31 May 2010

Livestock Improvement looks beyond the cow

9:17 am on 31 May 2010

The dairy farmer cooperative Livestock Improvement is shifting its focus beyond the dairy cow.

The company, which has concentrated in the past on livestock genetics and artifical breeding, has purchased a 104-hectare Waikato dairy farm in order to look at whole-farm technology development.

Chief executive Mark Dewdney says the farm will be used to speed up the company's product and innovation programmes.

That won't overlap the research being done on other farms run by AgResearch and Dairy NZ in Waikato, he says.

Mr Dewdney says Livestock Improvement is selling its bull-breeding farm in Feilding in order to invest in this dairy farm.