The National Limousin Sale
Interlim, the genetic marketing division of the Limousin association, organized a national sale called “Grand Cru 2010.” Only 18 lots were on offer, but the sale was successful with animals going to England, Ireland, Italy, Denmark, Netherlands and France for an average of approximately €5600 with a heifer topping at €14,100.
Exposing Canadian Genetics
Our visit was very well publicized throughout the week. I was asked to do one television interview for the 6 o’clock news, one radio interview for an agricultural show and two newspaper interviews. The questions were very similar from one venue to the next, mostly wondering what we were doing there. I talked about evaluating their genetics and see where it fits under our conditions and always emphasized how adaptable, early maturity and sound our cattle were along with being polled for the most part.
Our Canadian purebreds would never be recognized there, but Fullbloods do stand a chance. They are intrigued by polled cattle and if the right one with a pedigree that went back to French import came along, it would be a marketable product.
The Genetic Report by Wayne Burgess
Interlim, the genetic marketing division of the Limousin Association.
Our travel through France brought about many eye opening thoughts and pictures both in favor of the French way and brought strength to the Canadian way.
Having never been to Continental Europe I had no knowledge of the world that I was about to enter, but I will say that it was a fabulous experience, and one that I am extremely happy that I was able to go. The people that we got to meet were fantastic hosts in particular Olivier Rambert from France Limousin Selection and Denis Reynaud from Sersia France. They kept us very informed and were very in tune with their surroundings also. The President from Argentina was also part of our group and kept us very entertained and we learned lots of his country also.
One of the biggest impressions was to see the power of the breed in the country. Where we were Limousin was the word and nothing but. It is particularly interesting to see how regionalized the breeds are throughout the country. It seems that there is defining areas for each breed and NO crossbreeding takes place. In my opinion this is one area that sets Canada apart here, as we have demanded so much more from our cattle and they have so much more early performance than was evidenced in France; albeit, the calf growth is quite similar to here with good weaning ratios. The next thing that was of particular interest to me is that the carcasses are processed quite differently with different cuts than we have, utilizing all of the muscles in ways unfamiliar to us (some good, some ok) and that nearly all the beef consumed locally is that of cows. Farmers get paid well for their culls and therefore are always culling very strictly and keeping their herds fresh and productive. The branded label offers great marketing for them and keeps premiums on their cattle. Elite cows are recognized for their productivity and are used in the production of herd sires. Almost every herd sire comes from a great mom (at least according to the numbers), this adds consistency and integrity to the pedigrees.
My main goal was to analyze the cattle there, to seek the possibility of bringing some new genetics to Canada and to promote and suggest some of our Canadian genetics to them. The cow herds that we saw in France (4) were very impressive for the most part, although they did not represent what we would see later at their National show. The herds were very practical type cows – bigger than ours but functional good cows. Keep in mind that they do not calve until three years of age so they do get a lot more of a head start. The female progeny testing site was extremely interesting as they put these sires through their program before they are released. Here the heifers are calved at 24 – 26 months of age the first time then, several are held over to see how big they can get them, stay correct, then enter them in the butcher contest at the show (carcass competition). These heifers that calve early looked great and were just about to start calving.
Limousin Voice Magazine Fall 2010 • Page 22