A work experience stint with Genetics Australia when he was just 15 planted the seed for Liam Ryan’s dream of one day having a bull in the GA team.
Twenty-five years later, that dream has become a reality with Numeralla A2P2 Illuminator being selected for the GA spring team.
Liam predicts big things for the bull.
“I’m really confident he will go anywhere and do a good job because he’s come out of a big herd that all walk to the back paddock, are good at getting in calf, and have the traits that are important — strength, capacity, feet and udders,” Liam said.
“They’re going to hold up anywhere.”
It has been a long-time coming, but Liam has always had his eye on the prize.
“I remember doing work experience with Genetics Australia at Bacchus Marsh when I was 15,” he said.
“The bulls were huge; the facility was amazing and I saw embryo transfer calves being born. I loved every minute of it.
“Being young and biased, I thought my cows were the best cows and that one day I’d get a bull into the bull team.”
That day has arrived and semen from Numeralla A2P2 Illuminator is now available.
Numeralla A2P2 Illuminator has strong connections to GA’s breeding program as Liam’s farm at Grassmere in south-west Victoria continues to reap the benefits of a 60-year connection with GA and its predecessor, Victorian Artificial Breeding.
“My dad, Basil, got involved with artificial insemination as soon as it was available and has been using Genetics Australia since the early 1960s,” Liam said.
There are several GA bulls in his pedigree, including Caso used in the late 60s and Buta used in the late 80s. He is out of a Delta cow who was in the first group of heifers that Liam genomic tested in 2018. She was the number one heifer in that release and was ranked as high as the number three cow in Australia on BPI. The bull’s pedigree also includes Racer and Roumare.
Liam’s eye for a good cow identified Numeralla A2P2 Illuminator’s family’s potential way back in 1992 when he was just 10 years old.
“At the time, 402 was my favourite cow,” he said.
“In Dad’s breeding book, I’ve written the names of my favourite cows that I wanted to register and 402’s family was the first. She’s the great, great, great, great, great, great-grand-dam of this bull.”
To satisfy his early obsession, his parents got Liam a porcelain model cow to look the same, complete with a 402 freeze-brand painted on it.
The Ryan family has farmed in the Grassmere region since 1942 and Liam has been working the land since 2004, including a conversion of the current home farm in 2007.
In 2013, Liam took over the business, Numeralla Dairy Co, and the following year bought his uncle’s farm so the original farm is back together.
He milks 650 to 700 cows on the main 404-hectare farm, supported by another 200 hectares for young stock and cropping.
Liam has moved from 300-day to 420-day lactations, going away from split calving in February-March and July-August and instead using batch calving that moves back two months each year.
“It gives the cows more days open between calving and joining,” he said.
“It’s better for the cows and increases their opportunity to get in calf. It means the days open between calving and the mating start date for my last cow calved is the same as the early cows on a 300-day lactation.”
The change has meant a significantly better in-calf rate, a much lower replacement rate, more calves for the export market and greater genetic gain.
“Previously in a 10-week joining we’d be looking around an 80 per cent in-calf rate.
“I’ve extended the joining to 14 weeks and am targeting a 95 per cent in-calf rate.
“On sexed semen, we’re getting better conception rates on the extended lactation than we were on conventional semen on a 300-day lactation.”
This year is the first time they are calved together.
“My expectation is that the cows will peak higher because they’re better rested and carrying better condition,” Liam said.
“There will be a trade-off in the last hundred days of the lactation because they will drop off a bit but overall, it will balance pretty well.”
The herd has previously averaged 9500 litres and 670kg/MS in 300-day lactation. Liam is targeting 850kg/MS under the new 420-day system.
The farm was previously a mix of Friesians, Jerseys and crossbreds but is now all Friesian.
Numeralla A2P2 Illuminator cover all bases.
“I’m happy putting him in because I know what cattle he’s going to breed,” Liam said.
“If I put a bull in that looks good on paper but doesn’t perform, people won’t want to use him or any of my bulls again. I’d be happy to use him in my own herd and that’s the big thing.
“We breed for a strong commercial herd with a heap of rib, good feet and legs and they do a heap of production.
“I had these good, big production cows and wanted to know who I should be targeting to breed from and that’s where the genomics came in.”
The herd is in the top two per cent for Balanced Performance (BPI) in the country.
“For a big herd, it’s going quite well.”
Numeralla A2P2 Illuminator has a full brother that Liam is going to keep and use.