Our decision to withdraw our bulls from Brahman Week may have put us in the spotlight but as time goes by we are very comfortable with the decision we have made.  Joe and Sarah may decided to do something again further into the future but that will be their decision.  Debbie and I have decided that we don't want to be putting ourselves under the pressure of trying to be competitive at Brahman Week when the direction we are going with our cattle seems to be down a different road. 

We started on this journey quite some years ago now and we are finding it more and more difficult to keep a leg on each side of the fence.  We believe this decision will free us up to put more effort into breeding functional Brahman cattle for the commercial environment.  In recent years we have become very passionate about meat quality and the health of our cattle and soil, and this has opened our minds to many things. 

We believe that line breeding and selecting for traits that will give us functional cattle is the right way to go for us. We intend to incorporate gene marker-assisted selection to our cattle more into the future, particularly for meat quality traits.  We believe that the stigma of poor eating quality in Bos indicus animals need not exist, if selection tools for meat quality are embraced.  Marker-assisted EBVs for tenderness is a positive move in this direction, as we are now presented with a tool to allow for this selection. 

Our primary aim is to breed seedstock who will perform under northern Australia's extreme grazing condition.  This is the environment where Brahman cattle have always had the predominant market share, and will only continue to do so if the renown functional traits are preserved in the breed.  We believe that the Brahman seedstock producer holds this responsibility to the commercial cattleman, to ensure that their operation remains profitable within the harsh environment it must exist.

Breakthrough in Selection for Meat Quality

We were pleased to hear that there has been, what we believe to be a significant breakthrough in the field of genetic selection for meat quality.  GeneSTAR Tenderness marker data will be used to develop the first Australian marker-assisted (MA-EBV).  The MA-EBVs incorporation into BREEDPLAN is due for release in October this year. 

The reason why we are so thrilled to see this development, is because we believe that this is a giant step in the right direction for the uptake of this technology in the breed.  We have been using the GeneSTAR Tenderness technology for a number of years now, as meat quality has become a focus of our breeding program. We now only use 3* or higher graded sires. 

Those who have been somewhat wary about the 'gene tests', may have been so for two reasons.  1.  The unknown, not understanding the technology, what it means or how it works.  2.  Suspicious as to whether there is any proof in the pudding, and whether there is going to be any added benefits from outlaying the money for DNA testing.  Firstly, for the GeneSTAR tenderness analysis to be incorporated into BREEDPLAN as an EBV, data from the SmartGene Project (initiated by MLA, Beef CRC and Catapult Genetics) had to show that the panel of gene markers which are tested for, had a significant effect on tenderness.  The results of this study for tenderness were positive, resulting in the decision to develop the MA-EBV.  Furthermore, Beef CRC/MLA research is investigating the use of DNA markers in the MSA grading model.  This could be a major step forward for the Brahman breed, where Bos indicus cattle have been discriminated against in the past.  If Brahman cattle with positive GenetSTAR tenderness scores can enter the MSA grading system with a discounting factor, the benefits to producers from genetic selection in this direction could be significant.

Beef Week

It is the close observation of little things which is the secret of success in business, in art, in science and in every pursuit of life.

                      -Samuel Smiles