Breed Society News

NEWS Breed Society

SALERS SAFEGUARDED FROM MYOSTATIN TO MAINTAIN THE MATERNAL MAGIC

In 2019 the Salers Cattle Society of the UK took the decision to protect the Salers’ leading maternal traits, especially it’s unrivalled calving ease, by implementing a five-year program to eliminate the various mutations of the myostatin gene. From 1st January 2024, registrations will no longer be accepted into the main herd book of animals with an unknown myostatin status or known carriers of the myostatin gene. To support breeders in the transition period, where it is advantageous to ascertain the myostatin status of their breeding females, the Society has reduced the cost by more than 50% of registrations of U3month females born in 2022. Registrations meeting the same criteria in 2023, will also attract significant discounts. Myostatin has the potential to negatively influence traits such as pelvic size, milk production and fertility. The Society believe this policy is essential to protect the breed and its sought-after maternal traits, enabling suckler farmers to continue to capitalise on the unrivalled calving ease of Salers, whilst having the freedom to select any sire, including strongly muscled terminal sires, that suits their system!

#salers #maternalmagic #suitsanysire #suitsanysystem #theultimatesuckler

Devon Cattle Breeders’ Society

We now appear to be over the worst of the pandemic and the restricting conditions it placed on all our lives and businesses. It is really good news that we are able to attend shows once again. Congratulations to all those that have made the tremendous efforts to hold shows, no mean task, under the circumstances. Also my admiration and gratitude goes out to all those exhibitors who have attended agricultural shows to date. We can be proud in the performance of all the Devon cattle exhibited and have managed to come up trumps at the Devon County, MidDevon and Honiton shows recently. Dira Halcyon EX93 (pictured above) owned by Mr John May was Reserve Inter Breed Champion Devon at the County Show and went on to be Inter Breed Champion at the Honiton Show. Further Devon success was had by the Angela Poad breeder and owner of Exmoor Henrietta 5th who was Reserve Inter breed Champion Yearling and went on to be Reserve Inter Breed Champion in the pairs with Exmoor Curly 3rd at the Mid-Devon Show. Congratulations go to all exhibitors, it is great to see such prime Devon cattle at the top of the beef industry. Lisa Weaver Breed Secretary

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Rebel Kicks gains multiple titles

Hereford bull Moralee 1 Rebel Kicks KS R12, bred and owned by Tom and Di Harrison, Mickley, Northumberland has taken a number of major interbreed championships this summer, despite the limited show circle.

Rebel Kicks’ success began at the Royal Highland Showcase, where it stood native champion, gaining the highest accolade it could under the show’s format where it was heralded the ringside favourite. Next up, the beast travelled south to Devon County where it was awarded the interbreed championship by Somerset judge Colin Hutchings, pipping a Limousin heifer to the top spot. Most recently, Rebel Kicks was tapped out as reserve interbreed champion at the Great Yorkshire Show by Lincolnshirebased George Young. At the same show, this senior bull also made up one half of the interbreed native champion pair alongside class winner Coley 1 Nova 351 from Heather Whittaker, Halifax, West Yorkshire.

Often led by Steven O’Kane, this impressive bull is by Danish-bred SMH King Size 87K, the 2019 UK Hereford sire of the year and out of Romany 1 Dawn D1 M6. Born in April 2018, it also stood poll bull of the year and joint bull of the year in 2019, as announced at the 2019 society annual dinner. That year, it was also selected as junior interbreed champion at the Royal Welsh Show.

Moralee 1 Rebel Kicks KS R12 stood native interbreed champion at the Royal Highland Showcase.

Moralee 1 Rebel Kicks stood reserve interbreed champion at the Great Yorkshire Show. Moralee 1 Rebel Kicks KS R12 was interbreed champion at Devon County Show.

Rebel Kicks wasawarded the reserve interbreed title at the Great Yorkshire Show.

Industry partnership to aid suckler producers

The Beef Shorthorn Cattle Society continues to enjoy growth in terms of membership and cattle on the ground, both pedigree and crossbred, as producers recognise the attributes of the breed often referred to as the Functional Suckler Cow. With that in mind we are delighted to be supporting AHDB in the launch of their new initiative, Maternal Matters.

The Maternal Matters initiative aims to highlight the importance of maternal performance in driving profitability in the suckler herd. It focuses on several key areas of maternal performance including how improved maternal performance reduces cost and using maternal genetics to breed profitable females. The two-year campaign will provide tools and information on replacement heifer breeding and development to optimise female lifetime fertility. As the breed approaches its Bicentenary in 2022 it is good to see that its key attributes are recognised as those which could help sustain the modern day suckler herd.

UK WAGYU PRODUCERS TO BENEFIT FROM IMMINENT INTRODUCTION OF MIJ (MEAT IMAGE JAPAN) CARCASE GRADING TECHNOLOGY

MIJ (Meat Image Japan) camera technology is being introduced to the UK to grade Wagyu carcases for the first time. MIJ is the globally recognised and trusted scientific leader in the objective measurement of beef, with a major focus on Wagyu’s key USP of marbling, with over 30 years of published research and development. Through a partnership with Meat Imaging USA, the Wagyu Breeders Association (WBA) is now ready to introduce this innovative technology to the UK. Developed by MIJ, the MIJ-30 camera takes images from the cut ribeye surface to predict marbling score, marbling fineness, ribeye area, fat colour and meat colour to give an overall BMS (Beef Marbling Standard) grade. Also available as a mobile app downloaded to a smartphone, this device reduces human error by providing an objective view of the carcase. MIJ technology has been extensively used in Japan, USA as well as Australia where it has recently been granted conditional approval by their statutory body Aus-Meat. Other countries which have adopted the MIJ system include South Africa and Germany, the opportunity being to create a global standard for Wagyu beef and an internationally comparable grading system for BMS.

The potential benefit for British Wagyu is huge. WBA Director Philip Maddocks, who runs Wyndford Wagyu in Shropshire, says: “Not only will MIJ camera technology give us a way to differentiate on price as well as quality, but the carcase data we collect will help us improve our genetics as well as our efficiency of production to maximise return. As Wagyu breeders and producers, we can use this tool to change the beef industry as we know it.”

Both smaller producers and major processors can access the technology to bring individual production programmes to another level and unite the Wagyu breed with consistent, objective analysis and a uniform grading system. Adds WBA Company Secretary, Richard Saunders: “We have agreed a pricing and service package with Meat Imaging USA who will act as distributor of the MIJ technology. The process is straightforward for WBA Members who first of all purchase their own Googlephone (a Google Pixel 4 or one of the newer versions - either XL, 4a 4G or 4a 5G). After placing their order, the ‘hardware’ is despatched which includes a carrying case, phone cradle including light source, handle and yellow reference square along with directions for downloading the MIJ Mobile App and the MIJ Carcase Database App. Each user has their own private/unique account to access all the data and images.” “The initial cost, whilst not insignificant, nevertheless benefits from the bulk price negotiated and includes all the hardware, software and up to 25 free images, service and licensing fees as well as training to get Members started. The price for Year Two and beyond is significantly reduced.” Demonstration of MIJ Mobile App in small-scale production MIJ Mobile App being used by a processor

Typical scan analysis report - MIJ camera provides a vast amount of objective carcase data

For further information, please contact WBA Company Secretary Richard Saunders (info@britishwagyu.co.uk) or see www.meatimaging.com which has a number of videos explaining how this innovative technology works in practice. Contact: WBA Co Sec Richard Saunders M: 07901768904 E: info@ brtishwagyu.co.uk

SOUTH DEVON NEWS

The South Devon Herd Book is delighted that the organisers of Agri-Fest South West in conjunction with the NBA South West are welcoming the South Devon Performance Championships to Agri-Fest 2021. The Championships, normally incorporated within the NBA’s Beef Expo, is being held this year at Westpoint, Exeter on Wednesday 3rd November. Classes for pedigree registered bulls and heifers aged between 12 and 30 months of age will be held for members of the South Devon Society whose animals are weight recorded and have published EBVs. They are judged on a combination of performance and inspection points, with the overall championship being decided on inspection only. Caroline Poultney, Breed Secretary, said “Having missed the opportunity to stage this prestigious technical breed event at Beef Expo in 2020 and 2021 we are very pleased to provide a showcase for the breed and for performance recording at AgriFest”. Next year the Performance Championships will return to Beef Expo at Darlington in May. The Society strongly encourages its breeders to record performance by the simple submission of management weights and calving information which are then computed by Breedplan into Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs). The service is free to members and includes the provision of reports and on-line functions.

The South Devon breed is rapidly moving towards including genetics in its performance and pedigree evaluations, working with ABRI in Australia to create customised Single Step analysis which will significantly enhance the accuracy and robustness of published figures. The Society has been using genotyping within the breed since 2008, with all registered bulls being fully DNA tested, and a good percentage of the female population as well. The bank of genetic data will be merged with all the accumulated performance records to make one evaluation tool. The Society’s Autumn Show & Sale will be held at Worcester by McCartneys on Tuesday 5th October, with pedigree bulls and heifers from a wide selection of top breeding herds. Catalogues will be available from McCartneys and SDHBS in the second half of September. There is strong demand for the breed in recognition of its excellent maternal qualities that will enhance the performance and efficiency of any beef producing herd. The welcome increase in the number of native beef schemes being set up by processors and retailers offer choice and competition for cattle finishers; and an attraction for consumers who seek assurance of environmental sustainability and carbon reduction from grass-fed suckler herds. With a high return from the South Devon carcase in both weight and grade the breed is well placed to maximise these opportunities.

Premium beef sector rallies post pandemic

Robert Gilchrist, Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society, breed development manager As we begin to readjust to the world post pandemic, the Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society are delighted to see the return of some of our favourite shows, bringing the industry and our members back together. The Royal Highland and Great Yorkshire show reunited members after a disruptive 18 months. As a Society, it was a pleasure to experience the unrivalled atmosphere that the shows offer once again. The opportunity to compete and socialise was warmly welcomed by our membership, that has also seen a positive growth in recent months. In terms of the wider industry, there has been an encouraging growth in own label meat sales. The pandemic appears to have bolstered demand for high quality cuts of red meat, as consumers have expressed a stronger interest in supporting British. The sector saw a 15% rise in spend, and a 12% growth in sales volume1. These are especially promising figures at a time where there is unprecedented change to agriculture policy and legislation and the structure of support payments going forward. Going forward we hope to see this attitude around red meat remain in the forefront of consumers’ minds when making protein purchasing decisions, particularly following the release of Henry Dimbleby’s recommendations in the National Food Strategy. As a Society, we were pleased to see the report highlighting that British farmer play a central role in the future of the food system. However, we strongly believe in the importance of educating consumers to enable informed decisions to be made around sustainable meat consumption. As a Society of 2,500 members who are actively championing native, sustainable beef, fit for the future, we are concerned that such a broadbrush approach to diet reform, tarring all meat from all sources with the same brush, makes it easy to draw the wrong conclusion.

Overall, it has been a busy few months for the society while the world returns to a sense of normality and the future is looking positive. It’s always exciting when sale season is on the horizon, no less after such an extended hiatus. We can’t wait for all our members to be reunited and see the best of the best on parade. As always, there is no place for complacency, and our drive to maintain our position and continue to grow the breed and brand of Aberdeen-Angus, by investing in new avenues of research and data to keep us growing is front and centre. We look forward to seeing what the remainder of 2021 has to offer.