Industry-good organisation Beef and Lamb New Zealand is holding a series of meetings this month to get levy-payers' support, before a referendum it will hold next month on its proposal to combine its genetic research and development services into one entity.
It wants to combine Sheep Improvement Limited (SIL), its Central Progeny Test (CPT) and Ovita into Beef and Lamb New Zealand Genetics, with support from the Government.
It promises to make an additional investment in beef genetics to support systems used by New Zealand bull breeders.
Beef and Lamb Genetics manager Mark Young said it wanted to set the direction for its breeding industry for the next 20 years. There were several key considerations behind its proposal and the meetings were to ''begin the debate'' of ''where we should be going'', Dr Young said.
One challenge already identified by farmers was that competition for land was pushing sheep and beef finishing into harder country, so there was a need to look at breeding objectives and to determine which genetics suited which environments, he said.
''Some traits which we have been selecting for, for beef and lamb improvement, are near their optimum now - like fatness of meat.''
There were other beneficial traits which could be brought into breeding programmes, such as animal longevity, eating qualities and storage life, which would increase profitability, he said.
And there was potential to exploit the new opportunities the rapidly changing DNA technology offered.
Another outcome sought by Beef and Lamb was to make it easier for farmers to use the genetic information produced.
''We need to put a stronger focus on farm profit. Instead of profit per animal, we need to look at profit per hectare.''
Dr Young said Beef and Lamb wanted to build on its collaboration with breed societies, many of which had genetics programmes which had identified which environments their stock best suited.
It wanted to ''characterise that'' and ''detail the specifications'' rather have them attributed only to a ''brand'', he said.
The new entity would ''exploit existing data'' and look at what new traits needed to be identified, Dr Young said.
Breeders spoken to by Courier Country were positive about the change. Angus NZ president and North Island Angus breeder Tim Brittain said he was encouraged by what Beef and Lamb was doing and Angus NZ would ''work with them''.
ANGUS breeders had been successfully selecting genetics to get the best production from different environments since the early 1990s, when they became involved in BreedPlan, he said.
Breedplan - an Australian-based genetic evaluation system - is used almost universally by New Zealand beef bull breeders. Breeders strived to give their commercial customers what they wanted and they, in turn, wanted to give consumers what they sought, he said.
Beef and Lamb appeared to be showing more of an interest in prime beef production than it had in the past and this was long overdue, Mr Brittain said.
South Canterbury Southdown breeder Chris Medlicott said it was a positive move but he hoped there would be more to the programme than merely collecting and standardising data.
The information had to be easily understood, so it could be applied appropriately and to the benefit of the commercial customers - whose needs could vary considerably, he said.
Proven high growth rates in sheep in one environment might only result in average growth in another, he saidFarmers had to have the skills to interpret the science and results could not necessarily be duplicated across flocks, he said.
''Sometimes, you just have to be a stockman and stand back and see what suits you,'' Mr Medlicott said. Ram breeders often had the experience, outside of science, to know what best suited their customers, whose trust they had earned, Mr Medlicott said.
North Otago Perendale breeder David Ruddenklau, who is the former National Perendale Progeny trial chairman, said Beef and Lamb's move made a ''whole lot of sense''.
''I can only see good coming from it.''
New Zealand farmers could pride themselves on being world leaders in the production of beef and lamb, achieved through genetic development, he said.
Beef and Lamb's CPT's science was world-leading and farmers had access to the world's best animal scientists in Ovita, Mr Ruddenklau said.
The three entities already collaborated, so it made sense to combine to reduce overheads, he said.
As a Perendale breeder he could see ''some really exciting things'' resulting from the CPT trials in the next five years.
The hill country trials were already under way. There are three South Island meetings to discuss the proposal.
The first was in Fairlie on Monday, and further meetings are being held today, in Gore, and on October 29, in North Canterbury.
BEEF AND LAMB GENETICS
Beef and Lamb Genetics will be an industry partnership between Beef and Lamb and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) with contributions from AgResearch (which will play a major role), AbacusBio and some universities. It will combine:
1. Central Progeny Test (CPT) - which collects genetic data from using rams from different flocks over the same ewes on the same farm. The different progeny then are compared under the same management and environment.
2. Sheep Improvement Ltd (SIL) - which ranks a breeder's rams, ewes and progeny as to the highest genetic merit across a range of traits.
3. Ovita - which is a partnership between Beef and Lamb, AgResearch and the Government, researches and develops sheep genetic selection tools, using DNA-based technology.
The Beef and Lamb levy-payer vote is required because combining these programmes into one entity creates a ''significant transaction'' under the Companies Act.
THE NUMBERS
• Beef and Lamb Genetics will be funded by Beef and Lamb farmer levies, industry investors and Government matched funding through MBIE.
• Beef and Lamb plans to maintain its level of investment in genetics, which is $2.9 million annually, through SIL, CPT and Ovita.
• It expects to receive third party investment of about $1.5 million and Government funding to boost that investment to $8.8 million annually.
• The potential five-year investment of $44 million is predicted to generate $742 million of additional genetic value to farmers.
• Funding is subject to approval by MBIE and support from farmers voting in the levy-payer referendum.