Dairy Beef
Category: Podcasts
Podcast: Farmers have a range of beef breeds to consider when it comes to selecting the right genetics for their breeding programme.
Dairy Beef semen is ideal to use across the tail-end of your mating season, or if you want to on-sell calves to the beef industry.
CRV has seen real growth in interest in dairy beef over the last few seasons.
The company offers Dairy Beef sires that have been screened carefully for short gestation and good growth rates. These sires work well in both the dairy and dairy beef industries.
For this podcast, we have brought together breeders of four different beef breeds – Hereford, Angus, Stabilizer and Belgian Blue. We’re going to learn more about their operations and things to consider when choosing the right breed for your farming operation.
Join CRV’s Rosanna Dickson as she chats to the company’s product management specialist Mitchell Koot; Yvonne Lee from Bluestone Hereford; Duncan Elliott from Focus Genetics; and Simon Noppen from the Belgian Blue Group in Belgium.
About The Panel
Mitchell Koot – CRV Product Management Specialist
Mitchell joined CRV after completing a Bachelor of Agricultural Science with 1st class Honours at Lincoln University in 2017. His study focussed on animal science, in particular dairy production science and genetics. He has a passion for improving the profitability of dairy herds through genetic gain.
Yvonne Lee – Bluestone Herefords
Yvonne is the owner and farmer of Bluestone Herefords, which is located in Cannington district of South Canterbury. The stud has been supplying Hereford genetics to CRV since 2014.
The property consists of hill country and rolling down land. It is a family owned and operated farm, with Ben and Yvonne starting the stud in 2007. The next generation of their family has become part of the Bluestone story, with eldest son Hamish having been involved in the farm before taking on a manger’s role locally. The Lee’s daughter Gabby often returns home from Christchurch to help.
Duncan Elliot – Cattle Programme Manager Focus Genetics
Established in 2012, Focus Genetics is NZ’s largest independent red meat genetics company. It is NZ’s largest DNA recorded gene pool with over 700k DNA-recorded animals including sheep, cattle and deer.
Focus Genetics’ primary role is to manage Pāmu Farms’ livestock breeding objectives. It focusses on breeding sustainable cattle herds by targeting traits that drive farm profitability, while remaining conscious of its environmental footprint.
With offices in NZ, Uruguay and the UK, Focus Genetics has a dedicated team of animal breeding geneticists. It is home to breeds, such as Angus (Black and Red), Simmental, and Stabilizer, as well as unique genetics, with approximately 2,800 performance recorded dams in its cattle programme across 6 herds.
Simon Noppen – Export Manager, Belgian Blue Group (BBG)
Simon Noppen is a former breeder of Belgian Blue animals, based in Belgium – a country known for its excellent beers, chocolate and of course its Belgian Blues. Simon was sales rep and later on product manager for the Belgian Blues at CRV in Holland and Belgium. Since January 2018, he has been export manager at BBG, but is also involved in the breeding programme of the animals.
Rosanna Dickson – CRV National Account Manager
Rosanna Dickson was raised on the Awhitu Pennisula and has always been a country girl. She joined the dairy industry in 2013. Before that, she worked in FMCG and spent ten years in radio advertising, surviving the global financial crisis of 2008.
Despite being a qualified Chartered Accountant, Rosanna quickly picked up the intricacies of bull traits and semen collection after joining CRV. Her passion is finding the right solution for NZ dairy farmers. Not just products and services but understanding the key business drivers to ensure farms are profitable, environmentally sustainable and are protecting our “Licence to Farm”.
What is a podcast?
A podcast is a series of digital audio files made available to download through the internet. You can subscribe to your favourite podcast and can listen either online or offline for ease of use. Better yet, they’re free!
Podcasts are mobile friendly, engaging and convenient. Usually they are focused on a particular topic or theme – in this case, herd improvement. You can subscribe to the show with an app, like iTunes or Spotify, on your phone and listen to episodes whenever you like on your headphones, in the car, in the tractor or through speakers.
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