Friday, 26 January 2018 10:55

Breeding for heat tolerance

Written by 
Australian farmers can now look for bulls that increase heat tolerance. Australian farmers can now look for bulls that increase heat tolerance.

Australian dairy farmers can now add breeding to their ways of helping cows handle the heat.

DataGene, Australia’s independent and industry-owned organisation responsible for developing the means of increasing genetic gain and herd improvement, has released a world-first -- Heat Tolerance Australian Breeding Values (ABV).

Dr Matt Shaffer, DataGene chief executive, says that although environment and management conditions have a big impact on a cow’s response to heat, genetics also play a role.

“Advances in genomics allowed our Dairy Bio team to identify gene markers for heat tolerance. 

“The Heat Tolerance ABV allows farmers to identify animals with greater ability to tolerate hot weather with less impact on production,” he says. Dairy Bio is a joint initiative between the Victorian Government and Dairy Australia.

Dairy Australia’s advice is that to breed for improved heat tolerance, look for bulls with a high balanced performance index (BPI) and a Heat Tolerance ABV greater than 100; use several bulls to allow for the lower reliability.

The reliability of the Heat Tolerance ABV is 38% which is in line with the newer generation of genomic-only traits. Like all new ABVs, reliability is expected to improve with time, as more data becomes available.

Heat tolerance is favourably linked with fertility and unfavourably with production; this means a strong focus on heat tolerance bulls may improve fertility but compromise production.

“If breeding for heat tolerance, look for the exceptional animals that are strong for both BPI and heat tolerance,” Shaffer says.

While not all dairy farmers will want to include heat tolerance in their breeding priorities, some are keen to get started.

Farmer Trevor Parrish, Kangaroo Valley, NSW says he will be looking for bulls that increase heat tolerance.

 “Now when I get a list of bulls I’m going to be looking for bulls which combine increased production and increased heat tolerance; they will be the ones that buck the trend,” Parrish said.

Parrish’s family milks 160-240 cows year round and sells bulls to semen companies and other dairy farmers.

Farmer Ray Kitchen of Carenda Holsteins, Boyanup, WA says having a Heat Tolerance ABV will mean he can breed cows with a greater ability to tolerate hot weather and be better suited to his farming environment.

 

More like this

Farmers urged to prepare as heavy rain looms

With adverse weather set to rain down on the Top of the South, the Bay of Plenty and parts of Northland, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says farmers, foresters, and growers need to prepare for possible challenges.

NZ vs Aussie beef

OPINION: Your old mate hears that at a recent China Business Summit, PM Christopher Luxon delivered a none-too-subtle "could try harder" report card on the red meat industry regarding its exports to China - particularly when compared to Australia.

Featured

Rural contractors call for overhaul of ag vehicle rules

Following a recent overweight incursion that saw a Mid-Canterbury contractor cop a $12,150 fine, the rural contracting industry is calling time on what they consider to be outdated and unworkable regulations regarding weight and dimensions that they say are impeding their businesses.

NZ seeks certainty on US tariff, says McClay

Trade Minister Todd McClay says his officials plan to meet their US counterparts every month from now on to better understand how the 15% tariff issue there will play out, and try and get some certainty there for our exporters about the future.

National

Machinery & Products

JDLink Boost for NZ farms

Connectivity is widely recognised as one of the biggest challenges facing farmers, but it is now being overcome through the…

New generation Defender HD11

The all-new 2026 Can-Am Defender HD11 looks likely to raise the bar in the highly competitive side-by-side category.

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Buttery prize

OPINION: Westland Milk may have won the contract to supply butter to Costco NZ but Open Country Dairy is having…

Gene Bill rumours

OPINION: The Gene Technology Bill has divided the farming community with strong arguments on both the pros and cons of…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter