Dairying up the beef semen industry

STOCK SEXED SEMEN

Words and photos by: Karen Trebilcock

Beef rearers will be all smiles about the changes a dairy genetics company is making.

LIC for the first time will be offering male sexed beef semen this season but it won’t just be any beef.

Short gestation Hereford and Angus, as well as Belgian Blue, Speckle Park, Hereford, Profit Maker® and Simmental straws will be available and all of the bulls have been chosen for their calving ease and their growth rates.

“Just like we’re seeing with dairy, through the world of genomics we’re getting better choices of beef bulls,” LIC genetics business manager Greg Hamill said.

“We’ve picked them for ease of calving and for gestation length but also because these bulls have great feed efficiencies, converting feed into meat at a more efficient rate, so they will be sought after by rearers and finishers.”

The Rissington Cattle Company of Napier has supplied the Short Gestation Angus bull, the Profit Maker® and the Simmentals.

Other breeds are from Shrimpton’s Hill, Maungahina and their own polled Belgian Blue bull.

The short gestation Hereford and Angus straws give both breeds the advantage of a beef calf as well as additional days in milk, allowing the cow more time to recover before the next mating season.

“We’re asking dairy farmers to consider the importance of their beef genetics just like they do with their dairy genetics.”

Left: Black and white magic: Dairy Belgian Blue Friesian cross R1s from non-sexed beef semen.

Greg said the short gestation bulls estimated breeding values (EBVs) still had the same high growth rates as the other beef breeds offered.

“The shorter gestation length does not affect the resulting calf’s ability to grow.”

BEEF SEXING TECHNOLOGY

Although sexing technology has been around for some time, the farming of the beef bulls by LIC through partnerships with beef breeders has made male beef sexed semen possible.

The straws will be frozen and processed during the winter to be ready for the spring breeding season. Orders from farmers will have to be in by August.

“We’ve had farmers asking for sexed beef for some time but we’ll really see what the demand is for it this year.”

The semen is sexed using Sexing Technologies in Hamilton and Greg said the machines were busy all year either processing fresh dairy straws in the breeding season or frozen straws for domestic and international supply during the rest of the year.

“International demand is incredibly strong as overseas cows, with their generally lower fertility and fewer lactations and so therefore fewer calves, have less ability to replace themselves.

“In New Zealand, cows have on average five and a half lactations which is why we have the ability to supply beef from less productive cows generating additional animals for the dairy beef market.”

PRODUCING THE BEST MILK, MEAT

Currently all beef processed by meat companies, including culled cows, is about 70% from dairy origin.

Greg said this would probably increase as dairy farmers become more conscious of their own bobby calf footprint.

“Besides the perceived animal welfare issues with bobby calves, farmers are also faced with reducing animal numbers for environmental reasons so we have to make sure every animal we produce is the very best at converting feed into either milk or meat.”

LIC was advising farmers to use dairy semen over yearlings and high breeding worth (BW) cows in the herd to provide replacements and to use beef over the rest of their cows.

Frozen sexed beef straws, because it has a lower conception rate, should be used on cows that farmers know are more fertile.

“Our trial work three years ago showed frozen sexed straws were 13% less likely to get cows in calf compared to conventional straws, although farmers have told us they get better results than that.

“So we want the frozen sexed beef straws to be used on healthy, older cows which have already cycled at least once before mating starts.”

Conception rates for fresh sexed semen are about the same as non-sexed but Sexing Technologies does not have the capacity to process fresh beef and dairy straws at the same time through the breeding season.

Wagyu sexed straws would not be offered as the companies supplying contracts to dairy farmers wanted both male and female animals.

Greg said LIC was working with Beef + Lamb NZ in the dairy beef progeny testing scheme and with industry-leading beef breeders to make sure the beef genetics sourced were the best they could be for shareholders.

“We’re asking dairy farmers to consider the importance of their beef genetics just like they do with their dairy genetics.

“This will give rearers the confidence to buy dairy beef calves and know they will be able to fatten them and get them off the property just as quickly as other beef animals.

Engineering a better cow: Dairy Speckle Park Friesian cross R2 heifers from nonsexed beef semen.

Accuracy No Less.

24/7 reliable data at your finger tips.

The patented ear sensor technology relays the collected information to a series of routers placed around your farm, giving you 24/7 reliable data at your finger tips. CowManager is cloud based, which allows you to access your data from wherever you are.

For More Information www.senztag.co.nz 0800 220 232