The cooling of the (dairy cow sales) market has highlighted the capital value advantages of well recorded, high BW (Breeding Worth) cows "“ confirming that BW is the currency of the dairy industry. A cow's BW is one measure of its quality - the higher the BW, the greater the certainty of her productive abilities, fertility and longevity (life in the herd). The Breeding Worth is applied to artificial breeding dairy bulls by NZ Animal Evaluation Ltd, a subsidiary of DairyNZ, with LIC (Livestock Improvement) applying it to dairy cows. Trials, in New Zealand and Ireland, have confirmed the productive ability of cows with high BW but, in the wake of falling sales prices of dairy cows, stock agents are seeing a premium for high BW stock. PGG Wrightson's Genetics Manager (sheep and beef), auctioneer and stock agent, Bruce Orr, says the price of breed dairy cows, as with beef and sheep, has dropped significantly this season, however all high index livestock and particularly high BW dairy cows continue to command top dollar. He says during the dairy boom last season many lesser or poorer quality cows, which would normally have been culled, were being kept by farmers eager to maximize production and capitalise on the higher payout. However, the drastic change in the economy, lower predicted payout and fewer farm conversions is seeing more farmers downsizing herds and reducing stock numbers and selling off surplus, poorer quality stock. However Mr Orr says top producing cows with higher genetic merit are still fetching premium prices. "When the industry's in recession, more emphasis goes onto the quality of stock you're farming - because quality translates to production and profit. So we're seeing farmers, generally, looking more critically at the stock they're farming, with some selling off lesser quality stock. "There is always going to be a high demand for the top 10% of dairy herds and cows and there will always be people willing to pay premium prices for them "“ of course this statement is true of all livestock."
We welcome your comments below. If you are not already registered, please register to comment.
Remember we welcome robust, respectful and insightful debate. We don't welcome abusive or defamatory comments and will de-register those repeatedly making such comments. Our current comment policy is here.