Angus NSW hosted a seminar 20th May at the Urban Retreat Bistro in Young. It was attended by a mix of stud and seedstock producers from Young, Gundagai, Tumut, Camden, Rylstone, Mudgee, Bemboka, Forbes, Moss Vale, Sutton Forest, Murringo, and Dunedoo.
The seminar ‘Selecting the next Generation of profitable cattle’ was conducted by Mr Dick Whale. Dick started his career as Manager of the Research Herd at the Department of Agriculture at Trangie which ran 400 cows. In 1985 Dick won the National Judging Competition which gave him a scholarship to attend the University of Illinois where he studied Meat Science. He joined the ICM Feedlot as Livestock Manager where he stayed for 11 years, handling and assessing up to 27,000 annually. In 1987 Dick joined Elders as the Value Based Marketing Manager until in 2004 when he started his own business as a Genetics Consultant.
Dick spoke to the High Line and Low Line research conducted on the Angus herd at Trangie for 30 years. He noted that the Low Line were generally less efficient at utilising feed. Size depends on environment and market aimed at, but medium sized animals (frame 6 bulls) were flagged as a guide. In Dick’s opinion the most important attribute to address was longevity. There was a lively discussion around this as there is no EBV. Structure especially feet, good scrotal size, tight pizzles on bulls, moderate milk and culling females who do not produce a calf every year on time; were all flagged as key to this. The evening was enjoyed by all.
Jo-anne Southorn
Secretary
Angus NSW
Feature Image: Dick Whale seminar
