Calving is in full swing for most of our AngusPRO members now, and with the use of products such as HD50k by Zoetis, we can learn so much about this next generation from a single DNA sample.
It’s certainly a busy time, with Waitangi and Totaranui kicking off the yearling sales on September 13th. The catalogues will be in your mailboxes any day but please make sure you contact individual studs directly if you’d like a catalogue from a stud you’re not on the regular database with.
Farm profitability is determined by multiple factors. In a beef breeding business, factors such as survival and growth of calves through to sale weight are considered among the major influences.
Critical to these two areas is cow weaning rate (CWR) which is defined as number of calves weaned per cow joined annually.
The term “curve bender” has been loosely used in the industry for some time to explain the effect of selecting for increased growth while maintaining birth weight in breeding decisions.
The term refers to bucking the trend or the expected result when selecting just on growth, which given the correlation between growth traits would simply lead to heavier cattle from birth through to maturity.
With the use of genomics becoming an increasingly important part of cattle breeding, the fourth installment of Angus ESSENTIALS is your insight into genomics, that is the technologies that analyse an animals’ DNA and inform us about an animal’s genetics.
The Angus SaleSELECT tool enables Angus breeders to search and sort the registered Angus animals that are currently available for sale and identify those animals that are most aligned with their breeding goals and objectives. AngusPRO members have their sales listed with Angus Australia.
Is it possible to select cows for body condition? This is a question that has been posed over many years as cattle breeders and researchers have explored measures of condition as well as ways to identify and select cows that offer an advantage in breeding systems.
There are numerous factors which need to be considered when selecting a bull to mate over heifers.
In many cases, the primary aim is to produce a live calf which is born unassisted, with other economic traits (e.g. growth) of secondary importance.
Two EBVs published in the TransTasman Angus Cattle Evaluation that are often not well understood are the EBVs relating to structural soundness, being Claw Set and Foot Angle EBVs.
This series of articles provides a comprehensive overview of these EBVs.
The Stock Agent’s Toolkit has been designed for stock agents across Australia and New Zealand as a clear, simple, and effective place to learn to interpret and understand the evolving amount of information available when considering purchasing registered Angus bulls.
The 2022 Winter Angus Bulletin by Angus Australia is now available to view online. Although this publication is specific to Australia, there are a number of relevant and interesting articles for the New Zealand Angus cattle producer.
