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GENERATION NEXT LOVES SUSTAINABILITY.
GENERATION NEXT LOVES SUSTAINABILITY
SUSTAINABILITY IS A WORD THAT HAS BECOME VERY POPULAR RECENTLY, BUT SUSTAINABILITY HAS ALWAYS BEEN AT THE HEART OF GOOD DAIRYING. SUSTAINABILITY CAN ONLY BE BUILT ON A FOUNDATION OF FERTILITY. BREEDING A COW THAT IS FERTILE, LASTS MORE LACTATIONS, AND IS GENETICALLY SUPERIOR TO HER MOTHER IS THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF ANY BREEDING PLAN.
SUSTAINABILITY STARTS WITH FERTILITY Because the New Zealand dairy industry does not have the natural advantages that make wide-scale high-input farming economically feasible, the line between a productive and non-productive animal is much clearer than in many other systems.
CALVING INTERVAL (ICAR) 450 425 400 DAYS
This has led to the development (through years of selective culling) of a national herd containing cattle that are extremely fertile with a very short calving interval, higher longevity and greater number of lactations than animals in all other major dairying nations.
375 350
Canada Japan Argentina Scotland USA (estimated) England & Wales The Netherlands South Africa Northern Ireland Sweden Germany Chile Switzerland Ireland Norway NZ
325
It is these advantages that make LIC genetics so valuable in any dairy herd.
LONGEVITY IS THE KEY PERCENTAGE OF PEAK PRODUCTION BY COW AGE 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%
Dairy cattle productivity peaks at the fourth and fifth lactations. If an animal does not remain in the herd until she is six years old, she will not achieve her optimum productivity. LIC genetics can help you increase the number of lactations your animals stay in the herd by improving fertility.
2
3
4
5
6
7
YEARS OF AGE
8
9
10+
This in turn drives the overall lifetime productivity of each animal and reduces the number of replacements you need to breed each year.
PERCENTAGE OF REPLACEMENTS REQUIRED PER YEAR By reducing the number of replacements you must rear each year you can reduce the percentage of feed consumed by non-productive heifers, and increase the percentage of feed being used to generate milksolids.
60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 1.5
NZ
2 2.5
3
3.5 4 4.5
5 5.5
NUMBER OF LACTATION
SUSTAINABLE PROFITABILITY Over the two years before a heifer is a productive member of your herd it will consume 2-3 tonnes of dry matter. This is feed that could otherwise be used to generate milk solids if fed to a productive cow.
50% REPLACEMENTS REARED ANNUALLY - NUMBER OF LACTATIONS: 2
87%
13% REARING
GENERATING MILK SOLIDS
0%
REPLACEMENTS
DRY MATTER
100%
By extending the longevity of your herd through the use of LIC bulls you can reduce the number of replacements you need to rear each year, therefore reducing the amount of feed being used to rear replacements.
20% REPLACEMENTS REARED ANNUALLY - NUMBER OF LACTATIONS: 5
$ EXTRA REVENUE
94% GENERATING MILK SOLIDS
0%
DRY MATTER
6% REARING
REPLACEMENTS
100%
By halving the amount of feed being used to rear replacements you are able to increase the proportion of your feed being used to generate revenue. This, combined with the productivity improvements made by cows reaching their peak productivity in years five and six will have a marked effect on your profitability.
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