Hi
Welcome to the fourth edition of the Wingman NOTAM.
We’re in the middle of October and it still doesn’t really feel like Spring does it?! It’s been a decidedly average start to what’s meant to be our peak growing window – cold, overcast, high water/low sugar grass and continually windy. Fingers crossed Mother Nature delivers up something better between now and the end of December!
With the first few SPS herds now starting to herd test, it’s always a time of the year that I enjoy – watching to see how the 22-code crop of bulls are performing. Bear in mind, though, that the TOP scores for the daughters of these bulls will still be feeding into a bull’s ‘proof’ and will move as more daughters go through the TOP process.
22-Code Friesian Commentary
The 21-code Friesians disappointed me all last year, and it’s safe to say this trend has continued with the 22-code graduates. The average Udder Overall BV of the Top 10 22-code bulls is 0.24. Hardly worth talking about, and certainly not worth taking the risk on. That cohort is held together by 122702 Parfect from WWS with an Udder Overall BV of 1.6. The next best 22-code is 122056 Sage from LIC at 0.63. Those bulls have an average of 555kg with a range from +3kg to +122kg. To sum up the Friesians – LWT has increased by 20kg compared to breed average, fertility has improved slightly from 0.1 to 0.17 and there has been no improvement made in udders (0.24 compared to breed average of 0.25).
22-Code Crossbreed Commentary
It pains me to say, but the XB 22-code graduates aren’t faring much better. The best 22-code XB bull on Udder Overall BV at the moment is 522036 Beastie with 0.65, currently holding down the #12 spot on the RAS List. Maybe last season’s graduates were just flukes with their Udder BV’s – it’s not looking like anything will approach 521060 Neptune’s 0.91 or 521072 Spectacular’s 1.06 Udder Overall BV’s this season. Liveweight average for those 22-code bulls is hovering around 505kg, with some nice gains to fertility (3% average for the 22 code bulls vs. 2.1% breed average). The RAS List for XB continues to be dominated by the 20-code and 21-code bulls on a BW basis however, with those two cohorts holding 12 spots out of the top 20.
22-Code Jersey Commentary
The breed everyone loves to hate on! It’s where our own sharemilking journey began, and it’s a breed I believe is still vitally important to the NZ dairy industry. Ironically, it’s the Jerseys who have the best Udder Overall BV of the 22-code graduates with an average of 0.45. Everyone’s favourite Jersey bull of the last two seasons – 320029 Berkly – has now proven himself as a potential sire of sons with his son 322002 Generation sitting at #2 on the RAS List for Jerseys at 478BW and 0.67 Udder Overall (Berkly himself currently sitting at #5). There is still the assortment of substandard udders in the top 20, but at least we have some choice now with 5 out of the top 10 bulls having an Udder Overall BV greater than 0.50 (with 321951 Castro not far behind at 0.49).
Indifference and Gratitude: A look at this season’s RAS list and our year at Wingman
If I was to sum up the current state of the RAS List in a single word, it would be ‘indifferent’. Off the back of the stellar XB bulls from last season, and the Friesian and Jersey breeds knowing they needed to up their game and deliver better bulls, I genuinely expected (and hoped) for better. There’s nothing in either the Friesian or XB breeds that gets me fizzed up, while I’m watching the Jerseys with bated breath after being disappointed for longer than I care to admit. There’s always a chance of a late bolter in any of the breeds, but a bull who has had 30 daughters TOP scored isn’t likely to suddenly jump up to an Udder BV of 0.60 between now and December when the last of his daughters finish being scored.
We’ve now completed our second mating with farmers as their Wingman, and when I look back at the last 12 months, there’s been some massive milestones for us. Our collaboration with ‘The OAD Farmer’ (Andrew Macky) in February was a huge shot in the arm for us as we kicked off the run into this season’s matings. It seemed like every second person we talked to had watched that video (even the school bus driver who picks our daughters up had seen it!). Thank you for giving us that opportunity, Andrew. We also managed to double the numbers of herds we were involved with, and went past 50k individual cows via the WOF product as well. People-wise, there have been some very cool additions to the Wingman crew this season – 4 drystock farmers to help buy herds for their conversions next season, and our very first Wingman International farmer – Chris, Sue and Georgia White from Agricola dos Kiwis in Chile! Welcome aboard everyone.
Whilst the last paragraph might seem a bit self-congratulatory, it’s only been possible to write about those things because of YOUR support. The last 12 months have far exceeded expectations and I remember looking at the number of herds who had granted us MINDA access this time last year and thinking “I hope it gets better than this!” Thank you for all your referrals, and conversations at the pub, over the fence, and in the smoko room where you’ve mentioned our name. I think we’re incredibly lucky to have the calibre of farmers we do as a part of our business.
All the very best for mating,
