WA ANGUS NEWS JUNE 2020
INSIDE THIS ISSUE An Update from Liz Sudlow, the new WA Angus Chairwoman - The Farm Weekly Heifer Competition - Life Membership for John Young - Angus Youth News - Bull Sale Stats - Gaining the Feedlot Premium - The Coronavirus
WA ANGUS COMMITTEE Chairwoman Liz Sudlow 0427 362 025 Vice Chairman Mark Muir 0427 691 001 Treasurer Ken MacLeay 0438 926 363 Garry Cain 08 9757 4553
Kerry Cain 08 9757 4553
Bruce Campbell 08 9525 2361
Craig Davis 0428 366 052
S. Gibbs-Hooper 0409 025 099
Tony Golding 08 9725 4334
Andrew Kuss 0428 761 240
Alf Lorkiewicz 0427 424 455
Ken MacLeay 0438 926 363
Jim McGregor 08 9831 0401
Pam McGregor 08 9831 0401
Richard Metcalfe 08 9846 8001
Mark Muir 0427 691 001
Noel Stoney 0447 453 242
Robyn Stoney 0447 453 242
Henry Strating 0416 026 851
Liz Sudlow 0427 362 025
Tony Sudlow 0428 362 032
Harris Thompson 08 9767 1355
David Topham 08 9651 8015
Lindsay Wolrige 08 9755 1123
John Young 08 9884 5253
Secretary
Society Head Office
08 6263 3100
02 6772 3011
Angus Australia Director Andrew Kuss
The WA Angus News... The Newsletter is a project of the WA Angus Committee sent to Society members in WA, Federal Councillors and senior staff of the society, people we know of in WA who have bought Angus cattle, stock agents & press - just over 1100 each issue! The mailing list is continually revised and updated, so you may be receiving the WA Angus News for the first time. If you are on the mailing list and you would rather not be or if we don’t have your correct address, please advise the Newsletter & Mailing List Coordinator on the contact details below -
CONTENTS Chairwoman’s Update
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Farm Weekly Heifer Comp
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Angus ONLINE
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Lew Smit Retires
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John Young Life Membership
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Angus Youth News
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Gaining the Feedlot Premium
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WA Bull Sale Statistics
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Coordinators Note Hi Everyone, Welcome to the June 2020 edition of the WA Angus News. I hope this edition finds everyone well and you haven't been too badly impacted by the coronavirus. Thankyou to everyone for their contributions and advertising support - without this the WA Angus News would not exist. Hopefully I haven't left anyone out or missed any stories and my apologies if I have. On a personal note I would like to thank everyone for their kind words on being awarded the Strathtay trophy. It was a complete surprise and an absolute honour. Enjoy the read everyone!
Shezanne
Shezanne Gibbs-Hooper Phone - 08 9242 8894 or 0409 025 099 Email - waangusnews@yahoo.com.au Post - PO Box 94, Wembley, WA 6913
The WA Angus News is printed by A-Team Printing 81 Acton Avenue, Rivervale, WA, 6103 Ph: 08 9478 3188 WA ANGUS NEWS June 2020
*Liz Sudlow, my son Paul, me and Mark Hattingh with the Strathtay trophy. 3
CHAIRWOMAN’S UPDATE Welcome to the June 2020 WA Angus News. Who would have predicted back in January, when our Committee had its AGM, that a global pandemic was about to impact how we interact as a society or the drastic measures that Government would need to take to protect our health and our economy? I think both federal and state governments, have done incredibly well to protect Australians. Key to this has been requiring people coming from overseas to be contained in hotels. Australians have responded over and above what may have been anticipated, and as a result, healthwise, we’ve escaped largely unphased. The challenge will be the economic recovery, but the early signs seem quite positive. For those who weren’t in attendance, there were some major newsworthy items at our January AGM which I would like to summarise here. •
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Firstly, on behalf of the committee, I would like to thank Mark Hattingh for his chairmanship over the last two years. This was a busy period which culminated in the very successful centenary celebration in September last year. Sincere and warm congratulations to John Young for being awarded Life Membership to Angus Australia at the meeting. Federal President Brad Gilmour was in attendance to make the presentation and we managed to organise John’s wife Lesley to attend the meeting, through some sneaky collaboration. John’s contribution to the Angus industry both in WA and federally has been highly significant, over his life. I worked with John on the centenary committee and I was in awe of the enthusiasm he possessed and the way he rallied us all along! At the AGM, we received a resignation letter from Mr Lew Smit AO, who indicated it was time to step back from his contribution to the WA state committee. On behalf of the present committee and past Chairmen and committees, I wish to extend a warm thank you to Lew for his outstanding years of service, too numerous for anyone to precisely recall! Elsewhere in this publication, you will find a copy of the letter that was sent to him. Sincere congratulations to Shezanne Gibbs-Hooper who was awarded the Strathtay Trophy for 2019. This annual award is selected by the Chairman, so in this case Mark, and announced at the AGM. Shezanne, who has had the responsibility of putting the WA Angus News together for many years, decided two years ago, it was time for a bit of a newsletter facelift – and I’m sure you’ll agree our ‘new-look’ magazine is a huge step-up. However, not content with that, together with Pam McGregor, Shezanne decided a special Centenary Publication documenting the history of Angus and Angus businesses in WA would be in order. This was distributed at the Centenary Day and is a wonderful historical record. We are incredibly lucky to have Shezanne work so hard for our committee.
We held another very successful heifer competition this year. Thank you to the 36 studs and businesses who contributed to the advertising campaign in the Farm Weekly during the lead-up and main bull selling period. Special thanks to the Neville family: Steve, Irene, Megan and Leigh, from Old Bambun Grazing who supplied this year’s quality heifers and to AFGRI and Farm Weekly for the opportunity to collaborate. Congratulations to Dale Gowland from Midland who won the heifers and AFGRI mower, and to Peter Hill from Laverton who won the other ride-on mower. The 2020 bull selling season is difficult to summarise, with some mixed results. Uncertain times including fires, the drought breaking in the Eastern states, continued dry conditions in parts of WA and then the beginning of covid, had an impact on clearances and averages. Congratulations to Coonamble and the Davis family on their outstanding result, selling 81 bulls to a top of $27,500 and an average of $9,407. As I write this, the rain is gently falling and we’ve received a very handy 14 mls. This is on top of 39 mls for May, which is an excellent start to our winter season here in Northampton. Winter has been marred only by a horrific dust storm which lasted 10 hours and relocated much of our top soil into and around my house! Wherever you live in WA, I wish you good rains and a successful season.
Liz Sudlow WA ANGUS NEWS June 2020
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Cancellation of the World Angus Forum
Angus community can still come together in Australia to celebrate an even better event than originally planned.”
“Angus Australia is very appreciative of the hard work done by the World Angus Forum Organising Committee, and the ongoing support provided by the sponsors and Angus community in preparing for the Forum. We are committed and determined to reap the rewards from this effort by conducting a very memorable global event In advising the cancellation, Organising Committee Chair in the future when the impact of the pandemic has eased”, said Mr Gilmour. Mark Gubbins said “Given the uncertainty around the timing of the recovery from the pandemic, and the exFor further information regarding World Angus Forum please refer to the Angus Australia webpected continued impact on international travel into site www.angusaustralia.com.au or con2021, the committee believed that it was best to posttact Peter Parnell, on ceo@angusaustralia.com.au or 02 pone the event to a later date when the global Angus 6773 4600. community could participate.” Regrettably, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Angus Forum Organising Committee has made the difficult decision to cancel the World Angus Forum, originally scheduled to be conducted in April 2021.
A decision has not yet been made on the timing of a rescheduled event and at this stage the World Angus Forum Organising Committee are exploring all options with regards to a revised date. Angus Australia President, Brad Gilmour, said “We look forward to announcing a rescheduled date for the World Angus Forum in the coming months so that the global
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FARM WEEKLY HEIFER COMPETITION WINNERS FOR the first time in its 13-year history Farm Weekly’s Win 10 Angus Heifers competition has seen two prize winners drawn from the more than 16,000 entries received.
Dewar said he was excited for his brother-in-law and would be happy to have them depastured at his Spring Park property.
Ironically the heifers, selected from a herd of 650 breeders at Old Bambun Grazing owned and run by Gingin producers Steve and Irene Neville, their daughter Megan and her husband Leigh McCallum will now almost be able to walk to their new home.
“Now we just need a bit of rain for lawns because we’ve been missing out badly but we did get 6.4mm last week,” Mr Hill said.
“Kate’s always been at all of us about getting our entries The major prize of 10 unmated 2019 drop Angus heifers in so it’s good to see someone in the family have a win,” and a John Deere E140 Select Series ride-on mower Mr Dewar said. from AFGRI Equipment Australia was won by Dale GowAdding to the irony, he used to work for the late Matty land, Midland, while the minor prize – a matching John Dewar, Gingin, a distant relative for a while in the 1980s Deere ride-on mower also from AFGRI – was won by and 90s often crossing paths and working with Steve Peter Hill, Laverton. Neville, who moved to the district in 1984. Matty Dewar Mr Gowland was still trying to absorb the news several would become a close friend and mentor to Mr Neville, hours after being told of his good fortune. later bequeathing part of his property and Angus herd to him, the foundation of the Old Bambun herd. “There has been a bit of a rivalry between me and my sister (Heather) and her daughter (Kate), also subscrib- While disappointed not to have won the major prize ers, about getting our entries in to these Farm Weekin Farm Weekly’s competition, Laverton octogenarian ly competitions,” Mr Gowland said. Peter Hill was genuinely thrilled to have won the second prize of a John Deere ride-on mower from AFGRI. “I have never won anything before, so I am really chuffed.” “I turn 87 in March so that’s a pretty good birthday present,” Mr Hill said. Mr Gowland, who works in a State government customer service role, grew up reading Farm Weekly at the “I have been entering all your (Farm Weekly) competifamily property in Bullsbrook where his father traded tions since you were giving away motorbikes as prizes sheep and cattle. He returned to the fold as a subscriber and I was even at Dowerin Field Days watching the year four years ago when he and his brother Andrew, who you did the draw for the big machine there. works in logistics, bought a graingrowing property at “I’m proof you are never too old to win,” he said. Kununoppin together. Mr Hill has lived his entire life in the Laverton region, “I don’t think the heifers will like it too much at mostly on Bandya and Lake Wells stations where he ran Kununoppin so I’ll ask my sister if she will run them at sheep and later cattle, before selling up and joining the her place at Gingin,” Mr Gowland said. Water Corporation for 20 years. He still lives in Laverton “But the mower will be fantastic out there at the house with his wife Maureen, who turns 87 one month after and for a bit of fire control around the yard.” him in April.
WA Angus Society chairman Liz Sudlow, Northampton, congratulated the winners and said her members were delighted to again be a part of the competition.
Mr Gowland’s sister Heather and her husband Stephen Dewar run 130 Red Angus breeders with some legacy “I believe it is quite unique across Australia and it’s a Red Poll infusion on properties north of Gingin which wonderful example of collaboration between Angus would be barely 10 kilometres from where the Old Bambreeders and Farm Weekly in what is very much a win/ bun heifers are based. win,” Ms Sudlow said. While a bit miffed he didn’t win the heifers himself, Mr (CONTINUED ON PG 7 >>>) WA ANGUS NEWS June 2020
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“Thanks to the ongoing work of Bruce Campbell, we this State and we believe we have achieved this over the year had 35 members from across the State contributing years which is a credit to the breed and WA’s Angus to the group effort. breeders. “From our perspective it’s a fantastic opportunity to promote the Angus breed and give one lucky person the chance to acquire some quality heifers bred by the Nevilles and it’s great to hear the competition has attracted so many entries and continues to be so incredibly successful.”
“This year we also partnered with AFGRI Equipment Australia to bring additional interest and a second prize offer to the competition which has also been a great success,” Mr Emery said.
AFGRI Equipment Australia marketing and small ag manager Jacques Coetzee said it was a privilege to be part of the competition and pleasing to know that two people would soon be enjoying the benefit of John Deere rideon mowers. “It is really exciting to see how many entries were received from all around the State” Mr Coetzee said. “Thanks to Farm Weekly, the competition was very well promoted and the prizes on offer were obviously prizes people really wanted to win.”
Farm Weekly general Manager Trevor Emery said the Win 10 Angus Heifers Competition was Farm Weekly’s longest running competition and a great way to give something back to subscribers.
With the winner and runner-up tickets after the prize draw at Farm Weekly were WA Angus Society Chairwoman Liz Sudlow (left), Megan McCallum, Old Bambun Grazing, AFGRI Equipment Australia Manager Jacques Coetzee, Irene Neville, Old Bambun Grazing, & Farm Weekly Livestock Manager Jodie Rintoul *From Angus e-News Mar 20th 2020, with thanks to Wendy Gould and Jodie Rintoul.
“The competition has always been about offering some of the best commercial Angus genetics from within the
The WA Angus Committee would like to acknowledge and say THANK YOU to the following studs that have committed to supporting the Farm Weekly/WA Angus Heifer Competition...
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Introducing Angus ONLINE Angus Australia is pleased to announce the availability of Angus ONLINE.
plus much more.
Using Angus ONLINE, Angus Australia members can now request and manage their DNA testing with Angus Australia, while in time, Angus ONLINE will enable members to register their animals, record animal performance information, create online sale catalogues, and modify their membership details,
SELECT, and is the next stage of Angus Australia’s software development initiative.
Angus ONLINE enables members to complete tasks Angus ONLINE enables Angus Australia members to from the comfort of their home in real time, rather interact directly with Angus Australia’s breed regis- than having to send information for processing by try database and complete many of the tasks that the Member Services team. are currently undertaken by Angus Australia’s The development of Angus ONLINE follows the imMember Services team. plementation of Angus Database Search and Angus
Referred to as Angus.Tech, this software development initiative involves transitioning the software that is utilised to manage Angus Australia’s extensive pedigree, performance and genomic database, from generic software available from 3rd party service providers, to in-house software that is specifically tailored to the needs of Angus Australia and our members.
VISIT www.angusaustralia.com.au For more information!
*From Angus e-News 7th April 2020 WA ANGUS NEWS June 2020
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LEW SMIT RETIRES FROM THE WA ANGUS COMMITTEE Lew Smit is a well-known Angus breeder from Koojan Hills Angus, Kojonup WA and Lew recently retired from the WA Angus Committee. The Smit family ran the extremely successful Koojan Hills Angus stud for 53 years and after careful consideration Lew decided it was time to hang up his boots and sold the stud and the name in December 2015 and held his 39th and final bull sale in February 2016 were he set a WA record average price of $10788 for 52 bulls.
In 2008 Lew Smit was awarded Honorary Life Membership to Angus Australia and in 2013 was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the livestock industry, particularly involving the Angus breed. On the right is a copy of the letter sent out to Lew from WA Angus Chairwoman, Liz Sudlow, on behalf of the WA Angus Committee.
Dear Lew, Thank you for your letter which was tabled at the recent AGM of the WA Angus Committee and it is with much regret that I accept your resignation from the Committee. Your knowledge of cattle over a lifetime and in particular, the contribution you have made to the Angus breed over the last half century, has had a significant impact on the overall success of Angus cattle in Australia. Angus Australia is the leading Australian breed society, due in part to the contributions you made as a Board Director and National President. On behalf of the members of the WA Angus Committee, as well as stud and commercial breeders across WA, I would sincerely like to thank you for the dedicated contribution you have made to our Committee over many, many years. Your knowledge and wisdom will be sorely missed and it has been an honour to have you on the Committee. On behalf of the Committee, we wish you well in the future and are assured that you will continue to take an avid interest in all things Angus.
Kindest regards,
Liz Sudlow WA Angus Chairperson 06 February 2020
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JOHN YOUNG AWARDED HONORARY LIFE MEMBERSHIP Western Australian John Young was recently awarded an Honorary Life Membership for his dedication to the Angus breed and Angus Australia for over 50 years.
State Committee since the 1970s, acting as president from 1985-1986 and served as a member of the Angus board in intermittently from the 1980s to the late 2000s.
Mr Young established Strathtay Angus stud, Narrogin, with his father Jack in approximately 1966 after immigrating from Perthshire, Scotland in the early 1960s.
In 2005 Mr Young acted as Vice-President of Angus Australia and was chairperson of the Export Marketing Steering Committee.
Strathtay Angus stud was recognised for quality breeding and was named most successful exhibitor at Perth Royal Show several times in the 1980s and 1990s. Mr Young was President of Angus Australia from 2007-2008 and assisted in the development of Certified Australian Angus Beef, export standards and updating the Angus Australia Constitution. Mr Young has been an active member of the WA
Most recently Mr Young was on the organising committee for the 2019 WA Centenary Celebration and was a driving force behind the event, being responsible for ensuring cattle for the event and contributing to speaker suggestions. Since the dispersal of the Strathtay Stud Mr Young has maintained his involvement with the Angus breed through his enthusiasm and continuous contribution to the WA State Committee, as well as assisting his granddaughter in running Angus cattle. (CONTINUED ON PG 13 >>>)
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Angus Australia President Brad Gilmour said the fol- the 1980s and then again from 1998 to 2011. This is lowing about Mr Young’s involvement in the Angus an incredible achievement given the distance from WA to Armidale, New South Wales.” breed. “At a State level he has been on the WA Angus committee since the 1970s and performed the role as committee chairperson in 1985 and 1986,” Mr Gilmour said. “When it comes to Angus Australia, he was on the federal committee for a total of 20 years through
WA ANGUS NEWS June 2020
CONGRATULATIONS
JOHN!!
- John speaking at last years WA Angus Centenary Celebrations.
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Zoetis Invest in Angus Genomic Reference Population Zoetis Animal Genetics and Angus Australia have entered into a partnership that will assist Australian Angus seedstock and commercial breeders extract additional benefit from genomic, or DNA-based technology.
genomic technologies influenced by factors such as the size of the reference population, how closely related the animals in the reference population are to the animals being genomically tested, and the relevance of the production system in which the performance information Through the partnership, Zoetis have made a considerahas been collected. ble investment in the expansion of the Angus genomic reference population through the provision of genotyp- “Angus Australia is committed to facilitating the availaing services and sponsorship. bility of large, well-recorded, relevant genomic reference population of Australian Angus animals with perZoetis’ Genetics Manager for Australia and New Zeaformance measurements in Australian production sysland, Mr Daniel Abernethy, highlighted how the partnertems, particularly for hard-to-measure traits, so that ship continues the long-term productive relationship Angus Australia members can get the most value from Zoetis has held with Angus Australia for many years. genomic technologies”, said Mr Byrne. “Zoetis is proud to partner with Angus Australia in delivWhile efforts to-date have focussed on the development ering products like HD50K for Angus and Angus Heifof the Australian Angus genomic reference population erSELECT, and this partnership is a further demonstravia the Angus Sire Benchmarking Program, now in its tion of Zoetis’ commitment to provide Angus Australia eleventh year of operation, a priority of the new partmembers with the latest DNA testing technology, and to nership with Zoetis will be to explore how performance maximise the value members derive from the Angus information collected on non-seedstock animals can be reference population”, Mr Abernethy said. harnessed within the genomic reference population. The Angus breed is leading the utilisation of genomic “A particular focus will be on the feasibility of utilising technologies in the Australian beef industry, with over performance measurements collected in the feedlot and 26,000 Angus animals being genomically tested during abattoir sector”, said Mr Byrne. 2019. The investment by Zoetis in the Angus genomic refer“The value that Angus breeders obtain from genomic ence population through this partnership with Angus technology is largely determined by the value of the geAustralia will improve the genomic technologies that are nomic reference population that is available”, Angus available to Australian Angus breeders, which in turn Australia’s Breed Development & Extension Manager will further accelerate the considerable genetic imAndrew Byrne said. provement that is already being achieved within the The genomic reference population refers to a reference Angus breed. population of animals that have both DNA profiles and *From Angus e-News 29th April 2020 performance information, with the value obtained from
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National Vendor Declaration Forms It was announced in February 2020 that new versions of the Livestock Production Assurance (LPA) National Vendor Declaration (NVD) forms will be available for cattle (and sheep, goats and bobby calves) on 1st July, 2020. The main changes to the forms are the removal of the agent’s declaration and the inclusion of a destination Property Identification Code (PIC). More information will be available closer to the release date. The changes will improve the efficiency and usability of the document across the supply chain. For a period of 6 months from 1st July (to 31st December) 2020, both updated and current (Edition: April 2013) NVD versions will be accepted. From 1st January 2021, all LPA accredited producers who use hard copy NVD books will need to ensure they have the updated version, identified by version number ‘0720’. When producers sign an LPA NVD, they are guaranteeing their on-farm practices meet LPA requirements, and ultimately customer expectations. This ensures the integrity of Australia red meat to both domestic and overseas markets.
Information on the changes to the NVD is available on the ISC website, NVD page www.integritysystems.com.au OR via email: info@integritysystems.com.au OR Phone: 1800 683 111
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ANGUS YOUTH NEWS - Billi Marshall named the 2020 Trans-Tasman Exchange Scholarship recipient!! Western Australian Angus Youth member Billi Marshall was recently awarded the 2020 Trans-Tasman Exchange Scholarship at Roundup 2020. Miss Marshall was the lone WA participant in the event and travelled over 3,000 kilometres from home in Dongara in the Wheatbelt region to take part in her first Roundup.
throw an application in and it turned out really well.”
Miss Marshall looks forward to her trip, hoping to get the most out her time abroad in terms of further developing her professional career through the opportunity provided. “There are definitely a few things on my list I want to get to. Some bull sales would be awesome to go Miss Marshall was sponsored by the WA State Comand see over there, I really want to get into the sire semittee to attend Roundup. Sponsored by New England lection and the repro sires, so really getting into the reTravel and the Angus Australia Foundation, the Transpro side of the things over there, reproduction centres Tasman Exchange scholarship is provided annually to an and stud breeders over there.” Angus Australia member aged between 18 and 30 years *From Cheyne Twist, Communications Officer. Angus e-News of age attending Roundup. The recipient of the Trans22nd January 2020. (And although due to Covid-19 international travel is limited we will touch base with Billi once she Tasman Exchange will embark on a trip around New has been able to go on her trip!) Zealand, visiting Angus studs, commercial operations, feedlots and attend field days and sales. The exchange will involve moving throughout the country experiencing the New Zealand beef industry and the strength of the Angus breed globally. Miss Marshall was chosen from a competitive field of young beef producers who applied for the scholarship, and her enthusiasm for the beef industry was a leading drive for her selection as recipient. “I almost didn’t apply for it because didn’t think I fit the bill. I don’t own Angus cattle of my own, but I do work in the industry as I am a breeding technician for a cattle vet and constantly dealing all different clients of all different breeds, so at the last minute I decided to
- Billi Marshall with Peter Parnell, Angus Australia’s CEO. (Photo credit - Emily H Photography)
If you would like more information about all things ANGUS YOUTH please visit www.angusaustralia.com.au/ angusyouth Or for further information during business hours (8.30am – 5pm) please contact Candice Liddle Events and Youth Development Officer P: 02 6773 4622 E: youth@angusaustralia.com.au
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An Update from Harvey Beef... In these unprecedented times, Harvey Beef would like to thank and acknowledge all our cattle farmers, for their hard work and dedication to putting food on the plates of our customers. It has been a challenging few months for us all and we have remained focussed on keeping our supply chains strong, our people safe and our customers fed. Our Harvey Beef production facility has put in strong control measures to ensure continuity of supply and we are committed to producing quality WA beef, no matter what. We look forward to continuing to work in partnership with our farmers across WA, particularly our Angus breeders, who are so critical to our domestic and export supply chains. To discuss supplying Harvey Beef please contact our livestock team on 08 9729 0000 or livestock@harveybeef.com.au
Angus Australia Elects 46th President Angus Australia is pleased to announce that New South Wales producer Sam White has been declared the 46th President of Angus Australia, following a meeting of the Board of Directors held via teleconference on the 28th of May 2020. Mr White owns and runs family-based farming business, Bald Blair Angus, located near Guyra in the New England area of NSW, with his wife Kirsty and two boys, Abbott and Arthur. Sam is the third generation of Whites to run Bald Blair Angus. Bald Blair Angus runs a seedstock and commercial Angus herd, as well as crossbred sheep, run on Bald Blair and other properties east of Guyra. The White family has run Angus cattle on their properties for well over 100 years. The Bald Blair herd was first recorded in 1908, with Angus cattle part of the family’s business since the late 1880’s and the family have been members of the Angus Society over the last 101 years as one of the original founding members, and have been involved in the Angus Society throughout that time. Mr White will be leading off from out-going president, South West Victorian Brad Gilmour, with Erica Halliday, Ben Nevis Angus, NSW the newly appointed VicePresident.
*Andrew Forrest took the chance to visit our processing plant in Harvey and personally thank our 650-strong staff for their tireless efforts on the front line. (Photo credit: Tattarang)
WA ANGUS NEWS June 2020
Mr White and Mrs Halliday will be joined by seven fellow board members, Brad Gilmour VIC, Dr Laurie Denholm NSW, Perry Gunner SA, Jock Hughes Tas, Andrew Kuss WA, Hamish McFarlane Vic and Brett Piraner Qld. *From Angus e-News 5th June 2020
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GAINING THE FEEDLOT PREMIUM This article appeared in the Angus Australia Journal of 2004 and came from Mr Bob Dent, then Angus Australia’s Extension Manager, giving tips on how to produce steers to gain the optimum premiums and have feedlot buyers returning for more. Most of these are still very relevant and Bob has updated some sections. Thank you Bob makes these tips even more valuable! •
Straightbred Angus steers and heifers are ideally suited to a range of feedlot systems, short fed for the domestic market, medium fed for high quality catering systems and in eastern states, the long fed highly marbled Asian markets. The performance of straightbred and crossbred Angus cattle in annual feeding trials confirms their suitability.
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Using registered Breedplan recorded Angus sires selected with feedlot requirements in mind (growth, marbling yield) allows commercial breeders to target genetics to suit the chosen role.
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Maintain a steady minimum of 0.7 kgs/day weight gain from birth with consistent nutrition. This is not easy to do in tough times but feedlot and carcase performance improve with steady growth.
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Properly weaned (preferably yard weaned) and taught to eat and drink from troughs.
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Good temperament – yard weaning will assist as will selection for temperament and quiet handling
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Use bulls with sound physical structure and do not send cattle with poor structure.
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Vaccinate properly with 5 in1 and Bovilis MH + IBR. Check with feedlots for specific requirements and possible bonus payments for vaccinated cattle.
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Meet specifications for weight, teeth, fatness etc. Don’t send cattle outside specifications or poor doing types. Trying to hide a few roughies in a mob will not identify you as a reliable source.
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Feed cattle hay prior to trucking and keep transit time to a minimum.
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Don’t hold them off feed and water for longer than necessary prior to trucking.
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Discuss preferred delivery times with the feedlot before consignment. Aim to have cattle arrive at the feedlot ready to be put onto feed and water or be processed on arrival.
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Use reliable transporters.
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Obtain feedback on your cattle and learn to interpret the information provided.
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Record property ID against NLIS tag number as feedback on animals or carcases may only identify by NLIS number.
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If possible, visit the feedlot to see how they operate and what is important to them.
Make sure you check out “Behind the Beef!” The brand new Angus Australia podcast!
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BREEDING VALUES ADD VALUE Gaining a true assessment of a bull’s potential value and the direction he could take the herd can be hard when relying only on physical traits and performance, because of the large impact environmental conditions have.
sessed. Producing the highest quality cattle relies not only on great genetics and breeding, but also suitable feeding and environmental conditions to allow the genetics to express themselves to their full potential.
The physical traits and performance provide valuable information, however need to be understood in relation to the performance of the herd, this is because;
Overall what this means is that means is if we are to realise the true value of a bull in our herd, we need to understand his impact is just one part of all the bulls in the pedigree.
1. Irrespective of the conditions, when exposed to the same conditions, the higher genetic merit animal will perform better than a lower genetic merit animal.
We need to understand that average doesn’t cut it and that if we want to have more profitable cows in the future, we need to make the right decisions now and understand what the bull has truly delivered to the herd, all of which is made easy with 2. If exposed to different environmental conditions (such as feeding programs), the physical per- breeding values. formance of poorer genetic merit animals can be For further information or support contact staff at Angus Australia on (02) 6773 4600 above that of higher genetic merit animals. or office@angusaustralia.com.au 3. A bull’s value to a breeding program is through *From Angus e-News 8th April 2020 his genetics, not his physical performance. Breeding values take the hard work out assessing the merit of an animal because they take into account a huge amount of data, not only on the animal itself but also how animals in its pedigree have performed and how the genetics its carrying have performed in other animals. This performance is assessed in relation to how the animal performed in relation to other animals within the herd, which enables the influence of environmental conditions to be accounted for. Using breeding values and assessing the change in breeding values towards our breeding objective enables a bull’s value to be appropriately asWA ANGUS NEWS June 2020
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WA BULL SALE STATISTICS The information on this page has been compiled from media reports and notifications from vendors and agents. Entries are listed according to sale dates from January to December. Bull sale statistics compiled by Angus Australia are based on information provided to us by members and may not necessarily be a complete record of all Angus bulls sold by auction. In addition, the many Angus bulls sold by private treaty are not included in these statistics. Although all members will be contacted after each sale, if this information is not supplied by members, Angus Australia may refer to media publications and social media to compile statistics.
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PLEASE REMEMBER if you need some advice about Covid-19, drought, fires or your mental health...There are some great resources available through not only the Angus Australia website but also the ones below!!
www.cattlecouncil.com.au
farmhub.org.au
www.mla.com.au
The Australian Angus Cookery Book This was first published 1997 for the World Angus Forum in Australia with recipes from Angus folk all over Australia. It has been reprinted in 2019 to help celebrate the Centenary of the Angus Society of Australia. Only $13 each posted to your Australia address. Send a cheque made out to Pam McGregor and send to her at PO Box 301, Kojonup WA 6395 and she’ll post one (or more) to you OR ring her on 0417 942 326 for EFT details. WA ANGUS NEWS June 2020
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