About Us
 Deer Improvement is a subsidiary of LIC, a farmer-owned co-operative which is the world’s leading supplier of genetics for seasonal pasture based dairying. The mission of Deer Improvement is to apply the core capabilities of the parent company to improve the profitability of deer farming. Specifically this involves the science of quantitative genetics and reproductive technologies.
Deer Improvement recognises that the potential of the New Zealand deer industry cannot be realised unless objective evaluations are available and the truly elite genes are accessible to commercial farmers. The organisation strongly supports the industry’s across herd database (DEERSelect) which is operated by AgResearch and enables data to be pooled for the benefit of all.
Experience
LIC has existed as a farmer owned co-operative for nearly 100 years. Herd testing of dairy cows was carried out from the early 1900s to provide culling and breeding guidelines for individual herds, but it was the development of across-herd evaluations and AI that have generated the high rate of genetic gain enjoyed by the dairy industry today.
The accumulated experience that enables Livestock Improvement to breed 80% of the nation's dairy cows is available to the deer industry.
Deer Improvement carried out its first inseminations in 2004. This involved conventional frozen semen technology as well as the fresh semen technology which has established the parent company as the world leader in maximising the availability of elite sires. The advantage of this technology is that each semen collection generates literally ten times as many straws without any drop in conception rate performance.
Deer Improvement inseminations are carried out by a team of specially trained AI Technicians selected from Livestock Improvement's team of 1,000 bovine inseminators. These Technicians are all “hand picked” (women with small hands!) who have completed thousands of inseminations in cattle before undertaking training on deer. Most of them have now completed five seasons with Deer Improvement, complementing the autumn work on deer with the spring mating season for cattle.
Scanning of hinds confirms pregnancy rates to AI typically over 70%.
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