Enteric methane emissions (generated from cows belching) and urinary nitrogen excretion from cattle are two of the major contributors to the environmental impact of agriculture in Australia. Unfortunately, it’s extremely difficult to measure actual emissions and excretions from cattle in pasture-based systems.
To quantify the expected emissions and excretions of LIC’s artificial breeding bulls we developed the HoofPrint® index.
The 10-point ranking system enables dairy farmers to select bulls based on their predicted ability to generate offspring with a lower environmental impact. The higher the score, the more environmentally efficient they are.
The index ranks animals on their lifetime urinary nitrogen and enteric methane per kg of milksolids production.
It uses an individual animal’s genetic data (production, reproduction and survival traits) and calculations from the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Inventory.
The HoofPrint® index ranking system
The ranking system is from 1 to 10. 1 is the lowest ranking (highest environmental impact per kg product) and 10 is the highest (lowest environmental impact per kg product).
To ensure only the very best bulls can achieve a 10 point rating, only 2% of bulls in this elite reference population are awarded a 10 point rating at a time. The distribution is symmetrical so 50% of the bulls will be ranked 6-10 points and 50% 1-5 points.
See the latest catalogue to rank LIC Australia bulls on the HoofPrint® index.
Talk to your district manager for more information.
