Liberty Genetics - 15 years of Industry Impact
2013 marks the 15th birthday of Liberty Genetics Ltd and in that time there has been both genetic
and industry impact well beyond the expectations of the founding farmers.
In 1998, there were nine foundation shareholders, farmers that represented successful breeding
herds in both main breeds, plus some larger scale commercial operators, who identified a more cost
effective and efficient model to deliver genetic gain. They had received advice from Dr Dorian
Garrick, then Professor of Genetics at Massey University and a driver in the development of the NZ
Animal Model for the dairy industry, that an elite young sire program would deliver genetic gain as
effectively as proven sires. This also provided an opportunity for bull breeders, to get additional top
young sires proven. Liberty Genetics has continued to successfully balance the interests of the two
sectors of the industry to gain a sustainable growing niche in the market.
The marketing of young sires is now widespread across the global dairy industry, encouraged by the
development of genomics to enhance the estimated genetic merit of the young sires. However, at
this stage it does not appear that genomics has delivered much additional accuracy, over and above
well recorded ancestry data. "At this stage Liberty Genetics does not add value for our clients",
explains Chairman Kevin Buckley.
The original share holders included well known Friesian Breeders; Kevin Buckley (Bucklin), and
Lawrence Satherley (Joyclas) plus Jersey breeders; Mark Townshend, Derek Black, Gary Townshend
and Simon Gibson. The more commercial sector representatives included consultant Wayne
Stachurski, and dairy farmers Grant Billington and John Holwerda. Over time the shareholder base
grew to include other active Holstein members; Raeden Jackson (Valden) , Kevin Clark (Glenmead),
Ian Elliott (Elliotts), John Kennedy (Whinlea), HSS Partnership (Smit/Fullerton/Hall), Stewart
Anderson (as part of EDGE), and Todd Anderson (Tralee). Other corporate farmer shareholders
included several current or ex-Fonterra and DairyNZ directors, ensuring that Liberty Genetics had a
broad base of industry support. All shareholders (34 by mid 2011) had an equal shareholding,
creating a cooperative culture, striving to provide a healthy return to bull breeders, while delivering
excellent value and competitive genetic gain for the customers.
An unintended consequence of this start up was the defensive competitor response to establish
intellectual property protection over sires, and to tighten the participation rules for LIC customers.
This was an unwelcome development for breeders then and is still a significant barrier for
competition in the AB industry. The IP constraint did not prevent Liberty Genetics from delivering
strong sire teams with some outstanding graduation results. Currently 9 Liberty bulls feature on the
RAS list (8% of available places), a high impact while operating between 3-5% market share.
102766 SRB Ngaio Hugo Fluke was the breakthrough Friesian breed leader for Liberty Genetics,
transmitting an excellent balance of dairy strength and style. He was followed by 104658 Bagworth
Kalumburu who delivered robust, top production daughters. More recently 108818 Marchel Fire
Macca OC S2F has grabbed the limelight as a top production sire with superb TOP and management
traits. He is supported by another well proven Firenze son, 109805 Lightburn Fireraze-ET S2F, also
siring attractive udder traits. Several other bulls listed in the table below have made a contribution
as a proven sire.
Initially the proofs for Fluke and Kalumburu were low on daughter numbers, but now the Liberty
bulls graduate with outstanding numbers of production daughters, born and farmed in larger
commercial herds. Proofs with 200+ commercial daughters should ensure that genetic evaluations of
these bulls are stable, and are less vulnerable to a reproof drop that is common in the industry as
bulls move from relatively pure "sire proving proofs" to "widespread" proof.
AB code
Name
Most Popular Liberty sires
102766 SRB NGAIO HUGO FLUKE
104658 BAGWORTH KALUMBURU
108818 MARCHEL FIRE MACCA-OC S2F
109805 LIGHTBURN FIRERAZE-ET S2F
Others marketed as Proven Sires
108809 MAIRE FIRE WILLIAM-ET S2F
108808 WHINLEA FIRE ELOQUENT-ET
107804 VALDEN P TURBO-ET S3F
104659 WEBBLEA JB DAVID S2F
105800 BUCKLIN PIERRES UTU S2F
102766 Ngaio Hugo Fluke
Breedi BW
Herd
Udder
ng
Reliab Protein tested Capacity Overall
Worth ility
BV
dtrs
BV
BV
Dairy
Confor
mation
BV
AB Code
of Sire
128
231
241
229
99
95
94
90
26 23035
40
745
37
504
35
325
0.50
0.47
0.38
-0.07
0.44
-0.09
0.93
0.53
0.68
0.30
0.58
0.19
96329
663962
103505
103505
206
179
170
158
154
87
86
89
94
86
31
30
30
26
19
-0.24
0.11
0.29
0.00
-0.07
0.23
0.45
0.49
0.73
0.74
0.10
0.33
0.40
0.09
0.03
103505
103505
672213
663930
672213
157
148
193
449
114
108818 Marchel Fire Macca OC S2F
Liberty Genetics has contributed substantially to AB industry evolution over the last 10 years,
including the enabling the introduction of commercial sexed semen production, and strong support
for the independent governance and management of NZ Animal Evaluation under DairyNZ
governance. These efforts included strong submissions and support for implementation of the
DIGAD database, which should soon be another industry milestone.
In 2009 Liberty Genetics and Animal Breeding Services collaborated to get funding for a substantial
sexed semen trial which enabled Sexing Technologies to justify setting up a lab in NZ. They
committed for the long term, becoming a shareholder in Animal Breeding Services (2007) Ltd.
Kevin Buckley was a Director from the formation of the company, and has been Chairman since
2002. Originally the business was run by Diane Townshend and Lin Buckley, and the business grew
steadily to sell 30,000 straws by 2002, and topped 80,000 by 2006. In late 2006 David Hayman joined
the business as Managing Director, and rapid growth was supported by the establishment of the AB
technician service StockMates. In 2009 the business recorded sales close to 230,000 straws of which
15% was export sales, generating substantial royalty income to the bull owners. By this stage
graduate bull royalties from CRV Ambreed sales of Liberty proven sires, (including leading light Ngaio
Hugo Fluke) were also making a further significant contribution to breeder income.
Liberty Genetics has had a strong relationship with Ambreed NZ Ltd, since the formation of the
business. At various stages the relationship included production and distribution by Ambreed, and a
joint marketing agreement for marketing the proven sires. This relationship continued to evolve
after CRV purchased Ambreed, and in 2012 it culminated in CRV purchasing Liberty Genetics Ltd.
However, this sale agreement was based on the assurance that the Liberty Genetics business model
would continue to target the same market niche, with on-going farmer representation on the Board
of Directors.
It is clear that Liberty has stimulated competition and cost savings for farmers, while delivering
additional genetic gain from genetic leaders that otherwise may not have been discovered.No doubt
the pace of change in the AB industry will not slow down over the next 10 or 15 years, but it is
certain that breeders with a passion for herd improvement and sire development will continue to
add value and impact in the dairy industry through initiatives like Liberty Genetics Ltd.
Kevin and Lin Buckley, at 10th Liberty Genetics AGM
109805 Lightburn Fireraze-ET S2F