TACE

TACE is a valuable tool which has allowed the Angus breed to make vast performance increases in a relatively short time and we carefully study a sire’s figures before selecting him for use in our breeding program. However, it is equally important to look at his phenotype with special attention given to his structure and feet.

CALVING EASE

A moderate birth weight with positive calving ease EBV’s is preferred

GROWTH

Rapid growth to 400 days with a tapering off to a moderate mature weight is the growth pattern we aim for. We combine this with a moderate but not small frame size. Milk is also important to allow a calf to express its full genetic potential.

FERTILITY

We aim to keep downward pressure on days to calving and keep the scrotal size above average, although we place great importance on the bull’s actual scrotal measurement.

TEMPERAMENT

We find the docility EBV is yet to give a true indication of a bull’s temperament so prefer to take notice of his true temperament score.

CARCASE

Carcase is an area where the EBV’s are a great advantage. There is a clear link between a cow’s condition score and her ability to conceive so we believe it is important to select for cattle with the ability to lay down fat. Cattle with extremely negative fat EBVs are less likely to have the required body condition to conceive, especially at the notoriously difficult time after her first calf.

The eye muscle represents the “money cuts” so it goes without saying that an animal with a large eye muscle is more desirable than one without.

We’re all in this business to supply beef to the consumer. With increasing competition from other sources of protein its important that the eating experience for the consumer be pleasant. IMF is important if the meat is to be tender, tasty and juicy. This doesn’t mean we should try to compete with Wagyu, but we should give adequate marbling to ensure our customers become repeat customers.

STRUCTURE

Structure is extremely important for longevity in both sires and dams, so structure EBV’s can be useful, especially when selecting overseas AI sires. We prefer to wait until the accuracy becomes high enough to give us confidence before relying solely on these.

INDICIES

We believe the indices are a bit of a blunt tool. Not all herds are the same and will have different requirements when selecting a sire. We also believe none of the current indices adequately reflect the requirements of the Western Australian domestic market. We find them useful when first looking through a large sale catalogue to discard bulls unlikely to meet our needs but prefer to make our decisions based on the individual traits.

GENOMICS

Recently there was a big leap forward for Angus TACE analysis with the implementation of a new improved approach to incorporating DNA information into the calculation of EBV’s. Known as “single step” the new approach to calculating genomic enhanced EBV’s offers the beef producer the most advanced genetic prediction tools available today.

Bannitup submits DNA samples for all calves to ensure our customers have the highest level of confidence in the pedigrees and the EBV’s for the bull offered for sale.