increase font size
Dairy farmers are set to benefit from an enhanced genetic evaluations system.
More accurate genetic evaluations, drawing on ten years of New Zealand and international research, will be available to dairy farmers from this month.
New Zealand Animal Evaluation Limited (NZAEL) manager Dr Brian Wickham says dairy farmers are set to benefit from an enhanced genetic evaluations system that underpins the national breeding objective and evaluations farmers use to make breeding decisions.
“It will enable farmers to breed cows that are more efficient at converting feed into milk and profit. This has benefits for our environment and economy,” says Wickham.
Breeding companies LIC and CRV are collaborating with NZAEL, a DairyNZ subsidiary, on this project which will replace genetic evaluation software with a nationally consistent, independent genetic evaluation system for dairy cattle.
Wickham says there will be multiple improvements as part of the new software release, called NZAEL 2.0.
Two of the most significant changes are better recognition of trait differences between breeds, in particular for fertility, and the removal of the effect of inbreeding on breeding values: work has been funded by levy investment from DairyNZ, and by LIC.
“While inbreeding depression can negatively affect an animal’s performance, this effect is not passed on to the next generation of animals,” explains Wickham.
“These changes support our national breeding objective and, when completed in 2021, will represent the greatest improvement to the animal evaluation system since the introduction of breeding worth (BW) in 1996,” he adds.
Wickham says the reports farmers will receive from their breeding companies from this month will look very similar. The main difference will be that some farmers may see their animals re-ranking on BW as genetic evaluations become more accurate.
The previous genetic evaluation model, NZAEL 1.0, was developed by LIC in 2006, and adopted by NZAEL for the wider industry. The new system incorporates LIC’s latest software and models, and NZAEL research and development. It has been extensively tested and scrutinised by internationally renowned geneticists.
A scientific advisory committee, with animal genetics experts from New Zealand, Australia, Ireland and the Netherlands has also peer reviewed and endorsed the upgraded system, which has been rigorously tested.
Anna Kempthorne, a Te Anau farmer and NZAEL director, is the chair of the 12-member farmer advisory panel that reviewed and tested the changes to the system.
“The new system contains a number of enhancements which will result in more accurate and timely information,” says Kempthorne.
“This will enable improved breeding decisions to be made which benefit farmers and the dairy industry.”
“We now have new software available that can compute larger quantities of data and give us greater insights into animal performance which enables farmers to improve the performance of their herds overall by breeding more productive and efficient cows,” says Malcolm Ellis, general manager NZ Markets at LIC.
The first major update to the Dairy Cattle Code of Welfare in more than a decade has been released, marking what DairyNZ describes as an important step in ensuring animal welfare standards continue to evolve alongside scientific evidence and on-farm realities.
DairyNZ deputy chair Cameron Henderson has been re-appointed unopposed for another term.
OPINION: The stats speak for themselves.
Farms across the upper North Island are trialling different pasture mixes as part of a research programme that aims to build greater resilience into farming systems.
Farmers across parts of Southland and South Otago are continuing to deal with difficult conditions after a prolonged run of wet weather, with pressure building around feed supply, stock management, pasture damage, farm infrastructure and everyday workloads.
Federated Farmers says it welcomes Labour's commitment to reviewing the Sharemilking Agreements Act, calling on other major parties to do the same.
For Canterbury dairy farmers Sian Meijer and Rick Wobben, wearable technology has become one of their most valuable on-farm tools - helping manage 1850 cows across an expansive, high-performing dairy operation while improving efficiency, mating outcomes and day-to-day decision making.
Fonterra has unveiled its annual results for the 2026 financial year, posting $27 billion in revenue and close to $20 billion returned to New Zealand farmer owners and unit holders.
The first major update to the Dairy Cattle Code of Welfare in more than a decade has been released, marking what DairyNZ describes as an important step in ensuring animal welfare standards continue to evolve alongside scientific evidence and on-farm realities.
Ravensdown shareholders have elected Jane Montgomery and Kate Acland to the Ravensdown Board for three-year terms, following a closely contested director election.
OPINION: It seems Canterbury processor Synlait is still in the doldrums.
OPINION: Get offside with New Zealand First leader Winston Peters at your own peril.
