The annual competition, awarded by Holstein Friesian New Zealand last month, recognises elite progeny teams made up of four junior dairy cows, or five senior dairy cows from the same herd and sired by the same bull.
Breeders select and enter teams of daughters from their herd, to be scored on traits such as udder overall, production worth (PW) and protein BV, with their TOP (Traits other than production) inspections also taken into account.
Of the teams recognised in the 2019 competition, Mint Edition sired the top three progeny teams in the senior category of the competition (daughters over 2.5 years old) and Beamer sired the top three junior progeny teams (daughters under 2.5 years old).
LIC Livestock Selection Manager Simon Worth says this competition is about recognising the elite daughters, but the somewhat coincidental achievement of the father and son sire duo is also worth celebrating.
“This is the first time a father and son duo have sired all six winning teams in the competition’s history, and that’s a pleasing result for LIC.
“It’s further recognition these bulls not only tick the high BW box, but also deliver daughters with high conformation traits, which is a good reflection of the balanced approach LIC takes in its breeding programme.”
Mint Edition has a long legacy in the industry and is a member of the LIC Hall of Fame, he was the 53rd inductee in 2015. The Tatuanui farm-bred bull completed 800,000 inseminations in his lifetime, siring over 100,000 daughters across the national dairy herd. He has a current BW of 125.
Beamer is still a member of the Premier Sires team and currently fifth on the DairyNZ RAS list with a BW of 185. He has 31,000 milking daughters across 4212 herds throughout the country, with many more to come.
Mint Edition pictured above.
