Jersey Australia welcomes changes to Australia’s dairy breeding indices
Changes to Australia’s dairy breeding indices provide a more level playing field, Jersey Australia general manager Glen Barrett says.
JERSEY cattle have stood out in the refashioned approach to Australia’s dairy breeding indices, an industry advocate says.
Data Gene this week released a new-look Balanced Performance Index system, which Jersey Australia hopes will be the first step towards greater recognition of different breed objectives.
Jersey Australia general manager Glen Barrett said the BPI from the 2020 National Breeding Objective included an update by DataGene that represents the first time the BPI has different inputs that reflect different breed objectives.
“Jersey Australia congratulates DataGene and the industry for recognising and responding to our calls to adjust the National Index to reflect breed differences,” Mr Barrett said.
“This small change is a critical first step towards greater recognition of different breed objectives to the national index.”
Mr Barrett said breeders would see vastly different BPI figures with top bulls up to 382 BPI points and cows as well as heifers topping 435 BPI points.
However, Mr Barrett added that Jersey BPI figures should not be compared to Holsteins. “These figures are in no way comparable to Holstein,” he said.
“The higher Holstein BPI numbers do not mean they are more profitable than Jerseys.
“Jerseys are mid-size, heat-tolerant, feed-efficient, fertile cows that are the most profitable for farmers and best for environmental sustainability.”
The top Jersey herd was White Star Jerseys, owned by Con and Michelle Glennen at Noorat in Victoria, with a BPI of 170.
Second herd was Rob and Sandra Bacon’s Brookbora Jerseys at Tennison in northern Victoria, with a BPI of 168 and third was the McGrath Family’s Wootanga Park Jerseys at Orford in southwest Victoria with a BPI of 164.
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