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Beef semen used on dairy cows is a growing worldwide trend. There is no doubt more and more beef will come from the dairy industry in future years. In the USA alone where the use of genomic testing females and sexed semen has increased in recent years the use of beef semen on dairy cows has shown a significant increase. In 2018 sales of beef semen in the US industry has increased by close to 60% on the previous year and a lot of this can be contributed to use on dairy cows. Sufficient dairy replacements are obtained from the use of sexed semen on the higher genomic females and the balance of the herd is mated to a beef breed. We are beginning to see similar tends in Australia,

Farmers are using the beef semen to value add to the surplus calves produced from less productive females in their herds and also as an option for use on heifers.

Genetics Australia understands the importance of individual traits such as short gestation length, calving ease, growth and positive carcase attributes combined with specific breed requirements with the expectation of high-quality semen produced in Australia by Genetics Australia.

This targeted approach has allowed Genetics Australia to invest in sourcing the right bulls to suit individuals Beef on Dairy program. Not all beef breeds produce the same results and not all bulls from a single beef breed will breed in a similar way, so we have sourced one of the most diverse teams of sires available in Australia for Beef On Dairy breeding programs. While more traditional breeds such Angus, Murray Grey, Poll Hereford, Charolais and Simmental it is the trend to Speckle Park that is also on a rapid rise in demand and the distinctive colour markings appeal to many dairy farmers.

Genetics Australia has beef sires available from the following breeds:

• Angus
• Poll Hereford
• Speckle Park
• Murray Grey
• Charolais
• Simmental

For more information on how you can utilise beef sires in your herd please contact your local Genetics Australia representative.

Genomic bulls are providing a cost-effective option for dairy farmers who don”t want to compromise their herd”s genetic gain.

Just ask south west Victorian dairy farmer Eddie Kenna.

More than 10 years ago, Mr Kenna changed his semen purchasing habits and slashed his costs by up to 75 per cent.

Semen from proven sires was replaced by the less expensive and much younger progeny test sires.

This business decision was in response to a tough season, but the tactic has remained a crucial part of cost control and genetic improvement at his 800-cow farm called “Fernlea Park” at The Sisters.

Now he uses genomic semen as part of the Genetics Australia Horizon Genomic Program, purchasing up to 1200 straws, averaging $12 a straw and this move is paying financial dividends.

‘It is a cost saving, but the other advantage is that you are ahead,’ he said. ‘Because, the genomic semen is from relatively young and up-and-coming bulls, years before they are proven. You are sort of gaining that two-to-three-year advantage. If you wait for that bull to become proven, it”s a few years behind.’

Using genomic sires is also less risky than the old progeny test semen, according to Mr Kenna, as the new technology is more accurate at determining a bull”s genetic value at a young age.

‘There probably would have been dud bulls with the progeny test program, but the insurance for that was not using a lot of the same bull,’ he said. ‘That was the early days, before genomics came in, but now the reliability is so much higher with genomics, that is not going to happen now.’

Mr Kenna runs a three-way-cross herd with Genetics Australia”s Horizon Program the base of his breeding program.

The Horizon Program provides random semen from genomically tested sires to selected dairy farmers in a bid to promote and develop new bulls.

Mr Kenna said the program takes the hassle out of selecting quality bulls for joining.

‘In the early days, it was pretty simple a Holstein got a Jersey and jersey got a Holstein, with the second cross being a Red,’ he said. ‘Now all 90 per cent of the herd would have all three breeds in them, it has gotten tricker, but we breed back to the least prominent breed.’

Whole farm benchmarking analysis drives on-farm decision making for Mr Kenna.

‘We determine a good herd by our financials,’ he said. The herd”s production performance, kilograms of milk solids per cow and as a percentage of liveweight. Then we look at fertility analysis. We run production at about 112 per cent of body weight and have a 77 per cent six-week-in calf rate.’

IHG Montana (JSMONTANA) has been one of the more popular genomic young sires from the US in the past few years. Now with his first crop of daughters milking, it”s evident why.

JSMONTANA is a Montross son from the Sully Planet Manitoba family. His dam is an 87-point Uno daughter so it”s not surprising that JSMONTANA excels for health and fitness traits. A member of the Jetstream lineup, JSMONTANA transmits a balanced production profile with a great milk rating complimented by positive fat and protein deviations.

Jetstream Genetics Manager, Roger Turner, cannot speaking more highly of the JSMONTANA daughters he”s seen: ‘The Montana daughters have excellent width and depth throughout. They consistently produce above their contemporary herd mates while exemplifying their youthfulness.’ Roger continues, ‘They have strong udder attachments which combined with their wide frames makes them very balanced and uniform in their conformation. Rumps are correct and consistent while Feet and legs show some variability when it comes to set and bone quality, but the strong heal depth and ideal mobility create very good feet legs overall’.

Leading Edge Genetics Owner Brad Aiken has been a strong supporter of JSMONTANA from the outset: ‘IHG Montana sires the modern type of dairy cow. Plenty of strength, average in stature, super udders with great health traits’.

JSMONTANA is part of the Genetics Australia Premium bull offer, where you can purchase him for $20 a unit. You can blend JSMONTANA into your breeding program with Australian stars like MAEBULL and SUPERDAVE and take your herd to the next level.

‘We used Montana as a highly ranked young genomic bull because of his medium frame, high type and udders to go with a high DPR. We have a high production herd that walks up to 2.5km. Their medium frame, great udders and uniformity stand out.’ – Brett Membrey, Naringal

A HOLSTEIN bull that has had a huge impact on the breed has been recognised with a new award and special resting place.

Bundalong Marks Medallion, which died in June, just shy of its 14th birthday, after siring thousands of daughters, has been named the first Holstein Australia Legend of the Breed.

The popular bull produced more than 500,000 straws of semen in his lifetime. Genetics Australia’s breeding and genetics manager Peter Thurn said few bulls had had the impact of Medallion.

“Its ability to produce a cow that suits Australian conditions was unparalleled,” he said.

“The consistency of its daughters and their magnificent udders cannot be matched.

“Very few bulls have been held in such high regard by the farming community.

“It”s breeding value contains many thousands of daughters and it still ranks amongst the breed’s best for mammary systems and farmer likeability.”

Mr Thurn said many commercial farmers were milking multiple daughters of Medallion and still have more to milk in coming years.

Brian Anderson said the family was proud to breed such a successful bull. “It was never a star as far as breeding values go, but he produced daughters that farmers wanted,” he said.

“It has gone over a big portion of the national population of cows and it had such a long career.

Because (Medallion) lasted till nearly 14, farmers had the opportunity to use it again and again because they got what they wanted.”

“People are still using it today. I know a farmer who bought 200 doses last year and wants to use them over a long period of time on certain cows.”

Born in 2005, Medallion was bought by Genetics Australia is early 2006. “Its indexes were good, but he was never right at the top of the tree,” Mr Anderson said.

“It wasn’t the number one bull but when it first graduated with a proof; it had the best ever ranking for udders with 119.

“People used it at the start because of that but when they milked its daughters, they thought `wow, I need more of these’.”

Ten years after Medallion’s initial proof, it was still 110 for udders, 106 for type, 110 for body depth, 107 for chest width but only 94 for stature, rear udder height 112, rear udder width 110, milking speed 102, temperament 103, likeability 104.

“These are the traits farmers really want,” Mr Anderson said. “That’s what farmers are asking for, shorter animals with plenty of grunt about them. “It had incredible longevity.

When it was nearing 14, it could still match it with the young bulls as far as what farmers really want.” Mr Anderson said he was amazed at the positive response from farmers, often delivered anonymously.

“You hear people talking in general conversation about a bull that’s a cracker and they had no idea we’d bred it. That’s really pleasing; it’s coming from the heart,” he said.

Bundalong Holsteins has had many successful bulls, but Medallion stands out.

“We feel very humbled and gratified to receive the award, especially as it’s the first in Australia and it will only be presented when it’s justified,” Mr Anderson said.

The Andersons have an avenue of honour of cows and Medallion’s ashes will be buried there under a headstone.

ts legacy will also live on in its daughters who continue its features and strong production values that make money for farmers.

“Medallion typifies what we’re still trying to do,” Mr Anderson said.

“We’re trying to breed what you’d call the best bull, not necessarily the highest bull on the indexes.

Only a certain number of traits are calculated into the breeding value; you have to take into the account the traits that aren’t in that but still have value.”

Holstein Australia chief executive officer Graeme Gillan said the Legends of the Breed award was introduced to recognise bulls that had made major contributions to the industry across generations. Mr Gillan said Holstein Australia’s breed development committee wanted to acknowledge bulls that had made a tremendous contribution to the breed.

“Medallion was a bull that fit the picture,” he said.

“The award wasn’t necessarily about whether it was ranked number one, it reflected the feedback of farmers milking his daughters.

“All the feedback we’ve had through our members and the general industry was so positive that we felt this bull has had the most user satisfaction as we’ve seen for a long, long time in Australia.”

he award will not be given annually award will only be allocated when there is an appropriate winner.

To listen to an interview with Brian Anderson regarding MEDALLION’s Legacy, click here.

Source – The Australian Dairy Farmer/ Stock & Land

GENETICS Australia has both the best Holstein and Jersey bulls proven in Australia.

It is the first time in a number of years the Bacchus Marsh genetics company has topped the Australian Breeding Values charts for both Holstein and Jersey bulls at the same time.

Genetics Australia”s Holstein bull Calister Maebull topped the Australian-proven Holstein rankings with a Balanced Performance Index of 323.

It displaced World Wide Sires” bull Coastal-View Mookie, which topped the ABVs in April.

Genetics Australia”s Jersey bull All Lynns Valentino Irwin took top spot of the Australian proven sires, displacing Sunset Canyon David, which dominated the Jersey charts for a number of ABV runs.

DataGene”s group leader of genetics and delivery Michelle Axford said Sunset Canyon David was excluded from the ABV list because it had died and its semen was no longer available.

The future for Genetics Australia looks promising in Jersey ranks, with the young genomic bull rankings for the breed placing Douggan top of the list, with a BPI of 276.

Genetics Australia chief executive Anthony Shelly was pleased the genetics co-­operative had the top bulls in the August rankings.

‘It”s the dream of any genetics company to have the top proven bulls for the top two breeds,’ Mr Shelly said.

‘No doubt it will assist not just the co-operative but the farmer members who use those bulls.’

Maebull has a 96 per cent reliability for production. Mr Shelly said the August ABVs also ranked the bull in the top 1 per cent for the breed for key indices such as health, type and mastitis resistance.

‘The BPI rankings are well regarded by the industry and farmers,’ he said.

‘Farmers want to use the best available genetics, so they will continue to use more of Maebull”s semen in the years ahead.’

ABS bull Boghill Glamour Persuade topped the young ­genomic Holstein bulls list with a BPI of 404.

The highest ranked Australian genomic Holstein bulls were Superdave and Endgame, owned by Genetics Australia, with BPIs of 376 and 375, respectively.

In the Australian and international proven bulls ranks, Cookiecutter Harper took top spot with a BPI of 376.

Harper is owned by ABS. It was followed on the list by De Su 12128 Tailor, with a BPI of 356 and IGH Verify with 349.

In the Australian red breeds list, Viking Genetics” bull Vikrtokyo topped the rankings with a BPI of 300.

Ms Axford said it used to be common for Australian farmers to have a minimum ­threshold BPI of 200, but there were now 263 Holstein bulls with BPIs of more than 300.

She said local farmers should use the Australian proven list for guidance when selecting bulls.

‘The Australian-proven list is the gold plated version list in terms of reliability,’ she said.

‘It has the genomic information as well as the information from cows milking in Australia.’

Ms Axford encouraged farmers to use the Good Bulls Guide and phone app to help them make their choice.

Article courtesy of The Weekly Times – 21/08/2019

AUSTRALIAN dairy products are not the only Australian dairy export experiencing strong demand in China.

A recent dairy trade delegation of Australian organisations to the 2019 China Dairy Expo in Tianjin found opportunities to increase the number of live cattle exports as well as expanding bovine semen exports and a push for joint research.

Genetics Australia export manager Rob Derksen has attended the past five Dairy Expos in China, as part of Australia’s National Pavilion arranged by Austrade, and said the 2019 Expo was by far the most promising.

This year a “Team Australia” approach was taken with representatives from key breeding and industry organisations DataGene, Holstein Australia, Jersey Australia and Genetics Australia.

Australia has been a minor exporter of genetics to China where the market is dominated by North American and, to a lesser extent, European exporters.

“It has been frustrating for GA that while the Chinese are very happy with the performance of Australian heifers, they have not had an opportunity to access top Australian genetics while US genetic suppliers have had significant growth,” Mr Derksen said.

“If China is to achieve the aggressive targets of its milk industry development plan,Australian genetics also need to be imported.”

In January 2018, GA appointed an exclusive China distributor and access to Australian genetics became a reality.

Exports of bovine semen have increased from zero in 2013-14 to more than 140,000 straws in 2017-18 and, based on present orders, the figure looks set increase.

GA’s distributor is based in Tianjin so it was an ideal opportunity to promote the strengths of the Australian industry to visitors to the Expo.

More than 200 buyers attended a Sino-Australia Breeding Platform Forum where Australian organisations presented on a range of issues.

The seminar was repeated around major dairy provinces in China.

“There is a real appetite to know the strengths of the Australian cow and get access to Australia’s top proven and genomic dairy bulls,” Mr Derksen said.

“They see Australia as having a progressive and advanced breeding industry and the fact GA is a cooperative established more than 60 years ago is a real plus.”

But he said it had been challenging to show Chinese buyers an alternative to the US Holstein Total Performance Index.

“US genetic companies have done an excellent job promoting TPI for many years, but we are beginning to get real traction with the Australian Balanced Performance Index as it includes many traits of real interest to Chinese farmers,” he said.

DataGene’s Peter Williams presented on heat tolerance and feed efficiency and said he was surprised by the strong interest.

“The world class research done in Australia, particularly on heat tolerance and feed efficiency, is of real interest in China,” he said.

“I was surprised how well they fed their cows but a great deal of their feed is imported adding increased costs, so they need an efficient and moderate size dairy cow.”

A third of China’s dairy industry is in central to southern provinces where heat and humidity have an impact.

“We received many questions on the research in Australia and interest in the heat tolerance ABV,” Mr Williams said.

“These traits will not only help dairy farming in Australia but also in countries such as China where heat stress can have a negative impact on milk production and fertility.”

RELATED READING:Jersey breed has options in Chinese market

Mr Derksen said Chinese leaders were keen to collaborate with Australian researchers to benefit both Chinese and Australian farmers.

“Australia’s dairy industry has world class scientists and facilities to conduct research and if we cooperate on research and development initiatives and attract offshore research funding, I can see benefits to make both industries more productive while continuing to build a strong relationship with our largest trading partner,” he said.

The trend to drinking yoghurt and high-quality dairy products has made many of the large Chinese dairy enterprises take more notice of the quality and type of milk needed.

“This adds opportunities for breeds such as Jersey and Australian Reds, breeds well established in Australia,” Mr Derksen said.

There is a real appetite to know the strengths of the Australian cow and get access to Australia’s top proven and genomic dairy bulls.- ROB DERKSEN

Australian heifers are held in high regard and the opportunity to produce quality heifers for export to China is strong.

The delegation visited a number of regions where expansion was underway and Australian heifers were wanted.

“There appears to be recognition that to get quality heifers from Australia the price paid will need to increase,” Mr Derksen added.

Mr Derksen advised farmers who previously supplied export heifers or have been toying with the idea to consider using sexed semen from the highest rated Australian bulls.

“There is a great opportunity to take advantage of growth and interest in Australian genetics and there has never been a better time to produce surplus heifers; this demand will be here for a few years yet,” he said.

Genetics Australia chairman and Tinamba, Vic, dairyfarmer Trevor Henry was also part of the trade delegation and said opportunities to sell more Australian heifers had never been better.

“China will demand better quality heifers but the tools available to farmers today such as sexed semen and genomic testing will allow us to get more replacements from our best cows and also create quality surplus export heifers,” he said.

“I encourage all dairyfarmers not to miss the boat and to seize the current opportunity.”

Article Courtsey of The Stock Journal – 15/08/2019

The legendary Australian Holstein Sire MEDALLION – Bundalong Marks Medallion VG86, passed away last week just short of his 14th birthday.

Very few bulls have been held in such high regard by the farming community as MEDALLION. Bred by Brian and Bill Anderson of Bundalong Holstein”s, Kongwak, Victoria, this son of another breed Legend, INFORMER was born in July 2005. His breeding value contains many thousands of daughters and he still ranks amongst the breed”s best for Mammary Systems and Farmer Likeability. MEDALLION entered service just before the commencement of the genomic era but was featured in the first group of bulls anywhere in the world to be marketed based on their genomic breeding values. The recent Leading Edge Genetics Newsletter paid tribute to MEDALLION by saying, ‘Many sires around the world have been dubbed a “great bull”.

The recently retired Holstein sire Medallion from Genetics Australia is one such bull. His ability to produce a cow that suits Australian conditions is unparalleled’. Brian Anderson, MEDALLION”s breeder said, ‘I feel a sense of pride when I hear unsolicited comments from other farmers about MEDALLION daughters or I read positive comments about them on social media’. Genetics Australia”s Breeding and Genetics Manager, Peter Thurn said ‘few bulls since JUDGE have had the impact that MEDALLION has. The consistency of his daughters and their magnificent udders cannot be matched. If I had to choose one bull to exemplify our breeding program and goal, it would be MEDALLION’.

MEDALLION was hugely popular amongst the Genetic Australia staff and will be sorely missed.

To find the full article, clickhere