Abstract

There is a dearth of useful performance data on exported New Zealand-bred animals. Expectations vary as to what is required of these animals and breed comparison trials involving them in foreign environments are rare. Care must be taken to avoid the 'bigger is better' syndrome in judging the performance of exports. New Zealand genotypes adapt to foreign temperate environments and perform according to level of management. New Zealand dairy cattle, pigs and poultry can perform well in tropical environments if managed intensively. Crossbreeding between imported and local, adapted genotypes of cattle and sheep would seem to be the best way to use New Zealand germplasm in tropical countries. The use of Zebu semen on New Zealand cows to produce tropically adapted crossbreds for export is proving successful but such cattle are unlikely to outproduce exotic x local crossbreds. There is a need for information to enable better choice of breeds for crossbreeding and the development of breeding plans to enable importing countries to make best use of exotic genes.

G, Schwarz

Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production, Volume 43, , 151-154, 1983