A contract mating is where a specific cow is mated with semen from a specific bull under contract between a genetics company and the cow owner.
For CRV Ambreed and LIC the process starts early in the year, with databases scoured and cows looked at onfarm. Although both companies use state-of-the-art software to sift through database information to find top cows, onfarm inspections are also important.
“Farmers know their cows better than us and when we’re talking to farmers we’re asking what cows they believe are the best,” CRV Ambreed’s breeding team manager, Aaron Parker, said.
“Sometimes we’re on a farm looking at a particular cow and the farmer will say I’ve got something far better than this one and will show us a cow that really stands out.”
LIC bull acquisition manager Simon Worth said even if a cow shone on paper, if the farmer didn’t like her they wouldn’t use her for a contract mating.
“We don’t rely just on breeding values. We want to see what the cow looks like and talk to the farmer about what she is like to milk,” Worth said.
“We’re interested to hear about milking speed and temperament and, if we can, we also like to look at other family members in the herd.”
Worth said talking to farmers about their cows often started further relationships with the company.
“When they find out they have something special in their herd, especially if they didn’t realise it before, then it can really ignite an interest in breeding. It just grows from there.”
For LIC, further juggling of which cows are to be contract mated is done in April and May, including looking at new herd test information and updates from Dairy NZ’s Animal Evaluation.
In late May, letters are sent to farmers confirming the contract mating and the next step for LIC is to allocate sires to the thousands of cows in the programme.
“We review each individual’s pedigree, consider her conformation scores and then find a specific bull for her.
“In July we send the contracts to the farmers. We make it clear they need to ensure they’re happy with the mating to that bull and it’s then they sign.
“We do a lot of tweaking of what bulls are going to what cows at this stage and we’re happy to do that. We do a lot of talking to farmers on the phone.”
Meanwhile CRV Ambreed is doing the same.
“We use bulls that have daughters with the best breeding values and they may be our bulls or LIC bulls or bulls from overseas,” Parker said.
Both companies also use bulls that are too young to have daughters being milked. Their genomic profile is used instead.
“We’re forecasting to see where the dairy industry is heading and what bulls will be needed in five to 10 years to meet dairy farmer’s needs,” Parker said.
“We talk to farmers and use their input to select the best sires for their cows that will have the best chance of creating a super bull.”
Matings are then loaded into computer systems and frozen semen allocated to technicians or onfarm liquid nitrogen banks. Technicians can do contract matings for other companies.
They have a list of contract matings and LIC technicians are also alerted that a cow is to be contract mated when the cow’s number is entered into the Datamate on the day.
Both companies allocate two straws for each mating, one for in case the cow returns. If farmers wish, a third straw can be allocated. In LIC’s case, straws not used are returned to LIC.
The mating is recorded as usual and then it’s a nervous wait.
“We’re looking to see, as mating details come in, whether the cow has held to the contract sire. Even if it doesn’t, we may still add the new bull if we’re interested in it,” Worth said.
As well, other mating records are searched for “interesting” inseminations that might produce bulls LIC is looking for. If they result in a bull calf being born they are treated the same as a contract.
Once farmers begin to record calvings, the work begins again for both companies with tissue samples collected from the bull calves checked for parentage and genomics.
In the past, heifer calves from LIC contract matings have also been genotyped and the information fed into the database for everyone to use because the animals might one day themselves be contract mated.
If a calf is found not to have the predicted parentage the contract for the mating becomes null and void.
With the figures crunched, a shortlist of 270 calves is found and onfarm inspections from mid-November whittle the list down to 250.
CRV have about 1600 bull calves offered to them and it genomically tests 750 of them to find 150 elite bulls, which go to their Waikato Bellevue farm in January.
For LIC, North Island bull calves are trucked to LIC’s Newstead property before Christmas and in the South Island the calves make the journey in early January.
Parker said some of the farming families they work with have been breeding cows for more than a hundred years and their knowledge of the breeding is immense.
“Their father did it before them and even the grandfather. Some of the breeders brought top cows into the country in boats between the two world wars.”
He worries that as herds become larger and more farms are owned by corporates there is not the desire to breed elite cows.
“We go to some large farms to look at cows and they’re too busy to spend time with us. They have no interest, which is a huge challenge,” Parker said.
“It’s not only a pool of genetics that we’re missing out on, this could impact on the wider industry with less seed stock available to produce New Zealand’s best bulls.”
Besides looking for elite cows, the companies also want cows to produce sires for specific teams such as short-gestation, easy-calving Friesian, facial eczema tolerance and polled.
“We’re also looking for diversity and bringing in new cow families to keep our genetic base as wide as we can, which is really important otherwise farmers start to have inbreeding problems onfarm,” Worth said.
Both companies look at the threat of future inbreeding that might happen through use of a bull over the future population.
Both Parker and Worth said they didn’t use sexed semen for contract matings.
“We could do it if we wanted to but we’re just as keen to see heifers on the ground as bull calves. Those heifer calves could be the future dams of bulls so they’re important too,” Worth said.
“We get just as excited about heifer calves as bull calves from contract matings as we’ll be back to look at them for future contracts,” Parker said.
What should I do if I want my cows to be contract mated?
CRV Ambreed is keen to talk to farmers who believe they have elite cows in their herd that could be used for contract mating. “Just give us a ring,” Parker said.
With LIC, farmers can’t offer cows for contract mating – LIC will get in touch with farmers instead.
To give cows the best opportunity to be part of a programme both companies advise that farmers should:
• Keep good records. Genetics companies look at not only individual cows but also their ancestry back several generations. Recording mating and calving details correctly will assist with this.
• Herd test at least three times a year to give cows accurate production records.
• Feed stock well, especially young stock, so they reach their full genetic potential.
• If possible artificially breed yearlings – genetically they should be the elite animals in the herd.
• Take an interest in breeding.
What do I get out of it?
Both companies pay for the contract mating semen but not the insemination.
LIC retains ownership of unused straws but CRV leaves theirs onfarm for farmers to use.
LIC:
For the past several years, if the resulting calf is a heifer, it will have its parentage and genotype information added to the national database free of charge. That won’t happen this spring because of the industry downturn but LIC wants to return to doing it in the near future.
If the resulting calf is a bull but is no longer of interest, the farmer will be told by mid-November and paid a $300 rearing fee. The farmer can then keep the bull or sell it.
If the bull is successful farmers have two options – either a $4000 outright purchase payment and an additional $7000 should the bull make any marketing team or $1000 outright purchase payment and $0.50 for every straw sold.
If the bull calf is the result of an embryo transfer an extra $1000 is paid on top of either option.
CRV:
Bull selection is done as early as possible following calving and unwanted bulls can be reared onfarm or sold.
For bulls selected to go to Bellevue, farmers are offered either an outright purchase payment of $4500 plus $2000 should the bull make an Insire Team and $5000 as a proven graduate, or $1500 outright purchase payment and an uncapped royalty of $0.50 for every straw sold.
