Saturday, March 30, 2024

Breeding the perfect cows

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Averaging 80 contract matings in his herd every year, Murray Gibb is hoping to breed an outstanding bull for the industry one day. Sheryl Brown visited the Waikato farmer to find out how he bred one of the best herds in the country.
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The lightweight Jersey cow has become a strong contender in the Breeding Worth (BW) ring since the mature liveweight breeding value changed last year.

Waikato farmer Murray Gibb has milked Jerseys for more than 30 years and his herd has been in the top 5% for BW for about the last 20 years.

In December, his herd was ranked second-equal for BW and 18th for Production Worth (PW).  

“I never set out to have a high BW herd. It’s just something that’s happened,” he says.

New Zealand Animal Evaluation Limited (NZAEL) changed the conversion of liveweight information into a mature weight equivalent in 2015. The new method enters the weights before the data enters the animal evaluation model, leading to an increase in herd BW for the Jersey breed.

The change in the mature liveweight value has been good for promoting Jerseys, Murray says.

“Jersey has been waning in its popularity for some time, but Jerseys are efficient, good cows. For me Jerseys have done a great job.”

Murray grew up at Taupiri, just outside Ngaruawahia in Waikato, where his great-grandfather originally settled. His grandfather and his father Keith farmed there. Keith milked Jersey cows and was one of the first farmers in the district to start using artificial insemination (AI) onfarm.

“I remember the technician drawing semen out of test tubes, it must have been in the 1960s. It’s changed a lot since then.”

Murray gained a science degree at Waikato University before teaching then spending a year overseas. When his father died he returned home to the farm and started his career in farming.

Murray and his brother Russell started sharemilking in 1981, eventually splitting the Jersey herd when Russell and his wife Alison went to farm in Orini.

Murray stayed sharemilking on the family block and bought dribs and drabs to make up his herd numbers.

He’s bought neighbouring blocks and the farm is now 125ha. He followed his father’s footsteps in using AI technology to advance the herd.

One of the key factors behind his high BW is having mated his heifers with AI for the past 30 years, he says.

Breeding replacements from his heifers has accelerated his herd’s value.

“I’ve had that genetic gain over a long period of time.”

He’s also used embryo transfers from his best cows for the past 20 years. The first time they didn’t get any eggs, but the results have improved.

The money spent on embryo transfers is definitely worth it if farmers can sell some bulls to livestock companies and get good heifers on the ground, he says.

Maintaining good cow families has also been extremely important and it appeals to buyers when selling stock.

“Breeding companies are interested in cow families with lots of depth and we’ve got a few of those, which has been a big help.”

His key cow families include Meg, Jane and Betsy.

“Not every cow you breed is going to be as good as you’d like it to be. But if you can breed one or two good females generationally it keeps on going.”

Breeding an exceptional bull is what drives Murray now. The first bull he sold to LIC was Tironui Ads Pomeroy in 1994, before he had any contract matings signed up.

“That really sparked my interest. I got more contract matings and better known in the industry.”

Tironui Jackflash and Tironui Meganev have followed, among others, as well as Tironui OM Joskin who has had a lot of semen exported.

Murray now has up to 80 contract matings every season with LIC, CRV Ambreed and Liberty Genetics, including his incoming heifers.  

He nominates some of his other cows, but the rest typically go to bull of the day, using the LIC Premier Sires Forward Pack.

“This year, I’ve used Lynbrook Terrific widely, which is a bit of a rarity. I want to improve the cows’ udders.”

He feels comfortable leaving the rest of his herd to the lottery of bull of the day because with Premier Sires he’s getting the best BW bulls anyway.

He does use a mixture of bulls from different breeding companies depending on what bulls he likes and isn’t afraid of using a new sire.

“You’ve got to be adaptable to what’s going on, don’t be afraid to try different things.”

The BW system wouldn’t be getting the recognition it does if it didn’t have value. It’s certainly a great aid to farmers when it comes to selecting the best stock, Murray says.

“You can go into a paddock and all the cows will look brilliant, but there will always be some cows that are better than others and some cows that look brilliant don’t test well.”

Murray herd tests four times a year to keep a close eye on his cows. Last season’s average fat and protein test were 5.72 and 4.28.

He’s always trying to improve his herd’s protein, along with udder capacity and fertility.

Fertility can definitely be a challenge, particularly with no inductions now, he says.

“I’m sure the modern dairy cow is harder to get in-calf than 30 years ago. They’re a totally different cow, they are bred to milk.

“The cow tries to put all its energy resources into two areas at once – milk and body condition.”

He does AI for eight weeks, starting October 1 and has an average empty rate of 8%. He also does two rounds of AI for the heifers, using no intervention.

Murray rears about 135 replacements every year on his 61ha runoff five minutes down the road and keeps 90-95 heifers for his herd, selling the rest along with about 70 cows every autumn.

He selects the cows to sell mostly on PW and LW, more so than BW.

“I have the capacity with the runoff to carry extra stock, and it’s a different income stream for me.

“I try not to cull too many cows from season-start to season-end and maximise the number I can sell. It’s probably worth 20,000kg MS to me.”

The cows he sells still probably sit in the top 10% for BW nationally and demand a decent price, slightly above the going average.

He also rears about 30 bulls and most of the remaining calves are sold to other farmers so he has very few bobby calves.

The farm is a DairyNZ System 2 operation, feeding 2kg meal/cow in the 36-aside herringbone and some maize silage if necessary.

Murray grows 10ha chicory every year to break-feed before afternoon milkings and has been replanting with either fescue or a traditional ryegrass and clover mixture.

He is also using more plantain in his pasture mixes to try to cope with the recent dry summers.

“I’m trying to find solutions for the problems. There are always plenty of problems but solutions aren’t easy to find.”

He has decreased the stocking rate to 3.2 cows/ha. With better genetics it makes sense to milk fewer cows and feed them better, especially with rising environmental pressures.

“The best production we did with 420 cows we’ve done with 380 – it’s a no-brainer.

“I can see the cow numbers going further south with the genetic merit – milk a few less and do them better. It’s about profit not production.”

FARM FACTS

  • Tironui Jerseys
  • Owners: Murray and Janet Gibb
  • Location: Taupiri, Waikato
  • Area: 125ha effective
  • Cows: 380 Jerseys
  • Production: 155,000kg milksolids, 407kg MS/cow
  • BW: 210
  • PW: 234
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