Friday, March 29, 2024

Dairy gets $25m genetics boost

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More than $25 million will go towards lifting the performance and wellbeing of the national dairy herd. The seven-year, $25.68m programme, dubbed Resilient Dairy, was launched at National Fieldays by Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor.
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The programme is being led by LIC with investment and support from the Ministry for Primary Industries and DairyNZ. 

LIC is investing $11.2m, MPI is investing $10.3m and DairyNZ is investing $4.2m.

The money will be spent on new disease management technologies and advances in genomic science to improve cow productivity and produce better cows with improved health, wellbeing and environmental resilience, its backers said. 

MPI’s investment programmes director Steve Penno said it wants the programme to deliver long-term economic, environmental and animal health benefits.

“For NZ to maintain its reputation as a world-leading producer of premium products we need to further increase the value of our products in a way that improves sustainability.”

LIC chief scientist Dr Richard Spelman said it will be looking to develop innovative breeding tools and tests that support more sustainable milk production.

“We’re committed to providing farmers with the tools they need to improve their prosperity and productivity in a sustainable way with animal health, wellbeing and the environment at the forefront.” 

The programme’s length provides data that gives scientists some surety, allowing them to develop programmes that are long-term, Spelman said. 

“Looking ahead was the catalyst for us.

“Our consumers are demanding more about animal health – they want know how well-treated animals are but they want facts.

“At the moment we tend to do it based on our NZ brand or whoever the milk processor may be but that’s probably not enough. 

“So, it’s about how can we provide that (information) to consumers while at the same time give our farmers information which helps them manage their animals and potentially breed their animals better.

“Our consumers are expecting more and more and that expectation continues to move. 

“This programme will strengthen our existing research and development work to keep our farmers and NZ leading the global pastoral dairy system,” Spelman said. 

Investment from DairyNZ will go into rebuilding its national evaluation system for dairy cattle to incorporate genomic information to facilitate faster rates of genetic gain.

“We’re aiming to get better diagnostic tools, better genetics and a system that gives farmers confidence in how they operate their farms, gives customers confidence in how our farms are run but also confidence in the genetics they’re buying from us.”

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