increase font size
Jeremy Bryant.
A change will be made this month to the way body condition score (BCS) records are treated before they enter the animal evaluation (AE) system.
A new process will apply more stringent limits to BCS data that flows into the AE system and will also allow multiple BCS records for an individual cow rather than just one record per season.
New Zealand Animal Evaluation Ltd (NZAEL) manager Jeremy Bryant says the changes will mean a bull's breeding value will more closely reflect the BCS genetics he is passing on to his daughters.
The need for this change was uncovered during the AE Transition, an industry-led project which transfers the operation of the AE system from LIC's animal evaluation unit (AEU) to NZAEL, a DairyNZ subsidiary.
"This has created the chance to intensively review all aspects of data processing, looking for causes of discrepancies between NZAEL and AEU's evaluation results," says Bryant. "In this case NZAEL, with LIC, saw an opportunity to enhance BCS data processing.
"By implementing this as a part of the August AE run (released August 20), farmers can make immediate use of improved breeding values."
The early phases of the transition involved rewriting data processing methods to produce results closely aligned to those now produced by AEU. NZAEL's animal evaluation system has been tested for many months, running in parallel with AEU so the results can be directly compared.
In a similar scenario, a revision of fertility data processing was implemented in February.
"The impact of this change will be small, with 95% of dairy sires moving up or down less than $4 for breeding worth (BW)."
BCS breeding values are calculated using the BCS records of two-year-old cows in progeny test herds. Two-year-olds are often assigned more than one BCS record over the season, scored when they are inspected for 'traits other than production' (TOP) and again when their liveweight is measured.
Current system
The current pre-processing of BCS data only allows one record into the system. If a cow has multiple BCS records collected over the season, these are not included in AE.
Some of the BCS records collected onfarm are very low or high (2.0 and lower, or 7.5 and greater) which may indicate ill health, data entry errors or special management of an animal. The current system does not exclude these outlier scores and so they are allowed to flow into the model.
Dairy sires often have only small numbers of daughters scored for BCS and so one outlier (high or low BCS) can have a large impact on their overall evaluation.
New system
The new pre-processing method will use multiple records by producing an average of all the BCS data collected over the season.
In addition to this, the validation of BCS records has been increased, so that very low (2.0 or lower) and very high (7.5 or greater) records will not enter the AE model.
DairyNZ says its plantain programme continues to deliver promising results, with new data confirming that modest levels of plantain in pastures reduce nitrogen leaching, offering farmers a practical, science-backed tool to meet environmental goals.
This is the first in a series of articles from Beef + Lamb New Zealand's Informing New Zealand Beef programme. The seven-year INZB partnership, supported by Beef + Lamb New Zealand and the Ministry for Primary Industries' Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund, aims to boost the sector's profits by $460m.
As an independent review of the National Pest Management Plan for TB finds the goal of complete eradication by 2055 is still valide, feedback is being sought on how to finish the job.
DairyNZ has pulled together tactics that will help farmers improve on-farm efficiency and have positive benefits for the environment. These tactics are based on research, data, and lessons from leading farmers.
The design and construction of an effective dairy effluent system is a complex process.
An independent report, prepared for Alliance farmer shareholders is backing the proposed $250 million joint venture investment by Irish company Dawn Meats Group.
Whangarei field service technician, Bryce Dickson has cemented his place in John Deere’s history, becoming the first ever person to win an award for the third time at the annual Australian and New Zealand Technician of the Year Awards, announced at a gala dinner in Brisbane last night.
NZPork has appointed Auckland-based Paul Bucknell as its new chair.
The Government claims to have delivered on its election promise to protect productive farmland from emissions trading scheme (ETS) but red meat farmers aren’t happy.
Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.
The Ministry for the Environment is joining as a national award sponsor in the Ballance Farm Environment Awards (BFEA from next year).
OPINION: Should cows in NZ be microchipped?
OPINION: Legislation being drafted to bring back the controversial trade of live animal exports by sea is getting stuck in the…
