Import Selection Tour Report

The opportunity to get a first-hand look at daughters of some of our top imported sires was too much to pass up so we sent CRV AmBreed representatives Bill McLean and Sue Duffy to check them out and bring back the best bulls and deals for you.  Bill tells us what he saw...

We were excited to see some great cattle on this trip.  Both Sue and I have extensive experience in cattle breeding, farming and selling and have seen for ourselves how well the right imported genetics can work alongside New Zealand cow families in New Zealand farming systems.

The first glimpse we had of Denmark confirmed what we had heard about this part of Scandinavia, it is indeed a beautiful country. Despite being less than a fifth of the size of New Zealand we still managed to clock up an impressive 1,600 km in three days, travelling widely to see a great range of farms and daughters by different Danish Jersey sires. Our mission here was to look at the daughters of the Danish Jersey bulls that are a new addition to this year’s CRV Herd Solutions Catalogue and have already shown their strength in New Zealand with well-known Danish bull, Fyn Lemvig, siring our own superstar Jersey sire, Okura Manhatten.

From the first Danish Jersey herd we were immediately impressed by the exceptional teat placement on virtually every cow. This is something that the Danish farmers focus on strongly as it is an essential trait due to the proliferation of robotic milkers in the country and a trait that New Zealand farmers also look for consistency in.  The cows also displayed great strength and capacity with superb udder quality and strong ligaments to produce an average of up to 8000 litres a lactation, year after year.  There is also a strong focus on  mastitis resistance in Denmark - not only are the SCC figures taken into account from the herd test but also every tube of penicillin that is administered to each animal is documented and factored into the index. When they say a bull’s daughters are mastitis resistant you can bank on it.  This is yet another benefit of the Danish Jerseys that is of huge interest to our New Zealand farmer clients.

(Some emphasis on this – or a breakout quote?)I see a big place in New Zealand for these Jersey genetics to build on the strength, capacity and good quality udders required in the modern New Zealand Jersey herd.

From Denmark we travelled to Holland and again spent a considerable amount of time travelling around the country.  Here, we saw less robotic milkers and no Jersey cattle - most of the cows we saw were Holsteins and to our surprise a large number of these are Red and White cattle. There has been a strong resurgence in Red and White Holsteins over recent years as the Dutch dairy farmers change focus on the type of cows they are breeding from the huge, angular dairy cows towards more medium statured, strong, capacious cows with good udder quality and high fertility to ensure profitability and longevity.  I’m pleased to point out that this is precisely what our NZMI index breeds towards showing that CRV AmBreed remains at the forefront of breeding animals to suit our farmers and stay in the herd year after year.  

These more moderately sized, strong, fertile and well-uddered cows are what they are getting from the Red and White breed.  This is also reflected in the Kian and Fabian daughters we are seeing in New Zealand.  To add to this success, we have chosen a new Red and White sire, Aalshorst Pleasure, as a good choice for New Zealand and arranged importation at a very special price.  This bull’s daughters stood out as medium-sized, capacious cows with superb udders with consistency, consistency, consistency.

Of the Dutch sires already in this year’s CRV Herd Solutions Catalogue, Impuls stood out as a bull whose daughters would fit in well in this country. These strong, high-producing cows look to have what it takes to fit right into the New Zealand system.  Those of you milking your first Paramount daughters should be very happy with the breeding decision you made three years ago, and from preliminary reports coming in it seems you are. The daughters we saw in Holland were considerably smaller than we expected to see given the production they do, indicating great efficiency in their feed conversion. I will be surprised if he is not a real and long lasting influence on our local breeding scene.

In conclusion I must say I left Europe excited at the possibilities to improve the quality of the cattle we are currently seeing in this country. I am concerned that the NZ National Breeding Objective (BW) is creating frailty in our cows as it rewards sires with low liveweight daughters. In contrast, farmers in Europe can see the value of maintaining strength and capacity - as should we! The Dutch sires of the past have already had a huge influence here and after seeing their latest offerings I think this is destined to continue in the future.

We at CRV AmBreed recognise the need for our consultants to be fully confident in the quality of the sires we import and their ability to positively influence the profitability of their clients business. To this end we recognise the value of seeing firsthand the progeny of our sires – we can be confident that they are suitable for local farming systems and goals and will create profit for our clients.

Suggest this over two pages – take content from the d/s A4 flyer including bulls for the other page and plug Bill and Sue’s meetings.  If this segment too long, edit as you see fit or send it back to me with direction.