Taranaki dairy farmer Tracey Zimmerman has always had a passion for dairy cow breeding.
However, after trying conventional breeding methods for six or seven years she was beginning to think the results were somewhat underwhelming for the amount of effort she had to put in.
Tracey and her partner Jurjen Groenveld are 50-50 sharemilkers on the 78ha Zimmerman family farm at Huinga, milking 130-140 cows.
“I was using Traits Other than Production (TOP) indexes and pedigree information to make mating decisions but my results were running along the bell-curve.
“Some cows were a little bit better and some were a bit worse.
“I became frustrated with the unpredictability.
“I thought that I was the only person in New Zealand who was experiencing these frustrations.
“Farmers talk about the dairy payout, the rugby or the weather but we don’t have many conversations about cows even though they’re an important part of our business. I decided at that point you either learn to live with the frustration or you do some research.”
While researching she came across the aAa animal analysis system. It resonated with her and she wanted to have her cows analysed. No one in NZ was qualified to do it so she decided to go to the Netherlands and learn.
The analysis system is a dairy cattle breeding guide created in 1950 by Vermont Holstein breeder and classifier William A Weeks, based on his detailed study of the form and function of dairy cows and bulls.
Weeks identified naturally occurring patterns in the way animals’ body parts are formed and function together. He designed the aAa system to include six numbers. Each describes a desirable form that affects overall functionality.
Analysers study the relationship of parts in a cow’s physical form and ask what causes a cow’s problems, what qualities she brings to a mating and what qualities the bull needs to bring to produce a daughter as good as or better than her dam.
The process is what makes aAa different from any other dairy cattle breeding guide.
During that first trip to the Netherlands she visited herds using the system. She noticed fewer extremes in the herds that had been analysed for a number of years. The cows were healthier and living longer with fewer feet and udder problems.
“Taking into account that there’s always a big management component in breeding outcomes, the cows on the farms new to analysis were beginning to demonstrate some extreme forms. This was usually the reason farmers would call an analyser,” Tracey says.
“Ever since I was a child I have had a vision in my mind about the kind of cow I was wanting.
“But the cows I had bred to date were moving further away from the vision in my mind. Yet, in the Dutch herds that had been using the aAa system for a longer period and for the first time, I saw the type of cow I was looking for.”
It was during her second trip to the Netherlands in 2016 that she met Jurjen, a qualified aAa analyser. He eventually moved to NZ and they went 50-50 sharemilking on the family farm this season.
“We decided that there wasn’t much point in us both working as approved analysers. I’m more the farmer and Jurjen finds the travel more straightforward than I do so it seemed logical for Jurjen to continue analysing while I concentrated on the farm,” Tracey says.
“It was an easy transition because Jurjen and I had visited many of the farms together. The bulk of analysing is done just prior to mating, which is a very critical time here on the farm so for the time being it’s the best option.”
Jurjen believes modern breeding has become a one-size-fits-all system. The practice of matching a good cow with high figures to a bull with high figures usually results in a calf with high figures too. However, physiological factors often aren’t taken into account and farmers still need to consider how each cow is put together.
“If you use all the available tools you end up with a better outcome. We want to keep the good traits and make the most of the available technologies.
“I don’t ever want to become overly nostalgic and believe that everything was better 20 or 30 years ago because the modern-day cow has some very good qualities but we must add to this foundation to improve in the future. If you don’t, it is always possible to find yourself moving backwards,” Tracey says.
“What I liked about the aAa system was that it was like a recipe and you could make more sense of the other information if you knew the foundation of the recipe.
“It provided a foundation for mating a cow correctively then you use evaluation methods such as index, genomics, pedigree and TOP to pick the good bulls.”
Jurjen began analysing in 2008. He started his practice in the Netherlands and built up a business throughout Europe. The European cows are very different to NZ cows but they, too, are being culled early from herds, albeit for different reasons.
“European and North American cattle are more likely to fall to pieces in the frame and some cows have become too frail and narrow in their front end and the thurl position is set further back so they tend to break down in the loin,” Jurjen says.
“NZ cows are becoming increasingly small and light-boned with pelvic structures that don’t allow enough room for the udder. The combination of small bones and closed rear-end structures are causing pin and tail setting to become higher and hooves that are poorly formed and prone to lameness.
“You can measure how much milk a cow can make but that doesn’t tell you anything about the way she makes that milk.
“It’s complex and there are many biological processes that must be taken into account. If an animal has a good form she can easily do the job and the things we measure improve as the quality of the cow improves,” Tracey says.
There is a burgeoning interest in the system from NZ farmers and AI companies. The bull analysis process takes place every two years in NZ and Australia but plans are being made to make it annual.
Tracey believes that to get the best results when having cows analysed for the first time it is important for farmers to be ready to use the system.
“When a herd of cows is analysed for the first time a specific pattern is found in the types of bulls needed. This is logical because we are all creatures of habit when it comes to culling and bull selection.
“If a farmer wants to continue using bulls that are the opposite of what is needed then maybe that particular farmer is not quite ready to use aAa. Once a farmer is comfortable with the system and adapts their bull selection to include bulls with needed qualities that meet their breeding goals the process is really simple.”
When Jurjen analyses a herd he gives each cow three aAa numbers listed in the order of what she needs the most.
Each number represents one of the six aAa qualities.
A cow analysed 423 needs a bull analysed 423.
“LIC, CRV, Samen, World Wide Sires, Semex and most other AI companies have bulls analysed so farmers have a lot of choice when selecting bulls.
“Analysers are independent so we don’t recommend specific bulls. It is important that we remain unbiased and show no favouritism towards specific AI companies so farmers are free to choose the best bulls for their farm. If farmers select four or five good bulls that meet their farm’s breeding criteria it should work well,” Tracey says.
“Breeding is part of overall management and it is important not to exaggerate its importance.
“Breeding will never be a compensate for poor management but we are seeing positive changes in our herd.
“In the past we started seeing an increase in the number of failing two- year-olds and we simply don’t have that problem any more. The first thing we actually noticed with aAa was that the bull calves were a lot better, they really looked like bulls.
“In the past they were getting increasingly fine boned. Now they have power and we receive premium prices for them at feeder calf sales,” Tracey says.
Their goal is to improve the age structure of their herd.
It costs just as much money and work to raise a calf that will be in a herd for two years as it does for 10 years.
There is also the added saving of not needing to rear as many replacements because the cows stay in the herd longer.
And, of course, a healthier cow needs less veterinary attention.
The aAa system is in its infancy in NZ and they are excited to see how the cows that are the result of the breeding system age in their herd. However, herds that have been analysed for up to 10 years are demonstrating positive improvements.
