Accolades for local breeders

THE CONTRIBUTION that Taranaki farmers have made to the genetics of New Zealand's dairy herd was celebrated in Hamilton recently.
Morris and Debbie Bourke (Hawera), Vaughan and Helen Jones (Toko), Paul and Heather Horo (Opunake), Tony and Maureen Luckin (Okato), Stan Megaw (Stratford), Phillip and Mary Elliot (formerly of Hawera), Steven E and SA Nicholas Family Trust (Hawera), Murray and Susan French (Hawera) and Rodney John Shepherd (Oakura, formerly of Toko) were among 72 breeders from around New Zealand to be celebrated at Livestock Improvements Corporation's (LIC) base in Newstead, Hamilton.
They were recognised for the contribution the bulls they bred have made to the industry and the economy as members of LIC's elite Premier Sires team of artificial breeding bulls.
Each year LIC purchases around 355 bull calves, eventually selecting 300 to enter its Sire Proving Scheme.
Some four years later, with daughters evaluated in herds across New Zealand, that original number is whittled down to around 15-20 bulls, or 5 percent of the original number selected.
The achievements of the nine Taranaki bred bulls that made it into the 2007 Premier Sires team were celebrated at this year's function.
" Morris and Debbie Bourke's Jersey bull, Bourkes Nimrod, has been a member of Premier Sires since 2005. With a Breeding Worth (BW) of 247/85, Nimrod is 98.4 percent New Zealand bloodlines. He has performed 180,000 inseminations and been named as a potential Premier Sire for 2008. LIC has purchased 18 bulls from the Bourkes since 1998.
" The Jones family has supplied over 40 bulls to LIC since the 1960s. Vaughan and Helen Jones' bull, Hedgelands Safari, has a BW of 256/81 and was the only Jersey Forward Pack bull in 2006 Premier Sires, before returning to the team in 2007. Safari transmits high fat and protein percentages and sires bigger than average Jerseys. He has performed 76,000 domestic inseminations and his semen has been exported to Australia, South Africa, Argentina and Uruguay.
" The Horo's bull, Horos Samurai, has a BW of 256/78 and complements the KiwiCross team well by transmitting good capacity through to his daughters. Samurai has recorded over 85,000 inseminations and his semen has been exported to the USA.
" The Luckin's bull, Leithlea WAS Deeno, has a BW of 243/85 and sires Jersey daughters with taller stature, higher liveweight and wider rump width than most. Udder support, udder overall and dairy conformation BVs are also pleasing for this bull. Based on partial proof, Deeno was issued in New Zealand as a Premier Sire in 2007 and his semen been exported to Australia, South America and the USA.
" Stratford's Stan Megaw's Holstein-Friesian bull, SRC Lombardi Idol, has a BW of 224/82 and all round appeal. He is positive for fertility, improves somatic cell counts and is a calving-ease bull, making him a useful option for heifer matings. Since becoming a Premier Sire in 2007, Idol has been used as a contract-mating sire and notched up more than 55,000 domestic inseminations along with exports to South Africa.
" The Elliot's Jersey bull, Loxlea ACL Oswald ET, has a BW of 221/88 and is 16th on the Australian Profit Ranking (APR). Oswald semen has been exported to South Africa, Australia, USA and South America.
" Steven E and SA Nicholas Family Trust's bull, Nicholas Nikau, has a BW of 240/91 and is one of the highest ranked KiwiCross bulls for protein (at 44kg). Nikau was selected as a Forward Pack sire for the 2007 season and his total inseminations have topped 37,000.
" The French's bull, Ororkes Northerly, has a BW of 207/86 and was named as a reserve for the Premier Sires team in both 2005 and 2006. He got his chance to perform in 2006 and was a team member again in 2007. Northerly is a valuable production bull in the KiwiCross team and manages to maintain daughter fertility while reducing gestation length.
" With a BW of 292/89, Rodney John Shepherd's bull, Shepherds Noontime, is ranked fourth on the Jersey Ranking of Active Sires (RAS) List and 11th on the APR. He has been a member of the Premier Sires team since 2005 and been named a potential Premier Sire again for 2008.
These nine bulls are among the elite 'band' that have made it into the Premier Sires team the team of breeding bulls responsible for siring four out of five dairy cows in New Zealand and contributing around 300 million each year to the economy, or 17 billion dollars over the 55 years since LIC began artificial breeding.
LIC Chairman and dairy farmer, Stuart Bay, said Breeders Day was a very special day on the LIC calendar as it celebrated a unique group of farmers whose expertise, as breeders, deserves commendation.