INZB is a seven-year Sustainable Food & Fibre Futures partnership supported by B+LNZ, the New Zealand Meat Board and MPI. File photo / Lucy Davidson
INZB is a seven-year Sustainable Food & Fibre Futures partnership supported by B+LNZ, the New Zealand Meat Board and MPI. File photo / Lucy Davidson
An annual industry survey has found commercial beef farmers and breeders are increasingly seeking tools which provide more information on functional traits, and enable them to better compare genetic traits.
The research is for the Informing New Zealand Beef (INZB) programme, which is funded by Beef + Lamb New Zealand(B+LNZ).
The survey was made up of farmers, beef breeders and rural professionals, including agricultural consultants and facilitators, stock agents and vets.
It tracks awareness, knowledge and use of genetic tools in the New Zealand beef industry over time.
INZB programme manager Gemma Jenkins said the research highlighted the importance of the work already being undertaken, such as the across-breed beef Progeny Test, and the development of a New Zealand-specific genetic evaluation.
“Farmers have told us the new areas they want to focus on are traits such as fertility and Body Condition Score,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins said INZB had a strong focus on education and extension and was delivering resources to support greater understanding and use of EBVs.
“That includes our field days, an online Beef Breeder workshop to discuss maternal productivity and reproduction, Better Beef Breeding workshops for commercial farmers and an online learning module.”
Research respondents also recognised that beef genetics lagged behind dairy and sheep genetics. However, there is a growing awareness of the tools the INZB programme is developing.
There has also been an increase in the use of Artificial Insemination (AI).
Sixty-seven per cent of bull breeders and 17 per cent of commercial farmers reported using AI in 2022, compared to 61 per cent and 10 per cent respectively in 2021.
More about Informing New Zealand Beef
INZB is a seven-year Sustainable Food & Fibre Futures partnership supported by B+LNZ, the New Zealand Meat Board and the Ministry for Primary Industries. It aims to boost the sector’s profits by $460m over the next 25 years.
It is developing a beef genetic evaluation system that includes traits that are important to New Zealand beef farmers, supporting a sustainable beef farming industry.
The programme is also creating easy-to-use tools that enable data to be efficiently collected, managed, analysed and used by farmers to make profitable decisions for their operation.
A new approach to extension design with the goal of increasing farmer engagement across the industry is being developed.
The impact of these extension activities and the programme as a whole will be measured over time with this annual industry survey to ensure the industry benefits from the genetic tools produced as part of the INZB programme.
