New Zealand beef genetics to receive $16.7 million funding

File photo / Lucy Davidson

A new partnership in a $16.7 million beef genetics programme has the potential to boost the sector's profits by $460 million over the next 25 years, Beef + Lamb New Zealand says.

The Ministry for Primary Industries is co-investing with Beef + Lamb NZ in the seven-year partnership through its Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund.

Called Informing New Zealand Beef (INZB), the programme will provide farmers with the genetic selection tools they need to breed animals better suited to New Zealand's farming conditions.

In turn, this will improve sustainability, productivity and profitability, while also speeding up farmers' ability to respond quickly to changing consumer preferences.

The programme's Governance Group Chair Helen Anderson said New Zealand's beef sector currently relied on an Australian genetics platform, which understandably factored in traits relevant to its climate and farming systems.

"INZB will develop a New Zealand-based genetic evaluation, which will ultimately result in more efficient beef animals, which generate less greenhouse gases and are more profitable."

The new evaluation was ground breaking, because bulls of different breeds could be directly compared, Anderson said.

"Currently, each beef breed has its own evaluation, which makes genetic selection unnecessarily complicated for the farmer."

Beef + Lamb NZ Chief Executive Sam McIvor said the programme capitalised on New Zealand's world-leading skills and knowledge in sheep genetics and applied them to the beef industry.

Listen to Jamie Mackay interview MPI director general Ray Smith about the programme on The Country below:

The data showed that New Zealand's beef industry had been lagging behind on genetic progress, McIvor said.

"Not only will this give the industry better genetic tools, but a major focus of the programme is to work with commercial farmers to increase understanding and grow confidence in using genetic information to drive productivity and profitability."

The programme could also be beneficial for New Zealand's dairy farmers, McIvor said.

"With these new production-focused genetic selection tools, dairy farmers will be able to select semen from beef bulls for Artificial Insemination in their herds, more confident that they will have shorter gestation, easy calving and produce more valuable calves."

The programme is being funded 60 per cent by Beef + Lamb New Zealand and 40 per cent by the Ministry for Primary Industries.