At the end of October each year Ayrshire New Zealand produces the annual Herd Book, publishing details of all animals registered as pedigrees in the preceding 12 month period to 31 August. The Herd Book includes 2 sections, Main and Ayrshire Registry.
To be eligible for entry into the main Herd Book as a registered pedigree an animal must be 16/16 Ayrshire, or in other words a full blooded Ayrshire. For animals of less than 16 parts Ayrshire, the Ayrshire Registry allows registration as follows:
S3A
Animals 15/16 Ayrshire
S2A
Animals 14/16 Ayrshire
S1A
Animals 1/16 - 13/16 Ayrshire
Under the 'fast track' system animals will be registered into the Ayrshire Registry section of the Herd Book up to S3A as long as their full ancestry details are recorded on the LIC database. Subsequent generations will then move up through the registry system until animals become eligible for the main section of the Herd Book. Bulls may only be registered from S3A or full pedigree dams.
e-Registration
Implemented late in 2003, e-Registration is now in use by many members. The completion of one simple form allows members to automatically register animals in a variety of ways.
Turn Your Herd On registers all female animals eligible for registration in the herd.
Age group application will register all eligible females in a specified age range.
Registration Costs are as follows: (Members price incl. GST)
Non Member Registration fees are double.
Females born after 1 June 1995
Heifers up to 1 year of age
$7.35
Heifers up to 1 year (Animal Detail)*
$6.50
Heifers over 1 year of age
$12.50
Heifers over 1 year (Animal Detail)*
$10.50
Females born before 1 June 1995
$5.06
Males
Bulls up to 1 year of age
$56.25
Bulls over 1 year of age
$112.50
* All animals which have been already named using the MINDA Service and Animal Detail form. The name entered must be the full name of the animal, including prefix.
When an animal is sold, the pedigree ownership will automatically be transferred at the same time as the location details via LIC.
Top (Traits Other Than Production) Classification
A system of classification of registered females based upon type and individuality, TOP Classification recognises that progress towards the improvement of the Ayrshire breed should be obtained through animals superior in conformation as well as production.
The implementation of the e-TOP in the 2003 season has seen the use of hand held datamate units in the field greatly enhance the classification system.
Classification is undertaken by the Association in late spring each year. Animals are scored by trained inspectors on a scale of 1 - 9 for 11 different conformation traits along with scores for 'udder overall' and 'dairy conformation'. These scores are then converted into an 'award' as follows:
2 year olds
A,B,C,D,E
Mature Cows
Exc (Excellent), VHC (very highly commended), HC (highly commended) and F (Fair). Cows may only receive an Excellent Award after they have reached five years of age. These cows may be subsequently re-submitted at two year intervals for re-classification to Ex2, Ex3 etc.
Members are encouraged to submit all 2 year old cows (both pedigree and grade), along with any older animals they wish to have re-classified. In particular, the two year old data plays a large role in calculating sire proofs and the information is invaluable in that respect.
Three Generation Pedigrees
Three Generation Pedigrees provide detailed information on both the animal itself and the two preceding generations (both dam and sire). Pedigrees can be obtained from the Ayrshire office on any registered Ayrshire at a cost of $7.30 incl. GST per animal.
Semayr Breeding Services
Semayr Breeding Services is the marketing division of Ayrshire New Zealand and has a number of programmes aimed at increasing the rate of genetic gain within the Ayrshire breed in New Zealand. These include the marketing of proven and unproven New Zealand and overseas semen, a Sire Proving team offering up to 35 young bulls annually and the Ayrshire Open Nucleus Herd.
