Little bull goes a long way

Press, 19 June 1976, Page 1

Little bull goes a long way

By

LANCE EARLY

Wahuka Ngamotu is unlikely to go down as the most famous bull in New Zealand's cattle breeding history—but to the Dairy Board he will be among the best remembered. Ngamotu came to the inevitable end of a cattle beast much sooner than his contemporaries. But to add to the unfortunate tale, his demise was intended.

Instead of being an animal whose services are eagerly sought by cattle breeders, he was probably munched in hundreds of hamburgers on the American market. Animal scientists at the Dairy Board’s Newstead research centre admit they made a “ghastly” mistake over Ngamotu and, to their credit, they are making sure they tell cattle breeders why.

Ngamotu was one of 21 young poll Hereford bulls brought in for performance testing in 1972. Performance testing involves the recording of growth rate—in this case from weaning until 15 months of age. Basically, the bull with the fastest daily weight gain gets the highest ranking.

Ngamotu failed to come up to scratch in the performance test, for his ranking at 15 months of age was a dismal seventeenth. So the fatal decision was made—“off to the works.”

But before his departure, semen was taken from him, and for progeny testing purposes, he became the sire of 18 calves. His semen was used to artificially breed to cows, and his progeny were subjected to the same growth tests as he was. Because Ngamotu had performed rather poorly.

it was presumed that his youngsters would follow the same pattern—the belief being that there was a correlation between performance and progeny ratings.

But alas, this was where nature played a nasty trick on the research men. Ngamotu’s sons were particularly good, or so computer figures revealed. In results of the progeny tests, just come to hand, Ngamotu has risen to second place; his progeny, on adjusted figures, having an average final weight of 378 kg. This was only 3 kg behind one of the world’s top bulls, Oxton Hercules, owned by the British Milk Marketing Board. There is a very clear lesson in the sad story of Ngamotu.

Mr John Murray, a livestock officer with the Dairy

Board. told a cattle breeders’ field day at Burke’s Pass this week: "We made a horrible mistake.”

He went on to .warn that too much should not be read into an animal’s performance test; but that was not to say that performance tests were of no use. He believes that to obtain the most accurate information, an animal should come under test virtually at birth, rather than at weaning, as at present.

And he emphasised that there was no correlation between performance and progeny test ratings. But the story of Ngamotu may not be as sad as it seems.

He has performed his way into history, and brought a lesson home to research men and cattle breeders, largely because of a mistake.