New Zealand's Dairy Industry Advances with Fertility Research Program

The Resilient Dairy Programme, a collaborative effort led by DairyNZ, LIC, and the Ministry for Primary Industries, has made significant strides in understanding and improving dairy herd fertility in New Zealand. The program emphasizes genetic innovations and genomic advancements as key tools for enhancing herd reproductive performance.

DairyNZ's senior scientist, Dr. Susanne Meier, highlights that fertility impacts the entire farming system, affecting calving patterns, milk production, and overall herd productivity. She notes that New Zealand dairy herds typically calve seasonally, making early conception crucial for maximizing milk yield and efficiency.

The program's research has shown that cows with higher fertility breeding values tend to cycle sooner, conceive more reliably, and maintain productivity longer, contributing to higher lifetime milk production. This research over the past decade has refined fertility measures and explored new indicators such as pregnancy diagnostics and the use of wearable technology.

DairyNZ recently gathered researchers and industry partners to accelerate progress in two priority areas: pregnancy diagnosis and measuring the time from calving to first heat using wearables. These measures, influenced by genetics, are seen as scalable and integrate well into existing farm systems.

Dr. Meier emphasizes DairyNZ's role as a 'trait development accelerator,' bringing together geneticists, sire selection teams, and data custodians early in the process to develop valuable traits faster, reducing risks and avoiding duplication.