Hi Fellow Animal Enthusiasts!

Queensland dairy farms produce over 411 M litres of milk per year that supplies almost all fresh white milk consumed in the state with a value of over $220 M to the Queensland economy.

In the July webinar we heard from Bill Tranter (Tableland Veterinary Services, Atherton Tablelands) and Vaughn Johnston (SEMEX, National Sales Manager) about fertility issues in Queensland dairy herds and the recent surge in sexed semen use in Australian dairy industries.

Bill Tranter is a dairy consultant in the Atherton Tablelands. Not only is it hot, but it is also HUMID! A pretty challenging environment for a high producing dairy cow with heat stress a common issue. In the past, more milk per cow has been a major focus, but Bill has noted a major decline in reproductive performance in herds within the region over the past 20 years, placing fertility on the top of farmers priority list. So, “what is the fix?” Well, there is no simple fertility ‘fix’ with a number of factors contributing to short and long term cow fertility including calving patterns, heifer management, nutrition, heat detection and artificial insemination practices, and overall cow health and health history. Extension programs and technologies (including rumination/heat detection loggers similar to those discussed in our June webinar) have helped to develop our knowledge and skills in the fertility realm, but more research is needed in far northern dairy systems where the environment is a major challenge.

Vaughn works in the sexed semen industry and has seen a 100% increase in sexed semen use from January to June 2020, due to Sexed Dairy and beef semen strategy. Dairy animals (mostly heifers) are being artificially inseminated with sexed dairy semen for higher genetic gain and to increase female replacements. However, improved genetic gain is not the only thing to come from sexed semen. The use of sexed semen has allowed farms to become more profitable by increasing their dairy herds with high quality animals, sell excess animals for export or to the dairy-beef sector, whilst also improving feed utilisation and combatting welfare issues regarding bobby calves. Vaughn says that future selection of sexed semen bulls will also focus on traits for polled genetics and research and development will also be focused on heat tolerance. This could transform industries like those in QLD where heat stress is a major issue for animal fertility, health and production. However, a major limitation of sexed semen in QLD dairy industries is the local-dairy beef market with extensive beef a major competitor. Further research also needs to be carried out on how to best feed and manage dairy-beef animals to help foster this new market and industry opportunity.

Cheers,

Lucy Watt

AAAS QLD & NT Branch Committee