NZ Merit Lists

New Zealand Merit Index

18/10/2006
The alternative breeding strategy for NZ dairy farmers

CRV AmBreed's New Zealand Merit Index has been introduced in 2005 and has attracted positive comment from farmers using it as a basis for bull selection.

New Zealand Merit Index (NZMI™), an advanced sire and cow selection tool, is focused on significantly improving future herd production, management traits and type.

NZMI™ includes information on type and animal management traits as well as production. This is in contrast to the current dairy industry index used to measure genetic merit, which is heavily weighted on production with lower emphasis on durability traits.

Eleven traits that influence production, management and long herd life make up NZMI™.

The NZMI™ weights those traits as follows:
• 43% Production – protein and milk
• 36% Management – overall opinion, fertility, liveweight, calving difficulty, residual survival and somatic cell score
• 21% Type – capacity, rump angle and udder overall

NZMI™ is a balanced selection tool for measuring production breeding value information and genetic gain applying to both the company's sires and the cows herd tested by CRV AmBreed. The index is available to all AI companies at no charge.

To determine genetic merit for NZMI™ the company will use Test Day Model (TDM) calculations on herd test information for cows and extract breeding value data from the Animal Evaluation Unit for bulls. TDM is widely considered as the most accurate method of estimating breeding values. “I expect our competitors to imitate AmBreed by introducing their own version of the TDM calculations in the near future” Graham Bowen says.

Farmers herd testing with the company were the first in New Zealand to get TDM calculations of their cows’ genetic merit when NZMI™ became available in March 2005. Bulls featured in CRV AmBreed’s 2007 Dairy Sires Catalogue will be ranked on NZMI™ sires index.

Bowen says dairy industry trends show farmers require cows that produce protein efficiently, have good management traits, are fertile, calve easily and have good udder quality to ensure herd retention. “NZMI™ captures and selects for these critical breeding goals with particular emphasis on traits associated with easy care and long herd life.”

NZMI™ also provides the means for CRV AmBreed to use the information for its clients without the onus of paying extra to extract the most basic data as we do under the present system.

CRV AmBreed developed the index in collaboration with leading geneticists in Australia and Holland over the past three years. The company worked with the University of New England at Armidale in New South Wales, Australia and NRS, which operates animal evaluations for Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg and Hungary.

For further information contact Peter Berney (Marketing Manager) at CRV AmBreed telephone (07) 827 5058.