Doubts on freeze branding

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32678, 6 August 1971, Page 12

Doubts on freeze branding

Freeze branding has not come up to expectations in dairy herds, and a new system of identification is being recommended by the Awahuri Dairy Research Centre. The question of identification was raised at the annual meeting of the South Island Herd Improvement Association last week, when a delegate asked about results with freeze branding. The association’s general manager (Mr J. R. Unwin) said an expert on this method of branding had been working in the area, but had not obtained a great deal of support. Many dairy farmers seemed to prefer to wait and see how it worked on their neigh* hours' cows. Mr Unwin said freeze branding was not altogether successful. In Eng-

land, the Milk Marketing Board had expressed its doubts, and the same applied in the United States. “It is the variation in quality of the brand that is the trouble; on two cows you can get a completely different result,” he added. Dr K. L. Macmillan, a Dairy Board research officer, said this problem also had' exercised other herdimprovement associations. He said he had consulted the Wool Research Organisation, which had been able to give a lot of useful information on the growth of the-hair in a cow’s coat, and also had suggested ways of overcoming the problem, such as X-rays and the drug, thalium. A different approach, however, had been undertaken at Awahuri. With the use of herringbone and circular sheds, cows, for herd testing purposes, were being fire-branded on the back of the upper-thigh, while for paddock identifi-

cation purposes during the breeding season, a foothigh paint brand was being put on the side of the thigh. “This dual approach may be the best answer to the identification problem,” Dr Macmillan added.