Wayne McNee: The next frontier for more climate-friendly cows
1 Feb, 2021 08:00 PM
6 minutes to read
Genomics can be used to help breed in or out certain traits in cow herds. Photo / file
NZ Herald
Last year Parliament officially declared a climate emergency in New Zealand. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made it very clear that this declaration must be backed up with substance. And the dairy industry is ready to do its part.
Read More
Over 25 years ago, New Zealand dairy farmers started work on genomics technology which could be critical to achieving the substantive advances required to meet our climate goals.
SUPPLIED
The utilisation of Genomic Sires, where bulls are selected based on their DNA profile rather than conventional progeny testing, has grown significantly.
Thanks to the foresight of the LIC board and its farmer shareholders, three decades of research and investment focusing on increasing the rate of genetic improvement in New Zealand dairy animals is paying off resulting in markedly increased productivity and health traits for dairy cows, and better returns for dairy farmers. LIC Board Chair Murray King says the investment of more than $78 million over the past 26 years has built substantial genetic wealth for the New Zealand dairy industry.
Dairy s record milksolids production in a challenging year
16 Dec, 2020 08:17 PM
4 minutes to read
Te Awamutu Courier
The annual New Zealand Dairy Statistics publication released last week shows another record year for New Zealand s dairy sector, with total milksolids production at a record high.
The DairyNZ and Livestock Improvement Corporation (LIC) statistics show that in the 2019-20 season, New Zealand dairy companies processed 21.1 billion litres of milk containing 1.90 billion kilograms of milksolids (kg MS).
This is a 0.6 per cent increase in milksolids from the previous season.
Average milk production per cow also increased from 381 kg MS last season to 385 kg MS this season, while the latest count showed that New Zealand has 4921 million milking cows – a decrease of 0.5 per cent from the previous season.