Nathan Bayne accepts it was a bit tongue in cheek using Facebook to approach the owners to buy embryos from two of the North America’s most decorated show dairy cows.
While illustrating the power of social media, it gave the dairy farmer access to embryos from a cow considered the greatest ever bred in North America and another that sold for a then world record NZ$1.3 million.
But it worked and a heifer calf and cow from those prestigious North American bloodlines were put up for sale last week at an auction of stock by Nathan and Amanda Bayne’s Busybrook Holsteins at Duntroon in North Otago’s Waitaki Valley.
Bayne said quality show cattle in North America attract huge sums of money from buyers wanting the prestige of winning major events.
He secured unsexed embryos from Eastside Lewisdale Gold Missy, which, in 2009, was sold by her Canadian breeder for the world-record price to a Danish farmer and breeder. She then went on to win multiple titles at the World Dairy Expo and Canada’s Royal Agricultural Winter Fair.
Her daughter, Busybrook Wind Miss NZ, an in-calf rising three-year-old, along with a February-born calf, Busybrook Doorman Hailstorm, the daughter of RF Goldwyn Hailey, which twice won the prestigious World Dairy Expo at Madison Wisconsin and the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair were in last week’s Busybrook auction of 49 lots..
Considered one of the best-ever cows bred in North America Bayne said Hailey’s breeder, Gen-Com Holstein from Quebec in Canada, sold him three unsexed Hailey embryos from which two bull calves and the heifer were born.
Bayne attributed getting access to the two lots of embryos to good timing and some good luck
“I don’t know why I got lucky. They certainly weren’t cheap.
“If your cow wins, it is a licence to print money. You’ll have a waiting list as long as your arm for people wanting embryos.”
He retains a daughter of Busybrook Wind Miss but said selling those bloodlines in NZ could help develop new markets for the North American breeders.
Interest in Busybrook’s offering, including the two heifer calves, had come from throughout NZ and Australia.
Breeding dairy cows has been a lifelong interest for Bayne and his 1000-cow commercial herd was in effect based on two styles – those bred on the NZ breeding index and the North America Holstein, which was bred for type and production without any indexing.
The basis of his North American herd was a herd of 100 he bought from Southland last year.
Bayne breeds bulls for artificial insemination companies and cows from both breeding philosophies were sold at last week’s auction.
“We do this because I like both styles of cows. They are two completely different markets for us.”
The cows were as different as chalk and cheese, he said.
“I can see merits in both lots of cows. Both have merits and both have downfalls but I enjoy working with both types.”
He said North American cows are bigger and have production potential for high input systems while the NZ cows were easy care and efficient.
All cows are run commercially so they could shift anywhere in NZ and he aims for them to produce more milksolids than their body weight.
He has used embryo transfers for 15 years to get rapid genetic gain while also satisfying a lifelong interest in breeding.
The couple have worked their way through equity partnerships and have share milked throughout Otago.
They are now in their fourth season as 50:50 sharemilkers on the 385ha effective Waitaki Valley farm of Kelvin and Debbie Weir.
The fully irrigated property is a mix of lighter, free-draining flats, steep hilly faces and terraces with heavier soils.
They calve 1000 cows and all young stock – 250 R1s and 250 R2s – are run on the farm and all stock wintered on the property.
The herd averages more than 500kg MS a cow or 1800kg MS a hectare.
