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WA ANGUS NEWS JUNE 2021

“Lew was an outstanding man who will be remembered as one of the great contributors and pioneers of the Modern Australian beef industry.” - Peter Parnell, Angus Australia CEO

INSIDE THIS ISSUE… - A TRIBUTE TO LEW SMIT FROM WA ANGUS CHAIRPERSON LIZ SUDLOW - THE WINNERS OF THE FARM WEEKLY HEIFER COMPETITION - A FRIENDLY FAREWELL FOR THE MCGREGORS FINAL SALE - ANGUS YOUTH NEWS - FROM THE VET AND MUCH MORE...

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 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 2021

CONTENTS Chairwoman’s Update

A Tribute to Lew Smit

Farm Weekly Heifer Comp

National Carcase Comp

Angus Youth News

Final Sale Farewell

WA Angus Meeting Notice

Regulation Changes

Bull Sale Statistics

From the Vet

Coordinators Note Hi Everyone, Welcome to the June/July 2021 edition of the WA Angus News. I hope this edition finds everyone well and thankyou to everyone for their contributions and advertising support - without this the WA Angus News would not exist. I would like to make special mention to the cover for this edition of the WA Angus News. The photograph of Lew Smit was kindly supplied by Richard Metcalfe from the Koojan Hills Angus website. It is a great photo of Lew and I am very grateful to be able to use it on the cover of the WA Angus News in a small tribute to Lew. I hope you all enjoy the read and please don’t hesitate to pass on any feedback good or bad!

Shezanne 3

CHAIRWOMAN’S UPDATE Where oh where has the last six months gone? For me personally, it has been such a blur that I feel somewhat like a piece of laundry that has emerged from the ‘spin’ cycle – disheveled, disorientated and almost too confused to even know how I feel! But more about that later…

at 150-170km/hour, delivered damage to houses, businesses, community halls, parks, sheds, fences and tree lines. 70% of buildings in Northampton and Kalbarri were damaged and more than 30 houses completely destroyed. 31,500 customers lost power and eight weeks on, some are still waiting to be reconnected.

As beef prices continued to rise to record levels, the 2021 bull sale results ranged from outstanding to exceptionally positive. The outlook is very solid, as breeders continue to consolidate their herds and international and domestic demand for beef increases.

The cyclone left a path of destruction from Kalbarri through Northampton, Mingenew, Perenjori, Mukinbudin, gradually weakening until it spilled back into the Southern Ocean, near Esperance.

Congratulations to Coonamble and the Davis family for selling 102 bulls to a top of $30,000 and an average of $13,422, which is an increase in bull numbers by 20, and an improved top price by $2,500 and an increased average of $4,000 – an outstanding achievement. Congratulations also to Black Tara for the 2nd highest state average of $13,417. Overall, during the January to May period in WA, 828 registered Angus bulls were sold, at more than 20 sales, to an average of $9,043. The heifer competition this year was won by Tyrepower West Perth. The proprietors, Adrian and Fiona have a property in Chittering and were delighted to win the prize: 10 quality heifers produced by Phil, Cathy and Laura Wishart from Bremer Bay. I would sincerely like to thank the Wishart family for the co-operation they have shown, by holding the heifers until transfer could be arranged. The WA Angus Committee aims to select heifers from various leading commercial Angus operations around the state and we are pleased to have been able to offer some outstanding genetics over the 14-year history of the competition, which is run in conjunction with the Farm Weekly. Finally, in reference to the reason for my less than satisfactory state-of-mind, our family farm infrastructure has been smashed around by Tropical Cyclone Seroja, and our community in the Mid-West has taken a battering. In the space of not much more than 90 minutes and in a strip about 80km wide, the fastmoving Category 3 cyclone, with winds which peaked WA ANGUS NEWS June 2021

On our farm, we’ve had damage to houses and sheds, some that will be written off by insurance, as well as damage to fences and tree-lines. In the aftermath of the cyclone, we considered ourselves lucky as “we still had a roof over our heads”, albeit a leaky one with cracking ceilings! There were certainly reports of friends of ours taking shelter under mattresses, under floorboards, inside headers and being forced to ‘make a run for it’ to drive to better shelter, when their homes began to be torn apart, during the storm. As we have the number 1 highway running through the middle of our property, our first priority in the days after the storm, was to repair fences to keep animals off the highway. The cyclone hit on April 11th, on the eve of our seeding program and consequently our focus was to get the crop into the ground. One of the most annoying problems was the vast amount of debris in the form of tree branches, tin and fallen power lines that needed to be removed before paddocks could be planted. Fortunately, the cyclone delivered some rain and we’ve had good follow-up falls. We were reliant on a generator to power the house for 6 weeks and electricity to our sheds still has not been reconnected. Northampton, like many rural towns, is a strong community and together with government and volunteer services such as DFES, SES, Red Cross, Dept of Communities, Blaze Aid, the people have banded together to recover. On our farm, all our children arrived in the days that followed to give us a hand to fix fences and prepare for seeding. 4

We have an old Haleian school friend, “Macca”, who arrived a couple of weeks after the storm and stayed for a month, helping us to clear fence-lines, clean tanks and remove debris from around sheds, houses and paddocks. He will never really know the extent to which his generosity helped us to pick ourselves up and get on with it. Macca is a true Aussie hero, as are the wonderful folk from SES and Blaze Aid, who also assisted us.

As I write this, we have just finished our seeding program for 2021. Tony and I can now take a deep breath and begin the task of following up with our insurance and begin to repair…

Liz Sudlow (WA Angus Chairperson)

- Photos from Tropical Cyclone Seroja...

*From top left (going clockwise) - Liz and the dogs taking shelter; Drone shot of the damage to the shearing shed, which is 100 years old; Tony and Macca; The SES crew who assisted in fixing holes in the roof; Machinery shed damage. EDITORS NOTE: I would just like to thank Liz for managing to get her update done with all she has had going on, to give a first hand account of the cyclone and provide photos to share this experience with our readers is very much appreciated - Shezanne :) WA ANGUS NEWS June 2021

Vale - Lewis Adrian Smit OAM 1943 - 2021 Sadly, on the 23rd of April, the Western Australian cattle community lost one of its finest, with the passing of Lew Smit OAM. At the age of 44, Lew was awarded honorary life membership of the Murray Grey Beef Society, having been involved in the breed development and a board member from 1973 – 78, Vice President from 1979 – 1980, President from 1980 – 1984 and as Treasurer from 1984 – 1988. Lew joined the WA Angus Committee in the mid-1980s, as Koojan Hills had also begun breeding Angus cattle. In 1987, he became a delegate from WA to the Federal Council of Angus Australia. He was Vice President from 1989 – 1991 and President from 1991 – 1994. He was heavily involved in the technical development of the Angus breed, which has laid the foundation for traditional cattle practical analysis to merge with data collection and scientific measuring. Another mark of the respect given to Lew from the cattle industry at large, came in 2006 when Lew was successful in receiving the RW Vincent award, following a nomination from the Shorthorn Society. In 2008, Lew was awarded honorary life membership of Angus Australia and in 2013, the Order of Australia Medal for service to the cattle industry and to the community of Kojonup. As a new member of the WA Angus Committee, I was rather intimidated by Lew. He certainly commanded respect at a meeting and had an unquestionable amount of knowledge. I spoke to him in March, to seek his advice in my role as Chairperson, and despite the fact that his health was deteriorating, I was comforted by his down-to-earth wisdom. He said things as they were. The conversation was one that I will always remember with fondness and some sadness. No matter how great we are, it is inevitable that we will all grow old and eventually depart this life. And of course, that is if we’re lucky enough to grow old. I felt the same sense of sadness at Lew’s funeral (and I’ve been to many funerals of respected people from my own local community) – that those in attendance were saying farewell and acknowledging the passing of a truly outstanding, awe-inspiring man, in the true sense of the phrase, who had dedicated his life to a deep passion of breeding cattle. It was very poignant. I would like to extend my sympathy to Lew’s family and closest friends, who will no doubt be grappling without Lew’s knowledge, wisdom, common sense and dry sense of humour. - Liz Sudlow EDITORS NOTE: Thanks again to Liz for providing this piece about Lew. The photos on page 7 have been used before in previous issues of the WA Angus News and/or are sourced from the Angus Australia website with credit to both The Countryman and Farm Weekly. The quotes are from Pam McGregor’s Eulogy and are intended to be a small reflection of what Lew meant to his family, friends and the cattle industry.

WA ANGUS NEWS June 2021

“His embrace of knowledge and the balancing of the new with the traditional was a continual theme in his life through his approach to the cattle industry.” (Peter Smit)

“Through his achievements and generous contributions, Lew gained great respect as an industry leader and mentor.” (Peter Parnell, Angus Australia CEO)

“I will remember Lew fondly as a real gentleman of the highest integrity, with a good sense of humour and very good company. He achieved much. I valued our friendship.” (Ron Bower)

WA ANGUS NEWS June 2021

HEIFER COMPETITION THIS year's 10 Southern Starlets Angus heifers will be heading from south to north after Chittering reader Adrian Shipcott's ticket was randomly plucked from almost 16,000 entries at the Farm Weekly office.

Ms Sudlow said WA Angus breeders were delighted to again be involved in such a long and strong competition. "It's a tribute to WA Angus breeders and Farm Weekly that it is still going so strong after 14 years," Ms Sudlow said.

WA Angus Society chairperson Liz Sudlow, Kapari, Northampton, drew the winning ticket and it was an over"It's really pleasing to see that many of them (the heifer whelmed Mr Shipcott on the end of the phone when suppliers) have kept up their involvement in the competold the news. tition by continuing to contribute to the financing of it each year alongside our stud breeders. And it has been "Oh my lord, are you serious?" Mr Shipcott said. "I don't terrific having Coerco on board with a very relevant believe it.” prize.” A tyre business will come in handy for servicing the other part of their $31,000 (total prize-pool) winnings, the Coerco trailer-mounted firefighting unit. "At the moment we just have a pretty cheap little unit at the farm so it will be fantastic to have this really good quality one," Mr Shipcott said. Adrian and Fiona Shipcott's picturesque 27 hectare Chittering property was only bought four years ago to continue their love of farming and as a piece of retirement paradise. Until now they have just been trading a few cattle, but the 2019 drop Angus heifers will put them back in the breeding space. The heifers were sourced from the Wishart family's property at Bremer Bay, part of a 1000-strong Angus female herd they have been shaping and perfecting for more than 20 years.

- At the Farm Weekly office for the prize draw were WA Angus Society vice-chairperson Mark Muir (left), Mordallup, Manjimup, Coerco key account manager Micah Jackson, Dalwallinu, WA Angus Society chairperson Liz Sudlow, Kapari, Northampton and committee member Mark Hattingh, Red Hat, Wannamal and Farm Weekly sales and business development manager Wendy Gould. [ - Story and Image Credit: Wendy Gould, Farm Weekly.]

The WA Angus Committee would like to acknowledge and say THANK YOU to the following studs that committed to supporting the 14th Farm Weekly/WA Angus Heifer Competition! Also a special THANK YOU to the Wishart family from Bremer Bay for the supply of heifers! All of your support is much appreciated!

WA ANGUS NEWS June 2021

Angus & Angus Influenced Cattle rise to the top in National Carcase Competition The ANZ National Beef Carcase Competition was again a happy hunting ground for cattle breeders utilising Angus genetics in their herds. Angus cattle outperformed the other competitors when it comes to carcase quality, with purebred Angus entries taking out both MSA Index Awards.

also placed 3rd, 5th and 6th in this class. The first place team finished with a score of 278.10 out of 306. The Bendottis also received a 6th place in Class 1, Pasture fed – Pen of three Medium Trade chiller steers or heifers – 180260kg.

The MSA Index Award for individual carcase with the highest MSA Index from classes 1-7, went to an Angus carcase exhibited by Barry Hollonds, Sale VIC with a 68.95 MSA Index. Going up against 3.5 million carcases that were graded, the winning carcase was from a 340kg Angus steer. Mr Hollonds also had a pen of three Angus steers place 6th in Class 2, Pasture fed – Pen of three Heavy Trade chiller steers or heifers – 260.1-340kg and another pen of Angus steers place 5th in Class 3, Pasture fed – Pen of three Export chiller bullocks – 300-420kg.

The Beef Australia Highest Pen Award (Highest scoring pen of 3 from classes 1-7) went to the John Galati Family Trust, Brunswick WA, whom had also won Class 4, Grain fed – Pen of three Medium Trade chiller steers or heifers – 180 – 260kg, with a pen of three Angus Influenced steers (Limousin cross Angus) The Galati Family also placed 3rd and 6th in Class 5, Grain fed – Pen of three Heavy Trade chiller steers or heifers – 260.1 – 340kg, with two pens of three Angus Influenced steers (Charolais cross Angus).

The award for pen of 3 carcases with the highest total MSA Indexes from classes 1-7 went to Baringa Pastoral Company Pty Ltd, Walcha NSW for a pen of 3 Angus carcases. This result for Baringa was on top of winning first place for eating quality at the Beef Spectacular Awards night earlier in the year, with an MSA Index of 65.56. Waverley Station Pty Ltd, King Island Tas, placed 2nd in Class 3 with a pen pf Angus steers. The Bendotti Family from Pemberton WA were awarded 1st place with a pen of three Angus steers in Class 2 and

WA ANGUS NEWS June 2021

The Campbell Family, AS & M Campbell continued their success in this competition, receiving 2nd in both Class, 1 and Class 2 with teams of three purebred Angus steers and 3rd and 5th in Class 1 with teams of three Angus Influenced steers (Charolais cross Angus). NJ & JM Southorn, Forbes NSW placed 4th Class 6, in Grain fed – Pen of three Export chiller bullocks – 300 – 420kg, with a pend of three Angus steers. *NB - Beef Australia does not provide breed information with their results. This information has been sourced either from other media sources or from breeders. If you have results to add to this article, please contact marketing@angusaustralia.com.au (*From Angus e-News, May 2021)

“ANGUS YOUTH NEWS...” WA YOUNG ACHIEVER AWARDS

THE ROUNDUP’S BACK!

Recently the 7 News Young Achiever Awards for Western Australia were held at the Golden Ballroom of the Pan Pacific Hotel Perth. The Young Achiever Awards acknowledge, encourage, and most importantly promote the positive achievements of all young people throughout Australia up to and including 29 years of age as of 31st December each year.

The Angus Youth National Roundup is back in 2022, heading to Wodonga, Victoria January 13th-16th.

3-4 category finalists are selected for each award category and from the finalists, one is selected as the category award winner, with the judging panel including representatives from award sponsors, community leaders and independent expert judges. Western Australian Angus Youth member Billi Marshall (24) from Dongara, who was the 2020 Angus Australia Trans-Tasman Exchange, was a finalist for the Elders Achievement Award. Billi is a cattle breeding technician at BOS Vet and Rural in Dongara. She was pivotal in securing their accreditation as the only Bovine Embryo collection centre qualified for export in WA. Billi is one of the few in WA to hold an accreditation as a Lay pregnancy-tester for cattle. She is the Chairperson of the WA Youth Cattle Handlers Camp, an organisation that trains kids and young adults, from age 8 -25, in the skills of cattle handling and assessment. In 2020, Billi founded AdvocateAG, a social networking platform for those in agriculture, to connect, socialise and encourage conversations with like -minded people. Although she wasn’t the overall winner Billi should be very proud of being a finalist and all that she is achieving in the agricultural field. If you would like some more information please check out @AdvocateAGnetwork on Facebook. Congratulations Billi!!

Angus Youth is excited to announce the formation of the Roundup Organising Committee, who will assist the Roundup Event Manager in running the national event. Chairing the newly formed committee will be Annie Pumpa. Annie resides in Tabletop, NSW where she works for ABS Australia as a sales representative for both beef and dairy. Annie comes with a long history in the beef industry, having grown up in Culcairn NSW in the Riverina on a family run mixed enterprise operation and being actively involved in the seedstock sector over the last 10 years. Joining Annie will be the following committee members: Zoe Cargill, Braidwood NSW, Lochie McLauchlan, Glenormiston North Vic, Lilli Stewart, Birregurra Vic, Jack Laurie, Moppy NSW, Monique McKinnon, Scone NSW, Aimee Bolton, Congupna Vic and Kaiti Mcgregor, Bell Qld. The Angus Youth Roundup Organising Committee provides guidance and assistance to the Angus Youth Roundup Event Manager in planning, promoting and conducting the 2022 Angus Youth National Roundup. Toni Nugent will take on the role of Roundup Event Manager and will be at the helm of running the Roundup with the Organising Committee. Members are encouraged to keep up to date via the Angus Australia website and Angus Youth social media channels for information and updates regarding entries and any news relating to Roundup 2022. For further information regarding Roundup, please contact Toni Nugent, M: 0418 974 775 or E: toninugent20@gmail.com

*From Angus e-News 15th June 2021 WA ANGUS NEWS June 2021

A Friendly Final Sale Farewell... By Margaret Parsonage

It was as we were driving up the driveway to Jim and Pams, I fully realised it was their last bull sale as Ardcairnie Angus. There was a good lot of cars and trucks there, all good signals for a good sale. There were faces there I knew and faces I didn’t, and it was lovely to meet the Dewar Family, the new owners of the Ardcairnie Angus stud. It also felt like there were some people there from previous sales, simply there to show their gratitude. The sale went well with Ardcairnie Q39 topping the sale at $12,250. On very short notice I arranged with Richard Metcalfe to make a speech on behalf of the WA Angus Committee and community and we also arranged for some celebratory cakes for Jim and Pam’s new beginning. Jamie Heart and the staff from Kojonup Elders couldn’t have been more helpful, especially spreading the word to let people know to stay and acknowledge Jim and Pam. Travis King also made a speech with special mention of Jim and his pushbike and Pam also said a few words as well and lots of laughs were shared. Towards the end of the afternoon I asked Pam if they were happy with their decision and Pam simply said that they were and that it was going to be good where they were going to in Harvey. On a personal level I am very glad that they will still be involved with the WA Angus Committee, both Jim and Pam have a wealth of knowledge and are always willing to help. I wish them all the best for the future.

* Thanks to Margaret for sharing these kind words & arranging the photographs (I was more than happy to help with the dictation) & like Margaret wish Jim and Pam all the best for the future!! WA ANGUS NEWS June 2021

Review of Angus Selection Indexes The review and updating of the selection indexes that are published in the TransTasman Angus Cattle Evaluation continues to progress. The Angus Breeding Index, Domestic Index, Heavy Grain Index and Heavy Grass Index, are economic indexes that balance the genetic merit of animals for individual traits to produce an overall “score” of an animal’s combined genetic value for the breeding objective defined by each index. The economic and production parameters that underpin the four selection indexes, along with the software that is used to calculate the index values, were updated in December 2020. However, based on feedback from members, the updates were removed to enable further consultation and development to be undertaken during 2021.

dertaken in the updating of the selection indexes, is available on the Angus Australia website.

*From Angus e-News 17th June 2021

ANGUS WA STATE COMMITTEE MEETING NOTICE All members are advised that the next meeting of the ANGUS WA STATE COMMITTEE is scheduled to be held on -

Friday 23rd July 2021 At 10.30am

The first stage of this consultation was undertaken in April with the conduct of a member survey, and the facilitation of a number of focus groups.

The meeting will be held at 1 Graylands Road, Claremont Showgrounds, Administration Building

Further information regarding the outcomes from this consultation, along with the next steps that will be un-

Please email Jack Martin if you have any queries jack.martin@raswa.org.au

WA ANGUS NEWS June 2021

REPORT FROM THE 102ND ANGUS AUSTRALIA AGM The 102nd Angus Australia Annual General Meeting (AGM) was conducted on Thursday 28th May 2021 with 25 members present either in person, via videoconference, or by proxy. At the AGM, President Sam White tabled the Financial Report for the Angus Society of Australia and Controlled Entities, the Director’s Declaration, and the Independent Auditors Report for the financial year ended 31 December 2020. The President noted that 2020 had been another successful year for the Angus breed and Angus Australia. He stated that while it had been extraordinary times in many respects, despite the various challenges of 2020, Angus Australia came through the year strongly and even better prepared for any future circumstances. He noted that apart from the obvious constraints on face-to-face engagement with members due to the COVID-19 response, the Angus Australia staff were able to maintain services to members during the year with minimal interruption. The President recognised that 2020 still had its environmental challenges for some members with continued drought for some, and the impact of floods, fires and plagues on others. Nevertheless, it was generally a much better year for most compared to the preceding years of prolonged drought faced by many members. This, coupled with extremely strong market conditions for Angus cattle resulted in a much more favourable year for most members. The President acknowledged that in 2020 there were 39 members recognized with 25 years of membership; and, 4 members recognised with 50 years continuous membership including Gralunga (SA), Chale (Tas), Tibooburra Angus (Vic) and Mundoo (NSW). Barwidgee Pastoral Company attained 75 years of membership. The President advised that in early 2021, Honorary Life Membership was awarded to Mr Ron Cowley from Pinnaroo, South Australia. The President noted that sadly, 2020 saw the passing of Honorary Life Members Mr Andrew Gubbins from Victoria, Mr James Litchfield from NSW and Mr Colin Lyons from South Australia, and in recent weeks Mr Lew Smit from Western Australia. The President extended his sincere condolences to the families of these Honorary Life Members who, all in their unique ways, made enormous contributions to Angus Australia and to the success of the Angus breed over many years. The President advised that the following Directors would form the 2021 Angus Australia Board: from NSW – Mrs Erica Halliday, Mr Sam White and Mr James Laurie; from Victoria – Mr Brad Gilmour and Mr Hamish McFarlane; from Western Australia – Mr Andrew Kuss; from Tasmania – Mr Jock Hughes; and, from South Australia – Mr Perry Gunner. At the subsequent Board meeting conducted following the AGM, Mr Sam White was re-elected as President, and Mrs Erica Halliday re-elected as Vice-President, for the term up to and including the 2022 AGM. The Board also appointed Mr Ben Hill to the vacant position of State-elected Director for Queensland. Full minutes of the 2020 AGM will be made available to members via the Members Area of the Angus Australia website. At the Board meeting Directors considered numerous items, including:

• •

Composition of Board Committees

• •

Report on progress against Budget and Operational Plan KPIs

• • •

Continuation of the Australian Angus Reference Population program for an additional five cohorts (Cohorts 12 -16)

Composition of the Angus Sire Reference Program Consultative Committee, the Genetic Evaluation Consultative Committee, and the Angus Youth National Roundup Committee Amendments to Regulation 6.25 (Registration of embryo transfer calves) and Regulation 6.44 (Registration of animals recorded with other breed associations). Strategy for further development of BreedObject V6 selection indexes

Decision to further postpone hosting of the World Angus Forum Where relevant, further information will be provided to the membership over coming weeks on specific items resolved by the Board, including the details of any resulting Regulation changes. The next Board meeting is scheduled for the 12-13th August 2021. Peter Parnell Chief Executive Officer *From Angus e-News 2nd June 2021

WA ANGUS NEWS June 2021

Notification of Regulation changes - June 2021 Angus Australia wishes to advise members that at its recent meeting, the Angus Australia Board made some amendments to the Angus Australia Regulations. Amendment of Regulation 6.25 At its recent meeting, the Angus Australia Board amended Regulation 6.44 to remove the need to include flush reports, as follows: 6.25 EMBRYO TRANSFER CALVES In addition to the general requirements for registration, the following points apply to the registration of calves bred by embryo transplant (ET calves): (i) Identification of the donor dam and the sire, (ii) Identification, breed code and year of birth of recipient dam, (iii) Date of embryo transplant (implant), (iv) For calves recorded in the HBR, APR, ACR or MBR, if the donor dam is born on or after 1/1/2004, a DNA profile for the donor dam will normally be required to be recorded with the Society. (v) If the donor dam is born on or after 1/1/2018, the DNA profile must be a SNP profile with a minimum of 5,000 SNPs. Amendment to Regulation 6.44 At its recent meeting, the Angus Australia Board amended Regulation 6.44 to streamline the registration process for animals recorded with another Breed Association (e.g. sires being imported from overseas), as follows: 6.44 REGISTRATION OF ANIMALS RECORDED WITH OTHER BREED ASSOCIATIONS An application for registration of an animal recorded with another breed association in the HBR, APR or MBR must normally include: (i) name of the animal, (ii) unique identification number (iii) registration number recorded with other breed association, (iv) three generation pedigree, (v) date of birth, (vi) country of birth, (vii) evidence that the animal is recorded with the other breed association, (viii) evidence of the animal’s recorded status with the other breed association for any genetic conditions monitored by the Society, (ix) a letter of authorisation from the current owner of the animal with the other breed association; and (x) a tissue, semen or hair sample for DNA testing at a Society approved laboratory. In addition, the registration fee for animals registered with another society/overseas will be increased from $110.00 (incl GST) to $165.00 (incl GST) which would include the cost of DNA testing. *From Angus e-News, June 2nd 2021

For more information please contact the Angus Australia office on - (02) 6773 4600 WA ANGUS NEWS June 2021

Recording Embryo Transfer Calves - Information for members With higher levels of ET calves being registered with Angus Australia members should be aware of a regulation that may cause issue in the registration of calves that fail parent verification. Often members will downgrade a HBR or APR dam to Recipient status to be used as a surrogate dam. Surrogate dams are often backed up to a natural joining in case the embryo transfer fails. Periodically an Embryo Transfer calf will fail DNA Parent Verification (PV) and the member will seek to change the parents of the calf to that of the recipient dam and naturally joined bull. The issue arises when the embryo transfer fails, and the recipient dam calves to a natural pregnancy. The following regulation is then applied: 6.40 The dam of an animal recorded in the HBR, APR, ACR or MBR can only be amended if it is accompanied by a full DNA parent verification (i.e. both sire and dam). In theory this is a straightforward process however often the recipient dam will not have a DNA profile meaning that the calf parentage cannot be changed until the recipient dam has been DNA tested. In practice this can be inconvenient and incurs additional costs. There are several solutions for members in this position:

1. Ensure that recipient dams have a DNA profile; 2. In the case that a recipient dam does not have a DNA profile be prepared to DNA test the dam to Parent Verify the calve to the natural parents; or 3. Record the calf without a Dam (ie record the calf with a sire only). The calf will then be recorded as a pending animal. Then conduct parent verification to the donor dam and sire(s) after recording the calf – in this case if the calf qualifies to the donor dam and sire the parentage can easily be amended. If it does not qualify to the donor, the calf is able to be recorded with the recipient dam and correct sire. The third method would be most suitable for members who do not wish to conduct DNA testing on recipient females. *From Angus e-News June 9th, 2021

WA ANGUS NEWS June 2021

BULL SALE RESULTS

WA ANGUS NEWS June 2021

ANGUS SIRE BENCHMARKING - COHORT 12 It’s time to nominate bulls for the next round of the Angus Sire Benchmarking program (ASBP) to produce the Cohort 12 progeny. The joining program will commence in August 2021 and will involve approximately 2,000 Angus cows across several co-operator herds. The benefits of bulls entering the ASBP include:

•

Close genetic linkage to the Angus Australia genomics reference population ensures research outcomes will be highly relevance to your herd. • Be involved in world leading research in areas such as development of genomic tools, new meat quality traits such as fatty acid profiles and testing for immune competence. • Receive high accuracy EBVs, particularly for hard to measure traits such as abattoir carcase data and female reproduction. • Receive progeny average values and sire rankings from within the ASBP, including traits such as MSA Index and MSA Marbling Score. • Involvement in Australia’s most comprehensive beef cattle progeny test program including large contemporary groups.

gram with the aim to join each bull to at least 50 cows by fixed time AI. The bull selection criteria will be based on genetic diversity, breeding values, selection indexes and their relationship to sires already used in the ASBP. Bull nominations are required before Monday August 2nd, 2021. For further details on the ASBP and to nominate bulls for Cohort 12 visit the Angus Australia website www.angusaustralia.com.au For all questions in relation to the nomination process or the ASBP in general please contact Christian Duff, Angus Australia Strategic Projects Manager M: 0457 457 141 or email: christian@angusaustralia.com.au *From Angus e-News

30 to 40 bulls will be selected for the 2021 joining pro-

WA ANGUS NEWS June 2021

From the Vet Should you ear notch or vaccinate? It really depends…ask your heifers! If you are reading this, you must be aware that BVD is the most significant disease affecting Southern Australian beef producers. If you are a seed stock producer, your produce is inherently presumably more valuable, hence the cost of BVD would be greater if your livestock were affected. Most Angus breeders are familiar with testing their sale produce to protect their clients but let me introduce you to a simple concept which should resonate with you, assuming you have chosen to invest in or are considering investing in herd level BVD control within your enterprise. It is my dream that every producer in Australia will work with their veterinarian to annually collect blood samples from a small proportion of each of their replacement heifer groups prior to mating to estimate their BVD immune status and then to act upon those results. At the low cost of a buck or two (distributed over the entire heifer group), the blood test results will provide a true value proposition for investment in the systematic management of BVD. Quite simply, immune heifers should be ear notch tested and naïve (heifers unexposed to BVD) vaccinated. If performed consistently and annually, each new generation of replacement heifers will go on to be mated both immune and PI free… The cost of BVD has been estimated at between $20 and $90 per breeder on affected endemic properties. Part of the variability in the cost of BVD relates to timing. When previously unexposed or unvaccinated animals make close contact with a Persistently Infected animal (PI), they almost invariably contract BVD, resulting in significant immune suppression and potential reproductive losses. Immune suppression can be significant if the affected animals are under stress or other disease challenge such as during a scours outbreak, pink eye challenge, or the early phases of lot feeding. Reproductive losses can occur at any stage of pregnancy, but are most significant during mating or early pregnancy, and can result in the production of more PI calves. Estimates of the cost of BVD also vary as they are linked directly to the value of the production system. As producers of some of Australia’s most valuable beef and genetics, there is no doubt in my mind that every Angus producer should be paying close attention to BVD and should strive for freedom from the virus within their own production system. BVDV is unique in that it is transmitted and maintained almost exclusively by PI animals. PI animals themselves were exposed to BVDV before they were born, whilst in utero. Either their dam was a PI herself, or, more commonly, she became infected with the virus whilst pregnant. When exposed between one and four months of gestation the calf’s developing immune system mistakenly assumes that the virus is “normal”. If the calf survives to birth, its immune system will continue to ignore the virus. They are born and remain Persistently Infected with BVDV for life. If you control PI’s, you will control BVD. I established our laboratory in Esperance in early 2006, in order to provide Australian producers and their veterinarians access to simple and accurate PI diagnosis from easily harvested ear notch tissue. Ours was the first laboratory of its kind in the southern hemisphere and it has led to us meeting hundreds of amazing Angus stud breeders whilst testing close to three quarter of a million ear notch samples for Persistent Infection. We work with hundreds of veterinarians and thousands of producers helping them to construct herd specific and herd level systematic BVD eradication programs. WA ANGUS NEWS June 2021

I have learned a lot in the past 15 years. I have learned that if you don’t manage BVD actively, BVD can actively manage to smash your bottom line. Over the years I have come to realize that actively measuring and managing the immune status of your replacement heifers is the key to the systematic and most cost effective management of BVD. I was lucky enough to help eradicate BVD from arguably one of Australia’s top Angus studs in the late 2000’s. They had been aware that BVD was circulating within their herd, but as the tools to manage BVD were quite new at the time, they were of the opinion that their endemic status and their management system was acceptable. They not only learned differently, but also helped to educate others by allowing me to openly discuss their “wreck”. A group of “Y” replacement heifers had included one PI heifer. They were AI’d, then backed up by bull cover. Their pregnancy rate was normal, months later they commenced calving and everything appeared to be normal. However, one of the pregnant heifers was a PI, and therefore her calf at foot was a PI as well. The mob of approximately 300 first calvers were then resynchronized, AI’d, backed up with bulls again, and then preg tested. Meanwhile, a new group of “Z” heifers were also being mated. At preg test 335 of them were diagnosed as pregnant. Importantly, these heifers had been selected from every management group within the registered herd of over 1,000 females… except the previous year’s “Y” heifers… they had been yearlings when the “Z” heifers had been born. All of the mothers of all of the “Z” heifers were immune to BVD… because they had ALL been exposed to BVD previously… however… none of the “Z” heifers had been reared with a PI… as we soon found out. The season was tight… and a sound decision was made to box the “Y” and “Z” mobs to simplify feeding shortly after preg testing, which had been performed at 42 days after the bulls were removed. Up until the point of calving, roughly 50 heifers aborted, another approximately 50 calves died between calving and weaning, and of the remaining 240 calves that were weaned, 120 were PI’s. The PI’s were either euthanized or sold to slaughter. Conservatively, one PI “Y” heifer had cost this stud half a million dollars… without measuring the lost opportunity in genetic improvement… What could we have done differently had our tools been available at the time? Had we blood tested 5% of the “Y” heifers, we would have invested in ear notch testing. We would have found the PI and she would have been culled. The remainder of the heifers would not have benefited from vaccination, instead their management tag would have been notched to indicate their immune status, and to flag them as not requiring an annual Pestigard booster. The wreck would have been averted. Had we blood tested 5% of the “Z” heifers, we would have instead invested in Pestigard for their management. If the status of the “Y” heifers were still unknown, perhaps they wouldn’t have boxed them after preg testing. If they had been boxed, and the PI remained within the “Y” heifers, the “wreck” would have been greatly diminished. Pestigard has been shown to be 80% efficacious at protecting an unborn fetus carried by a naïve cow or heifer from either becoming a PI itself or suffering reproductive loss. This is actually exceptionally good for a BVD vaccine compared to most of the rest of the world’s BVD vaccines. Had the mob of “Z” heifers been vaccinated when they were boxed with the “Y” heifers including a PI… roughly 10 heifers would have likely aborted, 10 more would have died prior to weaning, and roughly 24 of the remaining 220 or so calves would have likely been a PI. The remarkable part of this story, is that vaccinating the “Z” heifers could have saved 80% of the estimated $500,000 cost of this BVD outbreak…however, without context, most producers would have assumed the vaccine had failed. Pestigard is a highly efficacious vaccine for the management of BVD. Our own trial work has demonstrated this. Ear notch testing is an exceptionally accurate diagnostic tool for identifying PI animals. Blood testing a proportion of your replacement heifers once they are over 8 months old having been consistently and completely commingled for at least two months is a very accurate way to measure the immune status of your replacement heifers well in advance of their first joining. (CONTINUED ON PAGE 22 >>>) WA ANGUS NEWS June 2021

From the Vet (continued) Blood test 5% of your heifers every year prior to joining! Then act! Ear notch them and their management tag if they are immune! Vaccinate them with two doses of Pestigard at least four weeks apart and provide them an annual booster if they are naïve! If each new group of replacement heifers is both immune and PI free… you can both manage BVD and measure the success of your interventions! Want to know what to do next? Ask your heifers! For further advice, ear notch testing, or blood testing, contact your veterinarian, Enoch, or the Swans BVD Lab. Enoch can be contacted at 0427 716 907 or via email at enoch@swansvet.com. The laboratory at Swans Veterinary Services can be contacted at 08 9071 5777 or via email at lab@swansvet.com. Enoch can also be found on YouTube! Check out “Enoch the Cow Vet” to subscribe for beef cattle veterinary content, to be grossed out, or to have a laugh!

*Thanks to Enoch for this informative contribution it is greatly appreciated!

WA ANGUS NEWS June 2021

PLEASE REMEMBER if you need some advice about Covid-19, weather events 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

Did you miss Angus CONNECT? If you missed the Angus CONNECT Research & Development Update don’t worry, you can now watch the event in full on the Angus Australia YouTube Channel!!

AND...MAKE SURE YOU CHECK OUT

“BEHIND THE BEEF!” THE BRAND NEW ANGUS AUSTRALIA PODCAST!

WA ANGUS NEWS June 2021