Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s Better Beef Breeding workshops are helping equip commercial beef breeders with the tools to make more informed bull buying decisions.
The hands-on workshops, which are being held on farms around the country, are designed to help farmers better understand and interpret the information presented in bull catalogues and learn which structural traits are important when selecting a bull.
This will help ensure that bulls purchased are the most suitable for an individual farmer’s specific objectives and that the bull’s genetics will add value to their farm system.
The steps covered in the workshop include setting breeding objectives, selecting a bull breeder that matches those objectives and using genetic and structural information to assess sale bulls.
Seven of these workshops, which are part of the education and extension tranche of the Informing New Zealand Beef programme, have been held over the past couple of months with more scheduled for August. There will also be an on-line workshop held in late August for those that cannot attend in person.
Feedback from farmers who have attended a Better Beef Breeding workshop shows that they found the setting of business objectives to be particularly valuable and encouraged them to really think about their priorities before selecting a bull.
Other commented that they gained a greater understanding of the value of Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) and what valuable questions they could be asking bull breeders.
Keep an eye on the events section of the B+LNZ website for more information about the Better Beef Breeding workshops.