The Genetics Australia Board of Directors met today to discuss how the Co-operative can help Australia”s dairy farmers through the current challenging time in the industry.
‘With 6 of the 7 Board members being dairy farmers, we know first-hand what our members and fellow farmers are currently going through’, said Genetics Australia”s Chairman Trevor Henry.
“The Board discussed the impact it will have on many farming families and we wanted to our bit to ensure farmers kept a level of investment in breeding programs, both in the short and longer term”
Effective from the 1st of June, Genetics Australia will make available in excess of $500,000 of additional rebates to shareholders. ‘While it may be not the best time financially for the co-operative to be giving money back to shareholders, we feel it is simply the right thing to do. In essence, this is why we as a co-operative exist’, said Trevor. ‘Our business is going to do it tough for the foreseeable future as well, but as a co-operative our responsibility is to our Shareholder members’.
Genetics Australia”s General Manager, Anthony Shelly said he and the rest of the Genetics Australia team were fully supportive of the Board decision.
‘While this is going to cause us some financial pain in the short term, it”s nothing compared to what our shareholders and other dairy farmers in general are going through’. We have a very strong asset base which will allow us to ride this through and it”s only right that we try and help out where we can’, he said.
The rebates come in the form of an extension of the $5.00, 1:1 Progeny Test & Genetic Check rebate until the 31st May 2017 or a $2.50 per straw rebate on Genetics Australia Premium Proven Sires and FutureGen Genomic sires. The rebate does not apply to imported product or progeny test semen.
To be eligible, farmers simply need to be a paid up Genetics Australia shareholder, and commit to purchase 80% of the herd size in semen. The details of the offer will be sent to all dairy farmers in the coming days.
Mr Shelly said by offering additional rebates farmers could still continue to breed their cows to Australia’s top rated bulls and not compromise in their herd improvement investment by using low rated inferior bulls. He said all farmers were encouraged to consult with their usual Genetics Australia breeding advisor who had been instructed to meet the breeding needs on all farms as cost effectively as possible.
If farmers were not a current shareholder farmers are invited to become a Genetics Australia shareholder, Australia”s only artificial breeding co-operative by calling Freecall 1800 039 047.
Mr Henry said he encouraged all dairy farmers to take advantage of this additional rebate offer to reduce the semen expenditure so as to ensure the heifers milking in the future are able to contribute to the bottom line when milk prices are more favourable.
Genetics Australia was established in 1958 and is Australia’s leading supplier of top rated genetics. After the April 2016 ABV release 4 of the top 5 Proven Holstein bulls on BPI as well as 7 of the top 10 young genomic bulls are owned by the Cooperative.
Ends.
Anthony Shelly, General Manager 0408 529 410
Trevor Henry, Board Chairman 0429 451 548
