Feedlot urges adoption of global genetics

01-05-2006 | Sandra Taylor

In order for this country’s beef industry to remain competitive in the international marketplace, Angus breeders should be looking to capture the genetic gains that have been made overseas.

Jamie Gordon from Mid Canterbury’s Five Star Beef’s feedlot says while there are some very good genetics in this country, breeders should not be shutting up the genetic pool, rather they should be looking to tap into global genetics. The USA, for example, has a very large Angus gene pool, and have, along with Australian studs, been performance recording for many years.

If Five Star Beef is going to compete against these countries in the international marketplace, it makes sense for breeders to be looking offshore to select the best genetics available, in a similar way to what the plant breeding, chicken and pork industries have been doing.

Putting their money where their mouth is, in 2000 Five Star started importing genetics in the form of embryos from what Gordon describes as a progressive Australian stud that has links to studs in USA. These embryos are sold to a small number of commercial breeders and studs.

Angus have remained the breed of choice since the Five Star Beef feedlot opened in 1991, because of the company’s belief that Angus anchor a strong and sustainable production system, starting from the cow calf farmer to the marketplace.

Having just one breed upon which to focus gives Five Star the ability to look at and provide a leadership role at every level of the production chain, a luxury not afforded by other meat processors dealing with a number of different cattle breeds and end-uses.

When speaking of genetics Gordon places as much emphasis on breeding cow efficiency and productivity as he does on the carcase traits and meat quality required by Five Star Beef.

He sees efficiencies at every step of the production chain as being of benefit to the industry as a whole, not just the feedlot, but believes these efficiencies can only be made with the use of objective selection based measurements, and their associated estimated breeding values (EBVs).

Five Star beef’s integrated system is based on a cost-efficient female producing highly productive progeny, that when given the opportunity produce high quality table meat.

Gordon appreciates the vastly different classes of land upon which Angus breeding cows are run, and the restraints within each of those systems, but also believes genetics can help improve breeding cow efficiency even in the most challenging environments.

He says in the past farmers have shied away from selecting for growth rates for fear of the mature cow weight getting to large.

However objective selection, particularly in the US, have identified cows with good 600 day growth rates which then drops off, minimising mature cow weights. These genetics give commercial breeders the opportunity to run an efficient yet highly productive breeding cow herd.

In order to drive cow fertility, Gordon urges commercial breeders to only purchase bulls from studs who mate their heifers and cull any cows who do not conceive.

Whilst fat plays an important role in the reproduction of breeding cows, surplus fat is wasteful. Excess fat is passed genetically onto progeny and this is seen as a negative on farm and in the feedlot as it takes double the amount of feed to produce one kilogram of fat as it does to produce one kilogram of muscle.

Of course milking ability and ease of calving dictates the ability of the cow to raise a calve to optimal weaning weight, and these traits need to be taken into account when selecting genetics.

Productivity is the key driver to profitability and as such growth, carcaseweight and meat yield are seen as very important parameters

To help farmers identify strengths and weaknesses within their system, Five Star Beef provides farmers with a raft of data on each animal killed on the feedlot.

These include their start weight on the feedlot, kill weight, daily weightgains as well as a number of carcase traits such as yield, marbling, meat colour.

The feedlot also produces a monthly benchmarking report showing farmers how their animals compare with the average on the feedlot.

Gordon says both farmers and the feedlot require cattle that are genetically equipped to grow quickly, yield heavy carcases and produce a high proportion of meat from each carcase.

These traits need to be maximised and therefore the objective measurement and the use of applicable EBVs need to be at the forefront of any breeding programme.

Whilst visual assessment is important for structural soundness, objective measurements for performance traits are vital for genetic progress, and while there are many varying opinions on how Breedplan should put the data together, it is still the best tool to predict the genetic performance of an animal.

While bulls will be advertised with a lot of data from Breedplan, Gordon says these figures are only as good as the information being fed into the system, and it is up to the stud breeder to provide accurate and objective information into the database.

Meat quality is what the consumer demands, and in Five Star Beef’s case the consumers are Asian, namely Japanese, Taiwanese and Korean.

Grain feeding promotes intramuscular fat (IMF) or marbling and this is one of the key parameters enhancing the whole meat eating experience. While marbling is foreign to the kiwi palate, it is what differentiates the higher value meat from the cheaper meat in Five Star Beef’s target markets.

Looking globally, Americans love marbeled meat, as do Asians.

It seems Australians have also developed a taste for marbled meat with 40% of beef produced in Australia now finished on grain.

The very high value beef produced on the feedlot comes from what Gordon refers to as long-fed beef. The steers producing this type of beef are on the feedlot for 255 days, whereas mid-fed beef, of which there are two types on the feedlot, stay for either 155 or 135 days. Short-fed steers stay for 70-80 days.

Gordon says the mid-quality beef is still of very good quality, and he believes it is in this grade of beef that there will be the most market growth in the future.

Throughout their stay on the feedlot, the steers are fed starch and more starch in the form of wheat, barley, molasses and maize silage. This is balanced with appropriate proteins, roughages, vitamins and minerals.

Five Star Beef use an Australian-based nutritionalist with over 30 years experience in the feedlot industry for dietary advice.

Most of the feed used at Five Star Beef is sourced locally, providing synergies between the local arable industry and the feedlot.

Because of the size of the Australian grain industry, the cost of feed is cheaper than in this country. However, because of the exponential growth in the number of feedlots in Australia and the resulting increased demand for grain, production costs may rise across the Tasman in the future.

So what advantages does New Zealand’s only feedlot have over our larger competitors?

Gordon says the exchange rate is in our favour and believes the quality of cattle entering the feedlot is generally better. The preference for Angus cattle also enhances the marbling capability. New Zealand and specifically Five Star Beef have an excellent food health and safety record and Five Star Beef has a very sound traceability system in place. And then there is the environment.

Being close to the sea provides a constant airflow which minimises the prevalence of respiratory diseases, a huge problem on most overseas feedlots. The southern latitude and proximity to the coast also ensure the cattle do not suffer heat stress.

While Five Star has these advantages, Gordon stresses the importance of efficiencies throughout the whole system from the breeding cow to the market place in order to remain competitive.

Gordon says they have a very good client base from which they source their raw material, and they work with their clients, both breeders and finishers to continue to drive these efficiencies to everybody’s advantage.

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