Livestock Improvement Corporation (LIC) Board Chair and Tasman dairy farmer, Murray King recommends focusing on better breeding and animal profitability to maintain income.
“We don’t need to milk more cows, we just need to milk the best cows and we’re really pleased that our farmers are making solid progress in this space.
“We know bigger animals don’t necessarily mean greater efficiency relative to liveweight. By identifying high producing cows through genomic evaluation, using their DNA to more accurately predict their performance, farmers can supercharge the whole process of improving their herds and breed the best cows, faster.”
As a farmer-owned co-operative, LIC delivers value to its shareholders through world-leading products and services to help improve their herds plus an annual dividend which will be paid on 19 August. The co-op says this year’s strong dividend is largely because farmers are adopting premium genetics and herd improvement services to breed more efficient cows with a lighter environmental footprint.
Murray says this is very pleasing, particularly after a year of labour shortages and Covid-19 inflationary pressures and supply challenges. He says LIC’s research is helping to move the dairy industry toward a nation of top producing, efficient cows but the work is expensive.
During the 20/21 financial year, the co-op invested $18.2 million into R&D, up from $17.1 million the year prior, maintaining its position as one of the largest private investors in R&Dat 6.9% of revenue. On sustainability, Murray says the dairy industry needs to keep evolving to meet climate expectations.
“The production efficiency of every cow in our national dairy herd has never been more important. Farmers know that all cows are not equal and it’s good to note they are investing in solutions to breed the best cows faster.”
