Travelling throughout the country to carry out dam inspections for the 2022 contract mating animals has been a particular highlight of the year; I was continually blown away by the depth of pedigree and quality of the KiwiCross dams I saw, which served to reinforce my knowledge of how fiercely competitive it is in the KiwiCross space.
The animal evaluation update in April saw KiwiCross cementing its place at the top. A proportion of the gains made in gBW points for KiwiCross sires are a direct result of the recent enhancements made to the Liveweight BV, which took effect in the same AE run.
Liveweight has long been recognised as one of the defining traits of BW which measures cow efficiency. The improvement means that only weights measured from scales are included in BW (removing Traits Other than Production scores, previously also included).
The overall result has been the re-ranking of animals, with the outcome a more-accurate prediction of an animal’s true genetic merit. Analysing the effect this liveweight change has had on dams and sires across the country underlines how valuable it can be to weigh your herd.
These changes are timely, because during my travels farmer shareholders were acutely aware of the looming environmental proposals and changes that will directly impact the way the dairy industry operates into the future.
In 2020 LIC developed the HoofPrint® index to predict the environmental efficiency (enteric methane and urinary nitrogen) of our sires. The HoofPrint calculation includes seven breeding values in its calculation. Individual animal measures on fertility and kilograms of milksolids per kilograms of liveweight (made up of fat, protein and liveweight) have the biggest influence on an animal’s environmental efficiency.
When looking across the sires catalogued this year, it’s no surprise to see so many KiwiCross sires score highly on the HoofPrint index.
So it’s easy to understand why we’re seeing such an increase in the calibre of animals entering the KiwiCross scheme; Premier Sires sales confirm KiwiCross sales are increasing by 3.3%, and for the first time ever are surpassing both parent breeds (Holstein Friesian and Jersey) for total number of straws sold season-to-date. KiwiCross animals ooze efficiency, regardless of whether you look at environmental- or economic- efficiency.
We have it all here with this line up of genomic bulls available in the Alpha Catalogue and various Premier Sires teams.
521035 Wiffens Centurion: From the hardy West Coast comes an Arkans Barrier son by the name of Centurion, bred by Andrew Wiffen & Kate Lambert. Born out of Gem, easily one of the most capacious cows around, Centurion has inherited this strength with a capacity gBV over 1. As an F6J10 sire, it’s thrilling to see liveweight not compromised, balancing efficiency through his fertility and production traits, and supported with a gBV for udder overall of 0.51.
521028 Snowline Andy: Coming in at an impressive 481 gBW, Andy comes from a strong maternal line with his dam Empress boosting a PW greater than 600. An excellent balance of TOP scores across the profile can be found, reflecting his sire Accolade. Andy is a big-hitter for efficiency, with combined fat and protein gBVs of 78 kgs, positive volume, and a liveweight gBV of -12 kg.
521033 Greenmile Rifleman: There’s plenty to say about Rifleman. An Inferno son from the well admired Queen Bee dam, Rifleman brings a lot to the table, boasting great production traits, strong fertility, and balancing this with a liveweight gBV of 17kg and an F7J9 breed mix. A yearling-friendly bull who delivers both udder scores and dairy confirmation scores that many seek. A big thank you to Bruce & Bronwyn Jensen for breeding such a well-rounded sire.
521031 Werders Olympian: If breeding were a sport, we’d have found our Olympic hero right here! From the breeders who brought us Premonition, we have Thomas and Courtney Werder to thank once again for providing such excellence. From a solid maternal line, Olympian’s dam is consistently getting in calf each season, and her latest PW sits at an impressive 505.
A Prestige son, Olympian brings to the table impressive farmer traits, complemented with huge capacity and quality udders. He balances this with a combined fat and protein gBV of 67kgs. Positive fertility completes this compelling F9J7 sire.
Animal Evaluation figures quoted are from the April AE run.
