LIC, the New Zealand farmer owned co-operative, is gearing up to breed bulls in Ireland. With a high proportion of LIC-bred cows represented in the top 2,000 EBI cow list, the co-op is currently looking to work closely with other Irish organisations.

Along with launching its Premier Club last September, the co-op plans to establish an Irish bull breeding programme in 2018 – a step that will see LIC’s investment in the Irish dairy industry rise in 2018.

The move to establish a breeding programme in Ireland follows the interest and the positive response received by the Premier Club; 500 Irish farmers have already enrolled.

Membership of the club is free, the co-op says, and it provides Irish farmers with access to the “best genetics available from New Zealand”.

In addition, it means that LIC can be part of the story to improve the national herd by providing quality genetics from New Zealand and, ultimately, breeding “great bulls”.

However, the co-op stressed that its important to note that not all LIC customers are required to join the club. LIC is conscious that many customers will have different breeding goals and, as a result, new and existing LIC customers can continue to access the ‘LIC Classic’ straws without signing up to the Premier Club.

Commenting on the success of the launch of the Premier Club, Europe sales operation manager Timothy Bunnett said: “We have worked closely with the Irish Industry to ensure that, at the end of the day, what we are offering are elite bulls to Irish farmers.

We’re delighted with the response to the Premier Club to date. The feedback we’ve been receiving reaffirms our belief that creating the Premier Club in order to give access to LIC’s best straws was the right decision.

Continuing, LIC’s European general manager Mark Ryder said: “We’re delighted with our developments and improvements in the Irish market.

“LIC’s unique Sire Proving Scheme in New Zealand ensures that we offer Irish farmers quality genetics from Holstein Friesian, Jersey and KiwiCross bulls, which benefits their bottom line and the Irish dairy industry as a whole.

“We look forward to continuing this investment in 2018 with more exciting plans in the pipeline,” he said.