo-regulation issue. That’s why the cows were dirty, they were rolling around in water to drop their temperatures. “So we sequenced some of Halcyon’s genome to find the mutation. “The variation has only been found in Halcyon and his progeny, and not in any other species that have been sequenced. We’re confident this variation was responsible for the genetic defect.” In the “very near future” sequencing will ideally prevent bulls like Halcyon making an LIC bull team, says Richard. In essence, sequencing means that purchasers of Premier Sires. Alpha Nominated, and Sire Proving semen, are likely to have the market advantage of knowing that bulls from LIC have had their health traits ‘screened’. This should avoid cases of previously undetectable ‘bad luck scenarios’, in which rare genetic defects have impacted on the potential performance of milking daughters. However, Richard adds that “primarily, the sequencing project is about better milk production and further improving BW (breeding worth) traits.” Halcyon is therefore not the only bull the farmer-owned cooperative has sequenced.
“Yes, we’ve sequenced Northsea, Admiral, and Hugo – as well as 20 other animals,” Richard says. “In the project to date we’ve learnt from this dataset – what we can do, what we can’t do – which will be valuable going forward.” When the sequencing programme began two years ago, LIC indicated 2014/2015 was the date at which the technology would be applied to day-to-day operations. But the time frame has since been revised: “Where we are now, it looks like that could be brought forward a year,” Richard says. “So in 2013/2014 we’ll probably be able to use sequence data in our genomic selection system.” With the new learnings, the project is gathering significant momentum. During the next two months or so, LIC scientists will sequence about 500 further dairy animals, building a massive dataset as they go: “That will be a combination of pretty much every sire that we’ve used since 1995 (who’s had more than 10,000 inseminations),” Richard says. “We’ll catalogue all the variations that are in the genome: There are 3 billion base pairs in an animal and about 20 million variations across all those animals in total, and we’ll catalogue all those variations. “We’ll then identify – of those 20 million variations – which ones will have an effect on milk production, health, or fertility. To do this we’ll put those variations across all the other 40,000 animals that we’ve genotyped to date.” The group of 40,000 genotyped animals include about 6000 dairy bulls, with the balance being predominantly progeny-tested dairy cows. This set of animals has had 50,000 SNP markers identified (ie. as opposed to the 3.2 billion SNPs identified through sequencing). The data involved is mind-boggling. But at this stage it’s irrefutable that New Zealand farmers who own LIC are leading the world in this area: “The size of the data set we’ll have in three months time is comparable
to what all the international dairy community has, combined,” Richard says. “Other countries might catch up, but this is a unique and very large bank of knowledge.” The project will allow LIC to drill down on the markers that make a big difference to animal performance. Ultimately, this will allow LIC to apply this knowledge to its genomic selection panel. “We’re doing it in the hope our genomic selection tool will be improved,” Richard says. “That’s the part that will have the biggest effect on dairy farms. “The other benefit will be the use of sequencing technology to screen animals as we buy them in at LIC. “Every year we buy 180 bulls. I expect by next year we’ll be sequencing every bull that we purchase. We’ll be doing this to ensure the bulls don’t harbour genetic defects.” Richard says part of the research over the next several years will be to find out how much LIC can increase its accuracy of genomic selection. He admits the outcome is a ‘big unknown’ at this stage. “When we put this science up two or three years ago to be funded, we had less idea than we do now.
“We’re really investing in to an area with pretty high technical risk, and we’re learning. But we’re happy to take that technical risk because the prize is so big.” s
Seeds of change – how DNA technology is shifting the goalposts Twenty years ago the terms ‘DNA’ or ‘genome’ were pretty much the domain of academics and scientists only. Nowadays, you’d be living alone in a closet if you weren’t at least aware of the power of DNA. We’re living, and experiencing, a ‘DNA era’, and sequencing is the latest and greatest area of development. The following are a handful of high-profile and below-the-radar examples of how this fascinating area of science is changing our own daily lives, as well as those around us: 1. A high profile rape case in New Zealand. An individual was convicted for rape in 1993, and served time in prison for three years. A then-Auckland University scientist saw the story, including parts of the DNA evidence which he thought of as ‘strange’. The convicted mans’ DNA was re-processed, undisputedly clearing him of the crime in 1997. He was freed. The true offender was later convicted in 2003. 2. Today, Environmental Science and Research, on behalf of the police, continues to build a significant database containing the DNA profile of suspects and convicted criminals (in 2010 there were 120,000 profiles in the database). 3. Genotyping, or sequencing, is taking place in humans to determine breeding dangers. The frequency of Thalassemia disease (recessive blood disorder) in Cyprus was 1 in 160 births in the 1970s, which led to a massive impact
on the cost of country’s health system. Now, all couples are genotyped and partners are aware of the dangers should they choose to have children. The incidence of the disease has fallen to almost zero. 4. People are increasingly using DNA technology to discover their ancestry. In the dairy industry, GeneMark offers a parentage service to farmers who want to positively link calves to their dams and sires. 5. In 2000 the first human genome was sequenced. It took 10 years and cost $US 2 billion. A genome today costs less than $5000 and takes a few days. It is expected that in two years it will cost less than $1000 and take a day. 6. Furthermore, in 2007 just two humans had been DNA sequenced. That number is now at 12,000. In five years that number is expected to swell to 80 million. 7. Northsea was the first mammal in New Zealand to have its entire genome sequenced. 8. One of the scientists who reviews LIC’s genomic programme is involved in a medical hospital in the States. The scientist was involved in a case in which a child underwent 100 operations by the time he was aged 4, due to intestine trouble. The boy was sequenced and a unique mutation, never seen before, was found. The condition can now be explained, which can dictate treatment. The boy, now 6, is living a better life. s
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Green to Gold 17
HeNK PoSTMUS
A QUeST For KNoWLeDGe on a recent group farming tour to New Zealand from the USA, there was one man in the group who was always at the front posing questions to the consultants and farmers and who always stayed on a bit later to have one on one discussions. THaT peRSon waS Henk poSTmUS, and it was obvious that he was there to learn as much as possible. This quest for knowledge doesn’t come as a surprise to the people who know Henk. The best leaders, the best business people or achievers in general have an openness to learning as much as they can from others. Henk is a great listener but also very forward thinking in his approach and it is this combination that makes him a successful and smart farmer. “Henk is typical of many of our higher performing clients,” explains LIC United States General Manager Phil Wicks. “He is a real next generation thinker, very aware of the future global dairy industry and very aware of what he needs to do to ensure his continued success.” In the United States, dairying is in some ways very traditional however the future survival of commercial operations like Henk’s depend on a combination of technology and innovation that will not only achieve sustainability but also long term profitability. Part of that innovation will be understanding efficiency and understanding how to produce the right cow for the future. Henk and his wife Yellie own two operations – a 2000-cows traditional
18 Green to Gold VOLUME 8, NUMBER 2
confined operation and a 600 cow organic grazing dairy operation. Both farms are next to each other in Dublin Texas, which is around two hour’s drive south of Dallas. The Postmus’s relationship with LIC really started when they were developing the organic property. LIC had a Joint venture with Dairy Farmers of America that provided grazing consultancy and it was this consultancy that helped Henk develop the layout and programme for the organic dairy. LIC was providing the Jersey genetics for the breeding programme of the organic herd, however Phil Wicks and Henk started talking about Holstein efficiency. Phil has over 25 years experience in dairy genetics and shared some of his ideas around crossbreeding LIC Holstein Friesian with traditional Holstein. Henk was open to the idea because, for a long time, he had wanted the Holsteins in his confined herd to be more efficiently sized and more fertile. This discussion led Henk to initially try a few hundred straws of the LIC Holstein sire Frostman. However being the innovative thinker that he is the more Henk thought about the reasons why he was using Frostman the more he realised he needed to commit to using LIC Holstein over his entire confined herd.
over the last two years LIC semen has been used extensively on both the organic (Jersey) and conventional Holstein-Friesian herd. The breeding programme for the confined herd is to develop an efficient and more fertile cow, which will help profitability.
“Along with the more efficient production and better fertility we’ll get from LIC bred cows we expect some good profit gains around the amount of replacements we need to bring into the herd,” explains Henk. Currently that is around 40% and Henk believes that with the extra fertility gains he should be able to get that down to around 25-30% – delivering an annual cost saving of $200,000 plus. Henk expects to gain a number of positives from this breeding programme: • More efficiently sized Holstein cows • More fertile Holsteins • Better solids production per pound of Liveweight • Less inbreeding (cows breed by LIC sires have a vastly reduced inbreeding average compared to the herd average of 16-17%) • Less replacements needed Henk may also consider some KiwiCross™ over his really big cows in addition to the Holstein Friesians sires he has been using.
On the organic grazing herd Henk’s breeding has been focused on producing a high production, hardy and capacious Jersey cow. Phil Wicks says Yellie has been doing an exceptional job of rearing the calves and the current crop of young stock sired by such elite Jersey bulls as Target and Joskin are getting every opportunity to reach their genetic potential. “Henk and Yellie represent next generation thinking in the respect that they will continue to look forward. The world is always changing and especially with dairying there is a danger not to adapt and not do the things that will make your business more profitable, simply because it may need you to change your thinking or methods of the past,” Phil Wicks says. This is not a problem with the Postmus’s. They will continue to be proactive innovators and do what it takes to ensure their dairy business is thriving in years to come. s
The breeding programme for the confined herd is to develop an efficient and more fertile cow, which will help profitability.
Henk is aware of the future global dairy industry and what he needs to do to ensure his continued success.
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Green to Gold 19
The art of farming for semen production
Farm Supervisor, Cliff Harris, on tractor doing an early morning pick-up.
It’s fair to say that LIC wrote the book and defined the art of farming for semen production. The company is acknowledged as the pioneer of large-scale farming of bulls for commercial semen production. Every day, mind over muscle, psychology over instinct, coercion and training deliver bulls that ‘perform’ and produce ‘the goods’ to order, every time. It not only requires strength and good stockmanship, but a number of personal attributes including patience. It is an art. LIC’s approach to bull farming and semen collection is very hands-on. From the time bulls arrive at the farm, they are up-close and personal with the staff, being handled and led from a rope attached to their nose ring. They spend their lives outside on grass in their own paddocks, with frequent trips to the bull barn for collection. A team of Farm Technicians are trained to understand each of the bulls including their personalities, libido, likes and dislikes. It is their job to know how to make them perform and deliver. This knowledge and skill is most critical during the peak season of semen collection - New Zealand’s spring mating season (October - December), when fresh Long Last Liquid semen is collected seven days a week, processed and delivered to farms throughout the country on that same day. Everyone works together, starting with farm staff collecting semen from the early hours of the morning, passing it to the laboratory for analysis and processing into straws and then distribution to AB technicians who will inseminate into cows throughout the country the next morning. Some bulls can take up to two hours to be collected and may not feel like working on that particular day, so it is the skill of the handler comes into play to ensure the bulls perform every second day, often more than once. Semen production and process is an all year round business at LIC, with the top bulls constantly in high demand both in New Zealand and all over the world. January through to September is considered the off-peak season, but semen collection and processing continues five days a week, for frozen semen supplied to international farmers and New Zealand farmers who nominate bulls for their mating programme. s
20 Green to Gold VOLUME 8, NUMBER 2
Newstead Bull Farm facts • 260 hectares. • 700 bulls of all ages farmed and collected. • 17 staff full time. • A total of about 12,000 collections each year. • In peak season, about 80 collections are made a day from about 40 bulls. • Once processed, an average ejaculate generates around 3,000 to 5,000 fresh straws of semen, or 300-500 frozen straws. • A straw of fresh semen contains around 1.25 to 2.5 million sperm cells, and a frozen straw contains 12.5 to 15 million sperm cells. • Four straws from every ejaculate processed goes into LIC’s semen archive, kept onsite in cryogenic tanks.
A typical day at LIC’s bull farm Starting at 6am, 15 farm staff arrive at LIC’s Newstead Bull Farm for the day’s work, which starts with a roster of up to 40 bulls for the day’s collections carried out at two separate collection facilities on the Newstead farm – 20 to 40 per cent of these bulls will fill international orders.
1
Castrated male teasers or decoys are brought into the barn for bulls to mount.
2
The bulls are transported from their paddock to the barn on a bull cart. This saves travelling time and reduces the risk of any foot injuries.
4
Depending on the bull, and the day, technicians can spend from 30 minutes (for the majority) to two hours with a bull. Bulls are usually collected on their third mount to build up semen concentration and volume.
6
The collection is performed using an Artificial Vagina (AV) which is made of hard rubber casing. It is heated to approximately 45 degrees and lubricated with petroleum jelly. A test tube on the end collects the ejaculate.
8
Once collections are complete, technicians lead the bulls onto the cart and transport back to their paddocks.
3
Each bulls is attached to an overhead line, in individual paddocks. They are led off these lines into the bull-cart, secured and transported to the collection barn.
5
Farm technicians are trained to understand the different likes and dislikes of each bull – for some, this can include a preference for being outside or certain decoys. Sometimes a second bull is brought over to generate some competition.
7
After collection, the semen is passed through to the laboratory and a sample checked under the microscope. This is the first of many quality control checks before final processing.
9
Afternoons on the farm involve similar work to a normal farm, including shifting stock, feeding out and other jobs that need doing such as repairs. A full time veterinarian is also employed to attend to animal health matters, ensure all health-testing protocols have been met and approve all export certificates for each shipment.
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Green to Gold 21
WWW.LICNZ.COM
20 Green to Gold VOLUME 8, NUMBER 2
FoCUS oN GooD GrAZING PrACTICeS enabling cows to make the best possible use of grass is at the heart of the system at Dourie Farm, says rory Christie, who farms what may be the largest, most northerly, grass based dairy farm in the world.
Christie. “But during the 90s the cows became increasingly large, with Holstein traits.
the profit not the litres we’re making.
herd.”
“We began to use LIC semen in 1993 and as the herd expanded, more and more land has been converted to intensive grazing,” he explains.
Grassland had always played an important role
“The money goes on tracks, fencing, water, and
THe FaRm, wHicH iS
at Dourie Farm, and with the falling milk prices
drainage. It costs about £1,000 per hectare to
SiTUaTed on the West
in the UK at the time, the decision was made
convert and on average we are getting about
Scottish coast, in
to develop a lower input system that better
11 tonnes DM/hectare. But providing the cows
Dumfries and Galloway,
suited the resources of the estate.
with the infrastructure they need to graze
milks 930 cows, through
“The system has grown out of a need to farm
efficiently is crucial.”
a 44 point rotary parlour on a grazing block of
sustainably,” says Rory. “We developed a
A C-dax is used to monitor grass on a weekly
about 290 hectares, has a long history of milk
system that has allowed the cows to make the
basis and to make sure the farm team has the
production.
best possible use of the good quality and
most comprehensive up to date information.
“A high yielding Friesian herd was developed
quantity of grass that we can grow here. The
“Grass is one of the strongest assets on this
on the estate in the 1950s,” explains Rory
system has low capital input and it’s all about
farm and we need to know what we have, and
Somehow they just weren’t the right kind of cows for our system, for example they really didn’t fit into our existing cubicle sheds, so we looked closely at the future direction of the
Giving calves the right start in life is crucial.
VOLUME 8, NUMBER 2
Green to Gold 23
can milk from them if conditions dictate,” he says. “As soon as grass growths take off in the spring we drop blocks out for silage and depending on the milk price we drop out the purchased concentrate as well. Our aim is to always fully utilise the grass that we do grow so we keep stocking rates high. “This last winter we have had exceptionally wet conditions and we needed to include silage as part of the diet for longer which was not ideal, but we need to be flexible. Giving credit to the cows, they coped remarkably well with the conditions.” “I’ve been able to learn a huge amount about grassland management from discussion groups and travelling to New Zealand, but mostly by picking the brains of people who have come here to work for me. I’ve got some great
Owen Spice, Dairy Farm Manager, and Rory Chistie.
resources in my team here on the farm.” where, in order to utilise it. We also need to
calculate silage, fodder beet and other crops
Owen Spice, previously a sharemilker from the
treat it with respect and be flexible in our
into the equation.
North Island, New Zealand, is the farm
approach to grazing as winter conditions can
“We don’t graze grass at all over the winter
manager at Dourie . He is responsible for the
be wet and cold.
and although there is some cubicle housing
grass allocation on a day to day basis and
“In many ways the conditions here are similar
some of the cows spend winter either in sandy
always makes sure he has the right
to those in Invercargill, New Zealand. We get
fields where the beet is grown or in sacrifice
information to base his decisions on.
about one metre of rain in an average year but
gorse fields.”
little of our land is free draining.
But Rory thinks this is not sustainable, on an
“Temperatures are lower here as we are further
environmental/legislative basis, and is looking
north than Invercargill is south. Grass doesn’t
at putting up outdoor cubicles for about 500
grow here over the winter, so planning for
cows.
winter feed provision is important. We need to
“We’ll site them near the parlour so that we
“There aren’t many places in the world that grass doesn’t grow,” says Owen. “It’s how you use it that makes the difference. Making silage to feed to the cows isn’t the only option. What makes more sense is letting the cows do the harvesting for you whenever possible.” “Here in Dumfries and Galloway we need to be incredibly flexible with our grazing management because we can have quite harsh, wet winter conditions. If it means getting up in the middle of the night to take the cows off a field, that’s what we’ll do. “Preserving the pasture is crucial to us. We need the grass to be healthy and grow well as it’s our major feed. We simply can’t afford to trash the fields.”
Poly-tunnel calf rearing facility.
24 Green to Gold VOLUME 8, NUMBER 2
“Our cows are an evolving process. It’s something we’re working on with LIC to ensure we’re putting the right type of animal in front of the grass.”
From left: Rory Christie, LIC United Kingdom AB technicians: Kerry and Kevin Prout, David Rennie (contrator), Scott McAuley and Matt Harper.
At Dourie Farm cows are dried off from
Rory is a great believer in bringing in
“During this time they also receive adlib meal
October onwards and all cows are dry by
specialists to do certain jobs, and has been
and straw to ensure good growth rates.”
December 24th. Calving takes place from 7th
bringing people over from New Zealand to
The calves are fed via a semi-automated
February to 14th April.
look after the mating season, for a few years.
feeding system to reduce labour requirements,
“We have fertile crossbred cows with good
Kevin and Kerry Prout came over from the
and don’t go out to grass until they are 100 kg
udders, good feet and high protein levels,” says
Waikato, where they had spent 20 years share
in weight.
Rory.
milking and working as AI technicians, to work
“Calves need to be strong enough to cope
“Cows often have to walk about two km a day,
as mating managers on the farm. The couple
before we put them out to grass, as we’ll ask a
which can take about an hour. We need a cow
look after all aspects from pre-mating, through
lot from them when they start grazing,” he
that is robust enough to thrive and deliver the
mating to the end of AI. Kevin and Kerry not
says.
results in our system.”
only make sure the herd achieves the best
With the herd expanding and plans for even
possible results, they also make sure that Rory
more of the land to be converted to grazing,
is kept in touch with the figures on a daily
walking distances and parlour capacity could
basis.
become an issue.
Giving calves the right start in life is also
Rory and the team are looking at a number of
crucial to Rory and he has an innovative poly
options, such as splitting the herd in two and
tunnel design calf house that provides
going to once a day milking, or a range of
sheltered yet airy conditions for the over 600
capital input options in a new, or additional,
calves reared at the unit.
milking parlour.
Again a team of two specialists are involved in
But where ever the herd develops in the future
making sure the calves get the best possible
utilising the high quality grass grown on the
start in life.
farm will remain at the heart of the business.
“30 calves are housed in the 20 pens within
s
Rory has been using LIC semen since the herd began the move to a more intensified grass based system. He’s mostly using Jersey and Jersey cross, with a few black and white bulls on the herd. “As we’re expanding I’m breeding from everything,” he explains, “and in fact the fertility is excellent across the board. “Mating is the most valuable time of the year. This whole system doesn’t work if mating doesn’t work. With this in mind I try and make sure I work with people who are as obsessed as me about getting cows in calf!”
the poly-tunnel in dry and airy conditions. Calves are given 830g of milk solids a day per head for 6 weeks, then reduced to zero until weaned at 8 weeks. VOLUME 8, NUMBER 2
Green to Gold 25
Converting feed into profit It used to be assumed that a well fed cow, would produce to her maximum ability, but various industry trials around the world have identified that different cows, convert feed more or less efficiently than their herd mates. It’s called feed conversion efficiency and understanding the concept and applying it to your herd can mean more bucks in the back pocket. And the impact of feed conversion efficiency is the same, whether you are paid for milk volume or milk solids.
The first two points describe some of the advantages provided by heavier animals. The latter point describes the negative side of additional liveweight. The New Zealand Animal Evaluation Model recognises the impact on production. Similar relationships can be seen between liveweight, Breeding Worth and Production Worth. Far from penalising only big cows, the system identifies the animals which are the most efficient converters of feed into profit, regardless of size.
The cow’s ability to convert feed consumed to milk (and profit) is, of
The perfect grazing cow
course, just one of the many components to profitability - like the
All dairy farmers around the world (regardless of their feeding regime)
ability to conceive and calve, year after year-.
aim for the same thing – the perfect grazing cow – and, based on
Feed Requirements
anecdotal feedback and scientific research, it’s easy to identify the
Just as it is with humans, the physical size of an animal determines the feed required to maintain its body weight, let alone contribute to
elements which identify elite animals, from their inefficient herd mates.
The perfect grazing cow has: • High metabolism – able to efficiently convert feed into milk
production outputs. Consider this. Compare a 500 kg cow (cow A) with a 600 kg cow (cow
production
B) – Cow B will consume 340 kg per year of additional feed to simply
• High total solids
maintain her body condition.
• Fertility – calving interval of under 380 days
Cow A
500 kg liveweight
Cow B
600 kg liveweight
• Longevity – able to reach peak production and maintain this when she is 5, 6 and 7 years of age. • Smaller frame but strong and capacious • Low somatic count • High gene pool breeds – Holstein Friesian, Jersey, Holstein-Friesian/ Jersey Cross
In general, a cow that requires more feed to retain her condition, size or stay healthy is less likely to efficiently convert her feed into profit – although there will always be exceptions. Animal liveweight affects dairy farm profitability through: 1. Cull cow and calf income – heavier animals have a higher salvage
• Artificially bred to top dairy sires that also pass on these traits • Functional conformation – udder, feet and legs • Easy care – management, temperament, health • Aggressive grazers (if grazing)
value and can be expected to breed bigger, more valuable bobby
One word which describes all these traits is profitable.
calves.
The Genetic Gain Graph (below right) shows the proportion that
2. Per cow costs – fewer heavy animals than lighter animals on the same area of land, on average, means lower costs per hectare. 3. Maintenance feed costs – as already stated, heavier animals have been scientifically proven to have higher maintenance feed costs, on average, than lighter animals.
26 Green to Gold VOLUME 8, NUMBER 2
genetics contribute to the trend in milksolids production and also highlights the fact that the average New Zealand cow is not increasing in size/weight. s
Liveweight vs Lactation Worth
Genetic Gain
500
80
400
70
300 200 100 0
e nc
n Tre
a
50 Mi
30
d
oli
lks
40
orm erf sP d
soli
Milk
rend tic T
ne s Ge
20
-100
10
-200
Liveweight Genetic Trend
2012
2008
2006
750
2004
700
2002
650
2000
600
1998
550
1996
500
1994
450
1992
0 1990
-300 400
d
60 Kilograms
Lactation Worth (LW)
600
Liveweight (kg)
The above graph demonstrates a typical relationship between New Zealand 2011/12 season liveweight records and Lactation Worth (measure of a lactation’s profitability relative to a base of zero) in a weighed herd. Each point in the graph represents a cow in the herd. There is no clear trend between liveweight and the lactation evaluations of these cows i.e. there are heavy cows (+600 kg) with high Lactation Worth, lighter cows (below 480 kg) with low Lactation Worth and vice-versa.
Over the past 22 years, average New Zealand Milk solids production have increased by 74 kg per cow – the genetic improvement component accounts for 44 kg of that increase while the average Liveweight (size) of the New Zealand dairy cow has remained relatively constant. Other factors are an improvement in feed quality and feed management.
Greg Hamill: newly appointed general manager of lic australia Three months ago I was sitting in Cambridge New Zealand complaining about the harsh frosts and never lifting fogs, looking forward to a new career pathway in Australia where the sun shines constantly; it’s warm and has a lot less rain. THREE MONTHS on, my wife and three children are settled in Bendigo, it is now the end of August and the morning temperatures are still sitting at zero, with every farm visit calling for a pair of gumboots to maintain dry feet. Weather aside, I came to Victoria because I have a passion for dairying and a strong belief that LIC can make a real difference to Australian dairy farmers. I was born into a dairy farming family, growing up with active encouragement to understand the importance of genetics and well remember pouring over the herd test results and thumbing through the sire catalogues looking for the best sires to match to our best cows. Later I was fortunate to take over the family farm, and my wife and I milked 280 cows on a coastal 100ha property in Taranaki. In 2007 I was offered a job within Livestock Improvement where I was able to combine my knowledge of the dairy industry with my love of genetics. For the last six years I have been fortunate to work with and learn from world leaders within the genetics industry, people who have pioneered technologies and who continue to strive for excellence in their quest to deliver to dairy farmers worldwide an animal that is an efficient converter of feed into profit, and one that will get back in calf for a seasonal based system. LIC genetics continue to make huge impacts on farming operations around the world; that’s because our cooperative has been built by farmers for farmers. We have a simple philosophy - If you are going to breed an animal, raise it for two years and stand behind that animal
twice a day for 300 days of the year for 5 or more years, then she has to be the best dam animal you can get. I am honoured to be leading a team that is committed to delivering the very best genetics to the Australian farmer. I am getting out and about now, meeting farmers and learning more about the unique challenges you face in Australia. If you’re in Victoria and reading this, I hope to meet you soon – but I also want to extend an open invitation to contact me any time to talk about how LIC can help you breed animals which will be productive, profitable and enjoyable. s
VOLUME 8, NUMBER 2
Green to Gold 27
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