| 73 nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Steve Ireland The Jersey breed has to break down significant perceptions around its suitability for dairy beef, says South Canterbury dairy farmer Steve Ireland. “Few Jersey beef cross calves are sold to rearers. However, Jersey beef is noted for excellent meat eating quality, and its fine texture, great fat marble and taste gives superior eating quality. Our Silver Fern Farms (SFF) Eating Quality grading of our Jersey cross Angus cattle back up popular opinions in this area.” Steve and his wife Nina milk 450 predominantly fully registered Jersey cows on their 149 hectare fully irrigated coastal property. Twenty percent of the herd is Kiwi-cross. From an early age, Steve developed a passion for dairy farming, with a particular interest in genetics and genetic gain. The Irelands have developed a high BW herd, breeding high genetic bull calves for AI companies. Embryology is used to speed up genetic gain. “The dairy beef industry is a very efficient option in being able to reduce bobby calves and provide sustainable beef in New Zealand. But it’s unrealistic to completely replace the bobby calf market in my opinion. Late born calves have few alternatives and loading up land with unwanted calves isn’t a sustainable option in terms of efficient use of land and environmental and ethical reasons.” Steve and Nina have used several beef breeds over their Jersey herd including Angus, Waygu, Belgium blue and Charolais, while Fleckvieh have been Richard Loader used over the Kiwi cross cows as a three way cross alternative. Fleckviech is a dual purpose German milking Simental. “The Angus cross proved to be a great option and our Angus cross steers averaged 532 kilograms at twenty-five months. Sixty-five percent of cattle graded made SFF Eating Quality standard, compared to an average of thirty-one percent. So we received good premium payments. The waygu wasn’t as successful with longer gestation lengths and some calving difficulties and they varied quite a lot in size and growth. They can sometimes take a lot longer to finish from our experience.” For the last three years Steve and Nina have tried Belgium blue over the herd, While they found the blues to be quite big calves, Steve says there haven’t been calving difficulties, and the calves are very attractive and easy to rear.“We recently sold a line of twenty-one month Belgium blue cross steers at the local Temuka sale. The steers averaged 455 kilograms empty and sold for an average price of $1455.”Steve and Nina’s Charolais cross calves are only rising one year olds but Steve says they are growing well and have great temperament. “We have now formed the opinion that most beef breeds put over Jersey and crossbreed cows will produce very good dairy beef cattle when reared and fed well. The Jersey breed has established itself internationally as a very efficient and sustainable breed for feed conversion and very environmentally friendly with a low carbon footprint compared to other dairy breeds particularly for pastural farming systems. Jersey dairy beef can be a great option for sustainable meat production in New Zealand.” 251 Rise Road, RD 26, Temuka, 7986, New Zealand TEL. FAX. 03 615 0120 03 615 0123 www.pyegroup.co.nz KEN CAIRD MANAGER CELL. 027 268 4299 EMAIL. ken@pyegroup.co.nz Baling Chopping Mowing Feeds Sales Beet Harvesting Cultivation Drilling Cartage | | | | | | | Steve with Jersey bulls. Jersey x Charolais calf with dam (below). Breaking down significant perceptions Ph: 03 684 8410 www.plunket-electrical.co.nz 24/7 service in South Canterbury & North Otago EcoSmart Plunket Electrical for all domestic, farm, dairy shed & irrigation work Member Electrical Contractors Association of NZ MASTER ELECTRICIANS 68 Stafford st, Timaru Ph 03 688 4802 Proudly Supporting Steve Ireland Your 1 stop Motorcycle Shop 4x4÷3 When you buy a Suzuki KingQuad, you’re getting more than 40 years of proven 4x4 performance and reliability. And right now you can divide the cost into 3 payments over 24 months at an interest rate of only 5.99%*. Talk to your participating Suzuki dealer today or visit Suzuki.co.nz IN12MONTHS IN24MONTHS DEPOSIT 1/3 1/3 1/3 + +
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