Category Archives: Education

Weekly genetics review: Avoiding common mistakes at this year’s bull sales

Although developing a breeding objective and selecting bulls that suit that objective has been a focus of industry advice for many years, there still appears to be a large gap between those who know what their objective is, and those who don’t.

Many people see breeding objectives as an academic exercise and are often reluctant to define their objective as a result. However, in not being clear in their objectives, they expose themselves more to mistakes that can have costly and long-term implications for their program.

AI program success starts eight weeks before insemination

As August begins, the spring bull-selling season is gathering momentum. Most breeding decisions will continue to involve new bulls and natural mating, but artificial insemination remains an established tool in many seedstock and some commercial programs.

Artificial insemination represents an investment not only in semen, but also in synchronisation treatments, labour and technical services. Choosing the genetics is therefore only one part of achieving a worthwhile result.

The C word we shouldn’t avoid

There’s an expression that all cattle breeders, both seedstock and commercial, should consider.

That is: “Great cattle don’t show up once. They show up every generation.” However, there is a caveat, in that this can only happen when producers are consistent across both their management and selection decisions.

Structural defects – what we can’t always pick up, by eyeball assessment

As the bull selling season progresses, physical appearance will form an important part of many producers’ selection decisions.

However the assessment of each bull will have started well before sale day. From weaning onwards, seedstock breeders make decisions about which bulls to retain, develop and ultimately offer for sale based partly on their physical appearance and structural soundness.

Managing mature cow size

Mature cow weight is a consistent theme of discussion among seedstock and commercial beef producers.

Several recent Beef Central genetics columns have looked at implications associated with mature size, ranging from concerns associated with increased feed demands and fertility implications through to impacts on profitability. The emphasis from these articles is that larger cows require more feed and infrastructure, and they may not yield proportional gains in productivity.

Unlocking Genetic Potential for Feed Efficiency and Reproductive Success

It’s important to note that the Mature Body Condition EBV provided by Angus Australia is genomically enhanced and has a very strong reference population, bolstered by the Angus Sire Benchmarking Program. Within the Angus Australia database, there are over 68,800 animals that have a phenotypic score for body condition. The greater the reference population, the greater the accuracy.

Building Blocks of IMF

IMF gives beef its flavour, taste, tenderness and juiciness, and processors are rewarding farmers who deliver it in their cattle because the more there is, the more beef the consumer demands.

The process of achieving IMF begins at conception, and there are a number of opportunities throughout the year when the farmer can get things right or wrong.