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FERTILITY THE FOCUS The number one breeding objective on Mt Linton is fertility and why the 1,850 commercial cows are calving at an average of 94%. There is a strong emphasis on the Self Replacing Index. Last year there was only a 3% dry rate in 1,000 commercial cows. Cows are mated as yearlings, 14-15 months, and calving starts in October. All of the 850 stud cows are performance recorded with Breedplan and their calves tagged and weighed. There is an elite herd of 275 cows and another 200 make up the top stud heifers which are artificially inseminated with US and Australian genetics. Ronald (Scotty Watt says on of the big successes with the station herd in his eight years as cattle manager has been the genetic gain from using artificial insemination and semen from the Australian sire Booroomooka Theo (T30). Last year there were no calving problems in the 400 rising two-year-olds, which Scotty says is payback from using top genetics in the AI programme. About 70% of the rising one-year heifers and 65% of the mixed aged cows are in the AI programme. The rest of the performance recorded cows are mated to the best AI born bulls on the station. Ceri says it is quite hard for a cow to get into the elite herd but easy to drop out of it. About 250 bulls (100 yearling and 150 rising-two-year-olds) are sold each year. The station has traditionally sold bulls to dairy farmers for a premium above the works price but on this price structure it is very hard to justify the AI programme. Now the emphasis is on supplying big stations with large beef herds with bulls. “We are really at the stage where we need to start pushing for markets in the beef sector”. Large breeders can budget with confidience on a large number of bulls at Mt Linton, whereas with the auction system it could be anything from $5000 - $6000 or more a bull. “We want to supply large numbers as we have lots of bulls with top self-replacing genetics”. Mt Linton stud cattle are not pampered and winter in the harsh environment of the tussock hill country. From calving to weaning they live on the Downs. Commercial cows stay out on the tussock all year round. Stud cows weigh about 600kg and commercial, 550kg. Any cow that does not rear a calf is not retained in the herd. The average weaning weight for 2004 born calves, including heifer calves, was 245kgs and as well as having all the right breeding values, the cattle still need to look good to buyers. “Our philosophy is to have them in their working clothes but also be phenotypically pleasing”. Calving ease is a high priority. They do not use bulls which are above the breed average for birthweight.
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