23 Nov 2011

Review of best traits in breeding milking cows

1:11 pm on 23 November 2011

Dairy farmers across the country are being asked what traits they prefer in their milking cows.

The industry body DairyNZ has been running a series of events across the country to get farmer feedback on the National Breeding Objective.

The objective helps farmers to breed cows that are the best at turning feed into farmer profit - otherwise known as breeding worth.

The series began last month and finishes in Ashburton on Thursday.

Animal Evaluation Limited manager Dr George Cruickshank says the objective is tweaked every year and gets minor updates, but this is the first time for a long time that it has been reviewed in its entirety.

He says the review will find out whether the objective is breeding the cows farmers want to milk in the future.

Dr Cruickshank says if significant changes need to be made, they will be done by February 2013.