2008 Bull Buying Process

It’s a great time of year when we start receiving enthusiastic calls about your elite calves born from contracts. It’s amazing to think from early July to October the CRV AmBreed bull selection team will continually consider hundreds of potential super stars to build a team of elite bulls to progeny test. There are many hurdles to jump before these freshly born little ‘nippers’ push their way to the top and become  2009 CRV AmBreed InSire FastForward Bulls.

The first and probably biggest hurdle is just being given a chance….. and offered to CRV AmBreed. We are in no doubt each year the bobby truck man gets more than his fair share of the best bulls. In so many cases we don’t know who are your best cows and what they are in calf to, relying on you to offer us these little gems.  So your task is to ring us or fill in our online forms to submit your best bulls.

With the first hurdle behind them these offered candidate bulls are all considered for their genetic merit based on bloodlines, inbreeding and how good mum is. At this stage some of these little bulls hopes and dreams are crushed by the other superior candidates. This brutal ongoing process continues twice a week from early July to late October, as bulls are offered.

The next step for this large group of promising candidates is to make the selection cut for genomic testing. Regular testing of candidate bloods starts in early August and continues until mid October.  As results become available some bulls will be elevated immediately to the elite status of a ‘2009 inSire FastFoward Bull’, some are rejected while others are kept on ‘hold’ waiting for the bigger picture to become clearer.

The last and final fiery hoop to jump through is to impress the CRV AmBreed Analysts enough to secure a prestigious place in ‘The Team’. The genomically tested elite candidates have the chance to make an impact on the analysts when they meet after each genomic update. These meetings start in mid August running through to the final team selection meeting in November. When this final group of bulls are selected and raise their hooves in triumph they can join their already named 2009 progeny test contemporaries.

After trucking to CRV AmBreed in December (North Island) or January (South Island) the 2009 inSire FastForward bulls start their new life of fame. These future superstars live a life of luxury with lavish meals of concentrates, hay and silage and from May 09 to October 09 they get put into work as CRV AmBreed ‘Studs’ enjoying the pleasures of our gorgeous artificial cow ‘TC’.

Click here to return to the Genetic Edge page