GERMAN CATTLE BREEDING SCHEME

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32541, 26 February 1971, Page 13

GERMAN CATTLE BREEDING SCHEME

. Several visiting animal scientists have recently commented on breeding methods used in this country and elsewhere in 'the world.

The New Zealand stud cattle breeder is going, to • have to compete with cattle bred under the most sophisticated systems in other countries, and in New Zealand. I wonder where our traditional cattle breeder will end up when he will event-

ually have to compete with systems such as one organised in a typically thorough German fashion by the Fleckvieh (Simmental) people in Germany. They have organised a breeding scheme along the following lines:— From about 300,000 milk recorded cows, the top 400 milk-producing animals are selected subject to having satisfactory beef carcases as determined by inspection. These top 400 cows are mated with top bulls from previous progeny tests to produce around 150 to 200 bull calves eligible for entry into the progeny test. These 150 to 200 bull calves are then culled for conformation, difficult calv- 1 ing and other obvious reasons to leave 100 bull calves which enter a feed test for around 450 days. At the end of the test 50 of the 100 bulls are culled for growth rate. Then the remaining 50 bulls are each test-mated I through artificial insemina- I tion to 200 to ’ 300 cows each. When these 200 to 300 I cows per bull calve, about ’ five of the 50 bulls are culled for calving difficulties. ; This leaves 45 bulls and all ; the daughters of each of these 45 bulls from the test j mating are weighed before > calving at 28 to 29 months of age. The milk production of ; the daughters is then re- : corded for 90 days and a further 30 of the 45 bulls s are culled on this to leave 15 bulls.

Twelve sons of each of* the 15 bulls will have been on a 500-day feed test and these sons give progeny growth rate figures and are slaughtered to give progeny carcase evaluation figures. Here a further five bulls would be culled which leaves 10. These final 10 bulls would be used on artificial insemination, but that is not all as the extent of use of AJ. is limited for eight of them. This leaves two bulls to be used to an unlimited extent on A J.—so from 300,000 cows they eventually get two bulls for unlimited A.I. M use.

The accompanying item has been written by Mr M. J. H. Davison, an agricultural and farm management consultant of Culverden, who recently visited Britain to buy Charolais cattle. Mr Davison also visited Germany where he and Mr R. McDonald, of Cheviot, were shown Simmental cattle. Dr U. Reist. of the German Animal Breeders' Foreign Information Bureau in Munich, outlined to him a breeding scheme used by the German. Simmental people.

This scheme is by no means the only one of its type in the world. The New Zealand Dairy Board has been using schemes like this for some time, and the large-scale animal breeding schemes being organised amongst cattle and sheep farmers .are similar in nature but somewhat less sophisticated. This German Simmental system is one example of what cattle breeders here must eventually compete with. To compete with systems like this the minimum we can do is use all the aids we know of—artificial insemination, weight recording, large scale selection, performance testing, progeny testing, etc. Pity help any breed society which does not actively promote all of these.