Having been dissatisfied with Breedplan for some time now, and after careful consideration we have decided to end our association with this scheme. Because we have a closed herd, (a move forced on us about 10 years ago because we wanted to maintain Pure NZ bloodlines), Breedplan has become pretty well meaningless to us for several reasons. Firstly Group Breedplan relies heavily on link sires to other herds so that comparisons can be made. We breed all our own sires so that our herd lacks these links. Interestingly though, when stud bulls we sell get out into other herds, they perform well. A good example is the bull we sold to David Giddens. Waimata I652 is now a trait leader for 200 day growth ! At +43 he is well above the breed average of +31. His pedigree is Pure NZ i.e. no American blood. Likewise the bull Waimata E230 when he went to Alistair Sharp’s Waitawheta Stud he developed some impressive figures for a Pure NZ bull. +59 for 400 day growth, +82 for 600 day growth, +102 for Mature cow weight, and +12 for milk. All these figures are above the breed average. Secondly Breedplan seems to discount home bred sires in favour of imported sires. Mindful of the need for some form of objective performance measure, we are currently investigating DNA tests for several traits including Tenderness, Marbling, and most interestingly a gene marker test for feed conversion efficiency. As our cost of production is determined by the amount of feed consumed by our cattle, this latter trait has very exciting possibilities for identifying and breeding cattle which excel at converting grass to beef. I suspect that feed conversion efficiency will be found to be linked to constitution, something not measured by breedplan but so important if NZ is going to take full advantage of the coming worldwide swing to grass fed beef.

Although it’s early days, the prospect of being able to test an amimal for economically important

traits is an exciting concept.Unlike Breedplan where predicitions about an animal’s breeding potential are calculated via a complex computer programme, DNA marker tests simply determine if an animal has the genes being tested for, or not. If it has they will be passed on to the progeny. No guesses, no estimates simply 100% certainty. At present there are tests available for 3

Traits, marbling, tenderness, and most importantly, FEED CONVERSION EFFICIENCY. There is a big variation between animals in the amount of feed consumed to put on a Kilo of beef. Here at Waimata Angus we have spent the last 35 years selecting for 2 main traits, Constitution and

Growth. We felt constitution had to be tied to feed conversion ability.To test this theory we decided to subject 200 Heifers and Bulls to the Genestar suit of tests.We have been extremely pleased with the results which indicate a very high incidence of  tenderness and feed conversion Genes. One sire, a young son of Waimata Skytower, Waimata Skyline Sn 826 has an impressive maximum 8 stars for tenderness, and 7/8 for feed conversion efficiency. This is an exciting package, as the bull himself is a very impressive animal. Great size combined with a superb temperament. He has been to Tararua Breeding centre for collection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

      Skytower continues to produce them. Waimata Skyhigh 228 is one of the very rare bulls with 8/8 for tenderness AND 8/8 for Feed conversion efficiency. This is the bull that caught the attention of Bill Doyle South Dakota on a recent visit. We have sold semen from this bull to numerous studs in the USA & Canada, all expressing the desire to get back to more feed efficient cattle. They are saying this the only way they they can control their cost of production. There is a huge

difference between animals in the amount of feed required to put on a kilo of beef.

When feed grain was cheap, efficiency wasn’t an issue. Those days have gone forever. Here in NZ our costs half gone through the roof as well. Here on Otonga          I don’t think we will ever get back to the days of putting on 300 tonnes of super each year. Pastures on the steep hills will inevitably deteriorate and only cattle with fleshing and constitution will handle these conditions. We have been told many times by clients that bulls they have bought from us continue to grow and put on weight whereas bulls bought elsewhere seldom regain their sale day weight. Waimata Angus cattle are bred to thrive on hill country grass, and have been selected and bred from the environment in which they are expected to perform.