Research@Lincoln
    • Login
     
    View Item 
    •   Research@Lincoln Home
    • Theses and Dissertations
    • Theses and Dissertations with Restricted Access
    • View Item
    •   Research@Lincoln Home
    • Theses and Dissertations
    • Theses and Dissertations with Restricted Access
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Dairy breeding traits : the farmers' perception

    Townshend, S. M.
    Abstract
    The aim of this study was to identify which breeding traits New Zealand dairy farmers believed were the most important and whether variations in farm system influenced these opinions. A random sample of 2000 herds, from an estimated population of 12,271 herds, was acquired from Livestock Improvement Corporation Limited. The 2000 surveys were directed to the persons making the breeding decisions for each of the herds. Forty four percent responded, of which 48% were Holstein-Friesian farmers, 32% were cross-bred farmers and 17% were Jersey farmers. Their operating structures were mostly owner/operator (64%) and 50:50 share-milking arrangements (21 %). Most farmers (57%) used breeding company liquid semen packages with 28% using frozen semen (nominated sires) and 11 % using a combination of fresh and frozen. More farmers (41 %) expressed satisfaction with the breeding criteria used in the current Breeding Worth (BW) system than dissatisfaction (32%), with 27% expressing no opinion. More than 60% of farmers believed that the fertility trait had not improved in the last ten years, while approximately 30% believed each of the lameness, survivability and somatic cell count traits had not improved. Farmers were given the opportunity to select five traits to include in a breeding index. In order, the most selected were the protein, fertility, milk fat, somatic cell count, udder overall, volume and temperament traits. It is evident that the current breeding indices do not satisfy all of these traits, with the omission for direct improvement of udder overall and temperament in BW and milk fat and temperament in the NZMI. However, some of these are improved indirectly through their correlation with other traits included in the calculation of these indices. Very few farmers (5%) selected to include liveweight despite its recognised importance for profitability. When asked whether they desired the most profitable dairy cow or the most easily managed dairy cow, 62% of farmers selected profit. The selection of traits in an index was largely influenced by the farmer's herd breed and breeding objective (the 'profit cow' versus the 'management cow'). Farmers typically selected traits that are recognised as weaknesses of their corresponding breed, e.g. fertility, calving difficulty. The farmer's breeding strategy also altered the traits selected, with farmers nominating a specific sire to a cow and those artificially inseminating their heifers selecting more of the conformation traits than farmers using 'bull of the day' liquid semen packages. Similar trends emerged with older farmers, smaller herd farmers and owner-operators, all selecting more conformation traits over the productive and functional traits, than younger farmers, larger herd farmers and 50:50 share-milkers respectively. This was particularly the case for the temperament trait.... [Show full abstract]
    Keywords
    breeding; farmers' perceptions; breeding indices; dairy farms; breeding worth (BW); farm management; efficiency; profitability; surveys; quantitative research; dairy farmers; breeding strategy; New Zealand
    Fields of Research
    070106 Farm Management, Rural Management and Agribusiness; 070201 Animal Breeding
    Date
    2006
    Type
    Dissertation
    Access Rights
    Digital thesis can be viewed by current staff and students of Lincoln University only. If you are the author of this item, please contact us if you wish to discuss making the full text publicly available.
    Collections
    • Department of Land Management and Systems [402]
    • Theses and Dissertations with Restricted Access [2370]
    View/Open
    Staff/student login to read
    Share this

    on Twitter on Facebook on LinkedIn on Reddit on Tumblr by Email

    Metadata
     Expand record

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Quantifying the change in estimated breeding values of elite sires throughout their lifespan 

      Koot, Mitchell (Lincoln University, 2017-11-13)
      Quantification of the change in Friesian and Jersey sires’ estimated breeding values (eBVs) was carried out between their initial proof, reproof, and latest proof. Alongside the eBV change quantification, these three ...
    • Associations between gene variations and milk composition in New Zealand dairy cattle: A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Lincoln University 

      Li, Yunhai (Lincoln University, 2019)
      Milk solids (MS) of various types are an important export commodity for New Zealand (NZ). Of the MS, increased production of milk fat and protein, would increase farm and industry income, and accordingly the production ...
    • A study of traits other than production in the New Zealand dairy industry National Breeding Objective 

      Dorman, Jessie (Lincoln University. Faculty of Commerce. Kellogg Rural Leaders Programme., 2012)
      The selection goal of the New Zealand dairy industry National Breeding Objective (NBO) is to identify animals whose progeny will be the most efficient converters of feed into farmer profit. Desired traits and their relative ...
    This service is maintained by Learning, Teaching and Library
    • Archive Policy
    • Copyright and Reuse
    • Deposit Guidelines and FAQ
    • Contact Us
     

     

    Browse

    All of Research@LincolnCommunities & CollectionsTitlesAuthorsKeywordsBy Issue DateThis CollectionTitlesAuthorsKeywordsBy Issue Date

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics
    This service is maintained by Learning, Teaching and Library
    • Archive Policy
    • Copyright and Reuse
    • Deposit Guidelines and FAQ
    • Contact Us