First Australian Dairy Shorthorn semen fir 40 years now available

The first new Dairy Shorthorn bloodlines from Australia in four decades are now available from the breed’s UK society.

 

The semen is from the Illawarra bull, Redrama which the Shorthorn Society is calling the ‘Wizard of Oz’.

 

Illawarra cattle are derived from Shorthorn bloodlines and the last importation of a bull from Australia was in the 1960s.

 

Redrama has International Dairy Week champions on both sides of his pedigree. He is sired by LCVigorous whose maternal sister Llandovery Rangers Verbena 2 EC was champion cow at IDW in 2006 and 2007. She gave 10,516 litres at 4% butterfat and 3.3% protein in 305 days.

 

 

His dam is the impressive Andeline crowned reserve champion cow at IDW 07 and champion cow and Brisbane Royal in 2005 and interbreed champion cow at Brisbane in 2006. She gave 9256 litres of milk at 4.5% butterfat and 3.2% protein. His maternal sister was also champion at Brisbane in 2006.

Redrama brings new bloodlines into the UK and gives breeders the opportunity to take advantage of this very dairy type of Shorthorn which has many desirable Shorthorn attributes as well as good milk yields, says Shorthorn society secretary Frank Milnes.

“It is also an ideal cross for black and white breeders looking to improve robustness in their cattle without sacrificing dairyness.”

The semen, from Agri-Gene, in Wangaratta, Victoria, is available through the Shorthorn Society at Stoneleigh Park, Kenilworth, Warwickshire.