Jersey New Zealand, and herd improvement company, Livestock Improvement Corporation (LIC) have joined forces to breed better dairy cows.
The two organisations have signed an agreement to work together and share expertise to jointly select and improve the genetic merit of additional top young jersey bulls.
The programme will add eight extra bulls to LIC’s jersey breeding programme, and will statistically lift the rate of genetic and productive gain for the breed within the industry.
Known as Jersey Future, it will initially run for three years, but both organisations are looking and planning further into the future.
LIC chief executive Wayne McNee said the jersey breed was an important breed in New Zealand and for the KiwiCross programme.
”And we need to make sure the breed remains strong.”
“We now have momentum in this space – LIC has eight of the top 10 bulls on the jersey ranking of active sires list, including the top six, and all six of those are new graduates.”
Jersey NZ outgoing president Ross Riddell said there was a generation of farmers in New Zealand that had not had the benefit or the pleasure of milking a herd of jersey cows and that is what the organisation hoped to see more in the future.
“Many stars are aligning for Jerseys at the moment. We hear daily and read in the papers that we should get back to basics, that we need to keep costs down and that we need to make the best use of resources to convert pasture to milk.”
The Jersey Future agreement started in July 1. The first eight bulls under the agreement will be selected this coming spring and their semen marketed next year for the first time as part of the sire proving programme to be administered by Jersey NZ.
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The bulls will be sourced from Jersey NZ member nominations and from the present LIC breeding scheme. The selection process will be 50/50 between LIC and Jersey NZ.
Source: NZFarmer.co.nz