Weight for age, carcase weight and yield – keys to Raff Angus bulls’ performance

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WITH the whole beef business’s targets in direction of Carbon Neutrality by 2030 and moderating methane emissions, effectivity of manufacturing techniques turns into more and more essential.

In consequence, an environment friendly animal that takes much less days on feed to achieve a delegated weight and fatness, and produces a heavy carcase weight should clearly produce much less methane, Raff Angus principal Andrew Raff says.

Celebrating its fifty-ninth 12 months of devoted Angus seedstock breeding for the Australian beef business, Raff Angus will maintain its annual bull sale at Drillham, Queensland on Friday 16 August.

“Understanding the significance of balancing all issues ‘measured’ with ‘on floor breed character and uncooked efficiency’, we proceed to call this 12 months’s sale the ‘Boots on the Floor Annual Spring Bull Sale’,” Andrew mentioned.

“We strongly encourage and welcome everybody to personally examine our 2024 draft of bulls to offer alternative to not solely eyeball our providing, however to permit for a bit of extra perception into our pedigree, efficiency, and common breeding path that our herd has developed to develop into,” he mentioned.

Since institution in 1965, Raff Angus has had a transparent breeding path – that’s, to keep up all of the fantastic pure qualities of an Angus animal together with calving ease, distinctive maternal and carcase qualities, together with their skill to forage and survive in a variety of environments.

“Nonetheless, our genetics should additionally excel for weight-for-age, carcase weight and yield. Feed conversion can also be essential. We purpose to supply cattle that may eat much less feed per day relative to their particular person weight and charge of weight achieve. These key choice preferences proceed to make our herd genetically distinctive,” Andrew mentioned.

2024 RNA Paddock to Palate competitors

Underlining the breeding and choice emphasis throughout the Raff seedstock herd, had been outcomes achieved from this 12 months’s RNA Paddock to Palate Competitors.

1977 was the final time the Raffs entered a pen of steers right into a cattle competitors. In that case, they had been oats crop ready and entered within the Brisbane Royal Present Prime Cattle Competitors the place they acquired first place.

We now have at all times revered those that current their genetics – significantly seedstock producers – into public competitions the place the ‘good or dangerous’ outcomes can be found for the general public to brazenly scrutinise,” Andrew mentioned.

RNA Paddock to Palate competitors steers

This 12 months Raff Angus entered a pen of steers into Australia’s most commercially-relevant beef provide chain competitors – the RNA Paddock to Palate competitors incorporating feedlot weightgain, carcase high quality and MSA consuming high quality. In early March, when simply 13 months of age, seven autumn 2023-born steers had been chosen from a gaggle and headed north to Queensland’s JBS Beef Metropolis feedlot. They began their 100-day feed time period with an entry liveweight averaging 420kg.

A mid-term discipline day was held in June together with the RNA Paddock to Palate Weight Acquire Awards Presentation the place the Raff steers produced excellent competitors outcomes:

100-day HGP-Free Export class:

Champion Particular person weightgain steer – 2.79kg/day. With 196 displays representing all main breeds, this Champion Raff Angus Steer weighed 723kg at simply 16.5 months.
2nd place, Pen of six weightgain – 2.47kg/day. This pen had a gaggle common stay weight of 662kg at simply 16.5 months and competed in opposition to 28 pen teams inside their class.

Grassfed MSA steers weigh heavy – commercially related…

In late January the Raff household despatched 110 steers off King Island throughout to Greenham at Smithton, Tasmania for processing. These had been the entire draft, backside 50pc of male calves born, of each spring (Sept/October 2021) and autumn (Feb/March 2022) born steers. 100% pasture raised and on-farm fattened, these animals had not acquired any grain, silage, or hay dietary supplements since weaning.

The steers yielded a 40kg heavier carcase compared nationally to all steers processed and graded via MSA on that day.

With the grid worth of $5.40/kg it equated to a $216/head earnings benefit. For this consignment, it added an additional $23,760 in worth.

Over the previous 4 years the Raffs have offered 670 prime yearling milk tooth grass completed steers and heifers. In contrast nationally throughout the Meat & Livestock myMSA dashboard benchmark, they’ve netted $365/head extra worth, to gross an additional $244,960 over the previous 4 years.

100 bulls promote at Raff Angus 2024 sale

Raff Angus will supply 100 bulls at its 2024 Annual Bull Sale beginning at 1pm on Friday 16 August.

The 100 bulls might be divided into three teams, for autumn and spring-born calves, plus a number of used stud sires (used on each cows and heifers) that can lead the sale.

One in all these used sires, Raff Thumper T285, accommodates inside his pedigree Hoff import genetic sires Raff Distinction, Raff Ego, Raff Explosive and our most acclaimed present and distinctive breeding sire Raff Empire E269 – Raff Thumper T285 will impress all…

The used sires might be adopted within the catalogue by 45 spring-born 22-month-old bulls. Inside this group are the primary sons of Raff’s new excessive efficiency AI sire EG Eyes Onyou. His sons are distinctive, exhibiting docility, nice pores and skin sorts, further carcase high quality and excessive muscle inside a compact but heavy physique mass and powerful bone sort.

One such son, Raff Tycoon T356, at 400 days weighed 628kg to be gaining 1.42kg/day (grass solely). He had a body rating of seven with a scrotal measurement of 43cm. Not solely was he a high performer for these traits however he additionally excelled for carcase scanning with even fat 6/6mm, an enormous EMA of 104sq cm and a really excessive IMF% scan of 6.9% – all at 400 days of age.

He’s a twin, along with his retained brother having already been used with semen within the tank. Tycoon’s dam, now a donor, is sired by Raff Dazzler D353 (full brother to Hoff import and the 2012 Brisbane Royal Present Interbreed Champion cow Raff Blackbird D349). Tycoon’s maternal grandam is sired by one other Hoff import sire Raff Dakota D85 (a three-quarter brother to Hoff Restricted Version SC594). Yet another era again and a full sister to one of the vital common and profitable Australian bred AI sires of his time, Raff Midland Z204 emerges. Simply magnificent…

Throughout the 50 autumn-born 18 month outdated bulls there’s a numerous genetic combine together with the primary sons of one other excessive efficiency AI sire, Ellingson Three Rivers.

He’s a robust bull with further size and again finish form that maintains body measurement. One IVF son, from Hoff Blackbird E267/O’Neill’s Expedition import cow, recorded a 114sq cm EMA at simply 16 months. A full brother to him has been retained.

All of the sale bulls might be:

Morphology Examined – Breeding Soundness Examined by Ced Smart AB Providers.
Absolutely Efficiency Recorded – Calving ease scored. Weighed 200, 400 & 600 days. Measured for scrotal measurement & body rating. Ultrasound scanned for carcase – EMA, IMF% & Rib/Rump fats. TransTasman Angus Cattle Evaluated – TACE.
Genomic Examined – HD50K – 21 traits.
Vaccinated – Tick Fever, 3 Day Illness, Vibrio, Pestiguard, Ultravac 7in1, Bovilus MH+IBR.
Father or mother Verified – full herd.
Pesti Virus – examined free & double vaccinated.

Uncooked Knowledge together with weights, whole-of-life ADG, docility rating, body and scrotal measurement and ultrasound scanning knowledge might be detailed inside sale catalogue.

Up to date weights obtainable on sale day.

Particular person lot movies and photographs might be obtainable on the Raff Angus web site from 1 August.

Whereas the Raff Angus seedstock herd has its origins in Queensland, the breeding operations moved to King Island a decade in the past.

“While now we have moved south, Raff Angus offers absolute assurance to our northern shoppers that we’re completely dedicated to holding an annual public sale sale for our bulls in Queensland,” Andrew Raff mentioned.