Genetic gain has been a key driver of success in the New Zealand dairy sector, and NZ Animal Evaluation, a DairyNZ subsidiary, aims to see that continue.
NZ Animal Evaluation manager, Andrew Fear, explains that part of the work in this space involves Animal Evaluation updates, to provide farmers with improved information to support their breeding decisions.
“This year there are three important updates that have been made that may lead to some re-ranking of bulls and cows,” explains Andrew.
“Firstly, the Economic Values that form a key part of the Breeding Worth calculation have been updated. This is a routine, annual event, that helps to ensure the Economic Values reflect the latest farm economic factors.
“We believe that up-to-date information and data is a key part of ensuring that, as a sector, we continue to improve our rate of genetic gain.”
The most significant Economic Value change is due to the reintroduction of the capacity charge by Fonterra resulting in the Economic Value for milk volume changing by 16%. The other EVs experienced similar adjustments to last year with changes varying between 0-9%.
“Alongside Economic Value changes, there are some Breeding Value changes. We have managed to officially transfer the last two traits, Calving Difficulty and Gestation Length, to NZ Animal Evaluation,” says Andrew.
With this final migration, NZ Animal Evaluation, with key research partners AbacusBio and The Helical Company, have made updates to the evaluation for these Breeding Values.
“The evaluations take a stricter approach to data filtering, including more precise classifications of breeds into short, medium, and long gestation length categories. While improvements were not a goal of this work, they are a welcome result for the calving difficulty Breeding Values,” says Andrew.
“These updates, now all independently managed by NZ Animal Evaluation, mean you can have greater confidence in your breeding decisions going forward, to support a more profitable herd.”
Overall, the new Economic Values reflect the latest farm economic factors, while the updates to the Breeding Values maintain accuracy in Gestation Length and improved Calving Difficulty predictions.
On average, across all breeds, Breeding Worth has increased by $8.40, so you may notice a small increase in your herd’s Breeding Worth, depending on the breeds you are currently milking.
However, the changes to Calving Difficulty won’t impact your herd’s Breeding Worth as Calving Difficulty is not one of the traits that make up Breeding Worth, but you are likely to notice significant changes to the Calving Difficulty Breeding Values of current bulls.
You can read more detail about these changes, what they mean, and any further actions you should consider at dairynz.co.nz/animalevaluation
Media contact
Celine Walters-Gray
Media Specialist
p 027 247 9876
e Celine.Walters@dairynz.co.nz