WHEN the Angus Australia Board decided to embark on the Angus Sire Benchmarking Program (ASBP) nearly three years ago, they did so with great expectation that the largest progeny test program ever conducted for a single breed in Australia would set the foundation for the future of the breed.
With a total of 122 elite Angus bulls now included in the program, a great deal of information is being collected to further Angus genetics in Australia.
The third cohort joining completed a short time ago, included bulls from every state in Australia, plus six bulls from New Zealand and two from the United States. Many of these bulls were sale-toppers or bulls selected for use back in the herd from some of Australia’s leading Angus breeders.
These young sires were used in a fixed-time AI program over 2300 Angus cows in five co-operator herds in NSW and Victoria, using synchronisation products supplied by Bayer Australia.
A record high conception rate of almost 60 per cent was achieved in the third year of joining of the Angus Sire Benchmarking Program. Six local bulls contribute to the elite sires participating in the program.
Bald Blair New Design G117 was nominated by Bald Blair Angus who retained G117 for use in their herd. He is by Sitz New Design 458N and out of a daughter by Bald Blair Highmark Z58 who was used widely in the Angus Young Sire Program. G117 has moderate birth weight but explosive growth and excellent carcase EBVs.
Booroomooka Frankel F510 was the top selling bull at the 2012 Booroomooka sale selling to a consortium of Angus breeders for $65,000. His figures were gained in a large contemporary group and are very well balanced.
J& C Evidence was Grand Champion Angus bull at the 2010 Sydney Royal Show and purchased by Ben Nevis Grazing Co, Walcha, and Longford Stud, Armidale, as the high priced bull at the Sydney Show Sale. He has been used in both herds with the oldest calves now rising yearling age. Evidence demonstrates high growth and carcase weight EBVs.
Milwillah Elsom F189 is nominated by Rob Costello of Nairn Park Angus at Walcha NSW. Elsom was the top priced bull at the 2012 Milwillah sale and purchased by Rob Costello for stud duties at Nairn Park.
Clunie Range First Class F526 has tremendous thickness throughout, great length and depth of body and is very athletic.
He has no trouble keeping weight or actually gaining weight with a huge workload at Clunie Range and then another heavy workload when sold to Neville Duddy at Glen Innes before last spring/summer joining. He is very tight in the sheath and offers something different in the pedigree for most breeders.
Murray El Grando was one of the pick calves from the 2011 drop of calves for Murray Angus at Walcha, NSW. David Murray has nominated bulls in each of the three cohorts of the Benchmark Program and G20 is a high $Indexing bull with moderate Birth Weight and high 600 Day Wt EBVs. His docility and carcase figures show high fat with muscle and marbling.
Feed intake and efficiency testing of steers generated from the first cohort joining in 2010 has commenced, and heifer progeny from that cohort are being joined by natural service in the co-operator herds to provide high quality daughter fertility data.
More than 1300 calves resulting from the second cohort joining in 2011 have been recorded in the co-operator herds. All of the information is being uploaded to the Angus Australia data base and incorporated into Angus Breedplan analyses as the data is submitted.
Angus Australia has recently decided to extend the project to test further cohorts of bulls. A call for the fourth cohort of Angus elite sires is currently underway.
All of the information on these bulls can be found on the Angus Australia web site (www.angusaustralia.com.au) under Animal search.
