Angus Sire Benchmarking Program – Spring Update
It’s a busy time of year for the Angus Sire Benchmarking Program (ASBP)
Nick Butcher and I have been back and forward to Queensland several times for the processing of the Cohort 12 steer progeny as they finish their time in Rangers Valley Feedlot. The carcasses are MSA graded, and we collect meat samples to take back to the lab for IMF testing to provide direct measurement and phenotypes to inform the carcass intramuscular fat EBV (IMF%). To date the steers are performing very well which is a credit to the feeders and the genetics. The average MSA index has been 66.60 which has been a good indication of how the steers are going. It places the average ASBP steers well within the top 10% of Australia’s graded carcases. Some highlights include several steers grading into the thousands for MSA marble with a notable mention to a steer from the Charles Sturt University cooperator herd who had an MSA marble score of 1050, Ausmeat Marbling score of 8 and 25.9% IMF in the lab. The last of Cohort 12 will be processed during September and October. We expect the data will be analysed in the November TACE analysis and once complete an updated progeny performance report for Cohort 12 will be published.
Cohort 13 are in a backgrounding phase at their respective cooperator herd locations. Some 400-day weights and ultrasound scans are just starting to role in. The steer progeny will head to UNE’s Tullimba Research Feedlot in the coming months for methane testing, net feed intake testing, structural assessment and several other overlay research projects such as a camera and sensor assessment for structure and locomotion. The heifer progeny will be naturally mated and structurally assessed in the Spring. Some additional trails with wearable technology are also being undertaken with the CSIRO heifers at Chiswick Research Station to look at feed intake in the paddock.
Cohort 14 calves have been hitting the ground in the cooperator herds, with our attention now turning to the Cohort 15 fixed time AI programs. Preparations are currently underway. This year we will again see cooperator herds located in a range of different environments with herds located in Victoria, NSW Riverina, the Monaro, Central West NSW, the Hunter, the NSW North Coast and the New England Tablelands.
Lastly, the newly formed ASBP Consultative Committee visited Rangers Valley Feedlot in June and were privileged to view some of the finished ASBP progeny and treated to a Rangers Valley Angus Sirloin. More to business, the Consultative Committee has been meeting and discussing a shortlist for Cohort 15 sires, as well as a range of other research initiatives happening within Angus Australia and our collaborators. Announcement of the Cohort 15 sires will be made available once the shortlist is finalised.
If you have any ASBP or research related questions, please contact liam.mowbray@angusaustralia.com.au.
Dr Liam A. Mowbray – Research & Development Specialist
