Article By: Ross Annabell Date: 2/07/2002 14:34:01 Source: New Zealand Rural News

NEW ZEALAND faces the risk of inbreeding through LIC and Ambreed using their own bulls and their daughters to produce the next generation of bulls, according to Winton dairy farmer and breeder Henk Smit.

Smit told the New Zealand Society of Animal Production conference at Massey University the two breeding businesses should probably swap their top bulls during an address on “breeding objectives and economic realities.”

Because of the “very poor openness of breeding data in New Zealand” he sources his embryos in Holland where, for a small fee, all information is available from the herd improvement organisation.

He says a lack of data means he doesn’t know exactly where his herd ranks genetically or against other elite NZ animals and who owns the best indexing animals.

“This chokes entrepreneurial development and is the main reason I source embryos in Holland.”

He also slated lack of information on SCC and lameness.

Smit says LIC and Ambreed expect to control inbreeding risk with Datamate and Genescreen, but he doubts either will be used by large herd farmers with 50-100 cows on heat a day.

He is also concerned top ranked bulls will not necessarily sire the milk producers industry wants, because yellow fat and high fat siring bulls still rank high. The industry could be at fault because farmers breed to suit current economics and reward for lactose would result in a better type of bull.

Smit milks 200 cows which he claims are the highest producing in New Zealand, at around 780 kg MS per cow, achieving 1700 kgs MS per ha.

To achieve that standard, he focuses on high genetic merit stock, growing out young stock to 620 kg just before calving, calving cows in at least 5.5 condition and full, high quality feeding all year. Herd BW is nearly 120.

Smit uses many cows and yearlings for embryo flushing, implanting about 400 imported embryos each year from highest protein Dutch cows, mainly in a herd of beefcross animals.

He tests about 25 young bulls per year with Ambreed, 15-20 bulls per year with RAB, Australia, and 15 bulls privately with a group of about 50 NZ farmers. Smit said his breeding business is now hard core, after beginning as a hobby.

He worked briefly for LIC 17 years ago after completing a masters in animal genetics at Holland’s Wageningen University.