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Bull selection
Carcase trait emphasis pays off BY: TONY LEGGETT
G
reater emphasis on carcase traits at bull selection time is paying dividends for a large scale central North Island beef finishing
enterprise. Atihau Incorporation has been supplying steers to the Angus Pure programme since its inception seven years ago, and recently began supplying the Alliance Group’s Hand-Picked Beef programme. Chief executive Andrew Beijeman says Atihau slaughters about 2500 steers annually through the two programmes and its own beef brand, Awhi Ruapehu, which is mostly sold on the domestic market in New Zealand. “All our finished cattle go into branded programmes and we’re now getting 80-90%
into the specification where it achieves the premiums on offer,” he says. For the past two years, of the 60 bulls bought by Atihau annually, only highranking Angus Pure Index bulls with estimated breeding values for marbling above the breed average have been bought for use within the Atihau herd. Beijeman says it was fortunate that Atihau had been buying sire bulls for many years from a Canterbury stud that was increasingly focusing on carcase traits, particularly marbling. “I believe that we are still benefitting in terms of carcase performance from all those years of buying bulls from Te Mania Angus stud. Although we were more focused on other traits back then, Te Mania was already lifting its own emphasis on marbling score,” he says. “It doesn’t mean we focus just on
marbling now either. We still need genetics that perform well on our stations, so it has to be a balance of traits.” Supplying two branded beef programmes with high numbers of animals each week requires superb feed and stock management. He credits Atihau’s Ohotu farm manager Dean Francois and other managers for their skills in preparing the stock for each consignment and PGG Wrightson stock agent Simon Luoni for assisting with stock selection and logistics. “With any tightly specified programme, it’s not just a case of selecting on weight. The animals have to be finished to the right level and that’s what requires Dean and Simon’s expertise,” he says. Atihau bought bulls from several studs which have a strong focus on eating quality. They include Te Mania, Storth Oaks, Waitangi and Kakahu studs.
BULLS 4 U 12th ANGUS BULL SALE 30 rising 2-year-old bulls
11a.m. Tuesday, 1st June 2021
Affordabull – Dependabull – Profitabull
To be held at Beaumont, SH8 Inspections welcome from 9.30am
PETERS ANGUS
1910 State Highway 8, Beaumont, RD1, Lawrence 9591, Otago Ph: 03 976 6509 or 0272 258 330 (Justin Wallis) or 0272 224 421 (Clayton Peters)
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www.petersgenetics.co.nz
Country-Wide Beef
May 2021