Genetic tests isolate best young bulls | Rural

The team of bulls that sires most of New Zealand's dairy cows achieved a milestone with the inclusion of yearlings for the first time since 'Premier Sires' was launched 60 years ago.

Peter Gatley, general manager genetics for LIC,says "Genetic merit improves with every generation, so the youngest animals carry the best genes but until now the problem has been that progeny testing took four years to measure their performance. Now DNA analysis, or genomics, identifies the cream of the crop within a few weeks of birth.

"The youngsters can produce semen at 12 months, so that's just in time for the spring mating season. We use the semen fresh rather than frozen in liquid nitrogen so we get 10 times the number of straws and that means every farmer can use the best bulls."