Moving towards a more sustainable beef production system

Ian Locke

Wirruna Poll Hereford Stud

“Spring Valley” Holbrook, NSW 2644

AUSTRALIA

(Ian Locke is the managing partner of a family grazing business called Wirruna Poll Hereford Stud (WPHS) located at Holbrook, NSW, in the south eastern part of Australia. Having completed a Degree in Agricultural Economics (University of New England, Armidale) and an early career as an agricultural business consultant in Sydney and Orange in NSW, Ian began his farming career in 1994 following his passion in growing grass and beef cattle. Ian has grown a significant bull breeding business in Wirruna Poll Hereford Stud and runs a prime lamb breeding flock. As well as hands-on agriculture, Ian chairs the International Beef Recording Scheme (BREEDPLAN®) and is a Board member of the Agricultural Business Research Institute (ABRI) in Armidale.)

Introduction

There is a common theme of beef producers all over the world, to produce beef profitably with high market acceptance and at low cost. Often this needs to be done against a backdrop of declining ‘terms of trade’, which requires continual improvements to the production system in order to remain competitive and sustainable in a world market.

In this paper, I aim to present the major factors that should be considered in designing and maintaining a low cost beef production system and then focus on the value of genetic improvement to make continual gains. I believe that low cost production systems win at the end of the day. After all, the major comparative advantage of the beef cow (and other ruminants) is that she eats ‘grass’ and turns it into protein. Generally, there is lots of grass with very little use to other industry or mankind, making it a low cost input.

To begin with, I wish to give you some background on the Beef Industry in Australia, our production system at Wirruna and some of the foundations of my thinking. Hopefully this information is both relevant and useful for your beef businesses in South Africa.

In Australia, we have close to 30 million head of cattle (2.5% of the world’s cattle population). Over 65% of the beef we produced is exported and there is also a significant live cattle trade of approximately seven hundred thousand head per year. Our heavy reliance on this very competitive world export beef market has heightened the need for beef producers to meet product quality standards of different markets and to produce beef at low cost when compared to our competitors.

Location & Climate

Our property “Spring Valley” is located at Holbrook in southern NSW.

When compared to the latitude of South Africa, our location is below the Cape of Good Hope at about the 35  S parallel while Durban is on the 30  S parallel. Nevertheless, we do sell many bulls up to the Tropic of Capricorn which lies to the North of South Africa.

(Wirruna Poll Herefords)We have a temperate climate with winter dominant rainfall averaging around 708 mm/annum. Springs are very reliable (10% of Springs fail) and Autumns not so reliable (60% of Autumns’ fail). We grow 80% of our pasture in Spring and therefore our livestock systems are designed around calving and lambing and growing out animals in Spring when the pasture is available.

The Property-“Spring Valley”

The property is 1,520 Ha with around 1,400 Ha usable for grazing livestock. The soils and landscape on the property are highly variable and include alluvial and heavy clay flats to granite based slopes and rocky hills. The soils are naturally acidic (pH = 4.0 – 4.5 in CaCl2) and inherently infertile (7 – 9 mg/kg Olsen P). Nevertheless the country is very responsive to inputs of lime and super phosphate.

The property is largely improved to mostly highly productive phalaris and sub clover pastures and some ‘feed gap’ pastures such as lucerne, ryegrass and forage rape. We view good pastures as the powerhouse of the business - well fertilised and a grazing system allowing paddocks to be rested ensuring them to, not just survive, but THRIVE.

Pasture type (Ha) - "Spring Valley"

Perennial Pasture

732

48%

Annual Pasture

321

21%

Cropping

110

7%

Native Based Pasture

231

15%

Un-usable (Treelots, sheds, etc)

126

8%

 

1,520

Ha

Table 1

The Enterprises

Both seedstock beef and sheep for prime lamb enterprises are run and driven as hard as we can with a focus on per hectare performance rather than production per head. A flexible backgrounding enterprise is run from June to December, if the season permits utilising surplus spring feed.

Enterprise

Current Livestock No.s

Annual Production

Ave DSE* %-age

Seedstock Beef Cattle

1,200 head(calve 530 Cows)

200,000+ kg beef cattleSell 150+ Poll Hereford Bulls/annum

70%

Prime Lamb Flock(LAMBPRO)

3,400 ewes

12,000kg greasy wool3,200 prime lambs (Stores)Surplus sheep

30%

Backgrounding Feeder Steers

0 - 400(depending on season)

0 - 100,000 kg beef cattle (net)

0-10%

Table 2

* DSE stands for Dry Sheep Equivalents which is the energy required to maintain a non-lactating sheep

Benchmarking

Over the last 20 years we have compared our business to other similar businesses through a Benchmarking service offered by an agricultural consulting firm called Holmes Sackett & Associates. This has been an important foundation to my thinking about running a profitable beef enterprise.

Benchmarking is an excellent tool to highlight the strengths and weaknesses in your business and identify the key drivers that effect profit. Continuous Benchmarking over time allows you to set targets (Benchmarks) and monitor your performance over time to ensure that you remain focussed on these key profit drivers; these are:

· How many kilograms of product you produce per hectare per year (kg/Ha)

· The cost of production of the product ($/kg)

· Price received ($/kg)

Profit = Product x (Price Received - Cost of production)

$/Ha=kg/Ha x ($/kg-COP$/kg )

When we first started Benchmarking, we found that our efforts to restrict expenditure were not helping our profitability. When compared to other farmers we saw that those who ran more stock and spent more on pastures and labour saving infrastructure were more profitable. We recognised that the most profitable beef producers had production systems designed to increase productivity and decrease production costs per kilogram of beef produced. Increasing the number of kilograms of beef produced in the herd can better absorb the fixed costs. And thereby reduce the cost to produce a kg of beef.

Typically, as most beef producers are price takers, there is very little difference in the price received/kg between the top and average commercial beef herds. The differences in Cost of Production (COP) and productivity/Ha, on the other hand, are vast. Luckily, these factors are largely within our control, and that is where we should focus our efforts!

To produce more beef at lower cost, the major factors are:

·

Locke Paper for Aldam Stockmans School 201211 March 2013

Page 3

· The Production System

· An Efficient Cow Herd

· Genetics

· Cost Control

· Animal Health

· Risk Management

·

Through Benchmarking we have developed a deeper understanding of the beef business, and the key drivers that affect beef herd profitability. Using our seedstock beef enterprise as an example, I wish to discuss the importance of designing the production system and developing an efficient cow herd that is screened and selected with-in your particular production environment, for a more sustainable beef business.

Seedstock Beef Enterprise

I am the 3rd generation of the Locke family to manage the Wirruna Poll Hereford herd, which was established by my Grandfather in 1949. Now over 60 years old, the herd benefits from a long history of selection and is among the best performance recorded herds in Australia, having been part of the validation of Breedplan® with a total of some 9,000 animals performance recorded including over 7,000 birthweight records and over 4,400 animals with carcase scan records.

The seedstock beef enterprise differs from most studs in that we place a large emphasis on raising cattle under commercial stress conditions, believing that the genetic outcomes are more applicable to our commercial client. One of my criticisms of the traditional stud industry is that they change their environment to suit their genetics. Meanwhile, the commercial beef producer must have the genetics that suit their environment.

The Production System

Clearly it is important to plan your production system so that you can competitively produce and supply cattle within the demands of the market specifications. Important factors are stocking rate, calving time and steer turn-off time. These need to be considered in the context of your operating environment.

Stocking Rate

Economic modelling of beef herds show that stocking rate has a significant influence on income.

Table 3. Relative Influence on Income

Stocking Rate

8

Fertility

4

Growth Rate

2

Carcase

1

In our environment, carrying the optimum amount of stock that can utilise our Spring flush of feed, yet not be too costly to carry through the ‘winter bottleneck’ of low feed availability, is the key to maximising profitability in a grass fed livestock system.

Stocking rate is a key profit driver and having animals that can cope with high stock rates is crucial to our business. The following graph shows the annual and mid-winter stocking rate per hectare of Wirruna Poll Herefords. We assess stocking rate in units called Dry Sheep Equivalents (DSE).

Graph 1

In this graph we can see that we have been able to drive stocking rates up from around 10-11 DSE/Ha (13,500 DSE) in 1995 to the current 15 DSE/Ha (20,000 DSE) on the same area of land. This is around 50% more highly stocked than the district average. The recent drought which affected much of Australia saw a decline in stocking rates but we have since returned to the pre-drought levels.

The important aspect about Graph 1 is the widening gap between the annual average stocking rate and the mid-winter stocking rate. Total livestock production has grown, but without adding extra pressure to our most difficult feed months in mid-winter. This has resulted from changes in calving and lambing time, timing of stock sales and using trade stock in good years to utilise feed surpluses. These changes to our production system have added greatly to our overall production and resilience in the difficult years. A key factor is that the Spring grown pasture is being better utilised.

Calving Time

In a beef grazing business, grass is one of our major inputs. In designing the production system you want to understand the seasonal fluctuation of both pasture quantity and quality. The following graph 2 shows the pasture production curve for our environment and then the energy requirements of an August calving cow is overlayed on top. As the energy requirement nearly triples during lactation when compared to a dry cow, it is best to calve “into the grass” to minimise supplementary feeding and have only dry cows when there is high likelihood of low feed reserves.

Nature is too expensive to fight, so you must design a system to work with it!

Graph 2

Steer Turn-off time

Again, consideration of ideal steer turnoff time depends on your production environment. Nevertheless, optimising the ratio of steers to cows run can make more efficient use out of your quality feed resources.

Graph 3

A kilogram of quality grass being eaten by a steer for growth can be more efficient than a cow eating the same kilogram for maintenance. So selling calves as weaners, when you have quality grass available is often inefficient. Likewise, bullocks that have reached maturity are eating grass for little or no gain in value.

Many Wirruna clients aim to grow-out and sell steers at around 14-20 months of age for either feedlots to finish (14 to 16 months) or as grass finished animals directly to the abattoir (18 to 20 months). This enables them to capture a further efficiency of utilizing compensatory weight gain with cheaper quality feed resources during a steers second Spring. Sluggish yearling winter weight gains can be efficiently improved over the following Spring flush to result in little final weight difference, but at low feed cost.

Efficient Cow HerdManagement

An efficient cow herd is a key element of profitable beef production systems. Management is the key. A disciplined herd screening process should be implemented so as to only replicate the animals that are in fact ‘doing the job’ in their environment. Any animal that fails to raise a live unassisted calf every year should be culled with no exception and no favourites!

At Wirruna we call this the ‘Hurdle System’. The hurdles for a female to stay in the Wirruna herd are as follows:

1. A heifer must concieve in a 6 week mating period at 14-15 months to calve at 2 years (Cull on empty Preg Test)

2. A heifer must deliver a live unassisted calf

3. Every heifer must bring a calf of acceptable quality through to weaning age

4. Each cow must rebreed in a 6 week mating period

5. Each cow must continue to bring a live unassisted calf of acceptable quality through to weaning age every year.

All that fail the above are removed from the breeding herd.

By setting up this disciplined approach to breeding over the medium term, I believe that you are setting up a highly fertile, efficient and low cost breeding herd well adapted to their environment. The herd becomes easy care, screened for fertility, labour consuming tasks such as dystocia and is simple to manage.

Herd Structure

The Cow herd should be young in age. This is done by retaining at least 90% of heifers for mating, and with plenty of young replacements, cows over 8.5 years are sold (in steady state).

This further benefits the herd by speeding up the rate of genetic gain, increases the average production efficiency of the herd with a higher proportion of younger stock (refer graph 3) and reduces wastage through age related problems such as poor milk, loss of teeth and eye cancer. Also, young herds maximise your inventory value and can better handle the inevitable drought years.

Herd Fertility

I see the best measure of fertility as more calves weaned/cow joined. This means that a fertile cow herd encapsulates reproductive rate, calving ease and calf survival. As the saying goes … “Dead calves have distressingly low growth rates.’ There must be a zero tolerance for fertility failures.

To have a fertile cow herd, obviously you need fertile bulls too. Bulls have extra importance because of their heavy influence over the genetic makeup of the herd, often for 15 years or more.

Genetics

There is no doubt that genetics is important. The wrong genetics in the environment can be disastrous. In the Wirruna production system, we see strains of genetics and particular trait extremes that are often screened out of the cow herd, simply because they are unable to get back in calf every year under our stocking rate pressure. Typically large framed cows, with low genetic fat and cows with high milk can be tested empty at pregnancy testing time.

We believe that our disciplined approach to cow herd management results in a more feed efficient genotype, that is able to cope with high stocking rate conditions. The less feed efficient cows are screened out over time, especially obvious in the tough years.

The Wirruna cow is typically a moderate framed cow with above average genetic fat. These cows tend to be able to ride ‘the condition score roller coaster’ throughout the year. They are easy ‘doing’, put on the weight when the feed is available, and then live off those reserves over the leaner months.

Breedplan

BREEDPLAN® is the world’s leading genetic evaluation system for beef cattle. It producers Estimate Breeding Values (EBVs) or Estimated Progeny Difference (EPDs) for a range of traits. Like Benchmarking, BREEDPLAN® has been an excellent tool for seedstock herds, not only to measure individual traits, but also to benchmark the genetic progress of the herd for those traits.

BREEDPLAN® Traits

GROWTH

FERTILITY

CARCASE

OTHER

Birth Weight (BWT)

Scrotal size (SS)

Carcase weight (CWT)

Docility

Growth -200 Day Weaning (200D)

Days to calving (DtC)

Fat depth – Rump (P8F)

Net feed intake

Growth -400 Day Yearling (400D)

Gestation length (GL)

Fat depth – Rib (Rib)

Flight time

Growth -600 Day Final (600D)

Calving ease-direct (CE-dir)

Retail beef yield (RBY%)

Shear force

Maternal (Milk)

Calving ease-daughters (CE-Mat)

Intramuscular fat (IMF%)

Conformation

Mature Cow Weight (MCW)

Table 4

Wirruna Poll Herefords has performance recorded since the early 1970’s when it became a foundation member of what is now known as BREEDPLAN®.

Genetic Gain

The following diagram is a good illustration of the feeling of lift in your herd’s ability to meet its breeding objectives and market targets. Like a water skier, with not enough power in the boat, poor genetic gains can be dragging down your beef business!

Genetic improvement can be made for an individual trait or across a range of traits. In beef cattle breeding, the rate of genetic improvement is often ‘inherently’ slow. But the best thing about genetic gain is that it is both cumulative & permanent. This emphasises the sustainability aspect of genetic gain – it may take time but the genetic gains are permanent improvements to beef production system and the associated economic consequences. The key is to make gains in the economically relevant traits.

$ Index

Selection Indexes are available to allow the comparison of animals on the basis of how much profit they will generate, per cow joined, in a commercial herd. This is derived from the mix of economic traits measured by BREEDPLAN®.

Graph 4

The $Index is a perfect extension of BREEDPLAN® EBVs and offers an important tool to better focus on the most profitable mix of traits. The Grain-fed $Index, which was introduced for Australian Herefords in 2002, is shown in Graph 4, in this case the Wirruna herd is increasing at over the double the average rate for the Hereford breed. The on-going quest to improve $Index values is the foundation for a sustainable beef business, both to my clients and our own seedstock enterprise.

Analysis of Wirruna Trends

Having being involved in performance recording for over 30 years, the Wirruna herd has a good history of data to analyse to assess the results of genetic selection using BREEDPLAN®. It is important to point out that year to year the phenotypic trends (the light blue bars) can vary because of environmental influences such as drought, changes in stock rate or management regime. Nevertheless, over the longer term, this analysis shows phenotypic improvement in the majority of the traits analysed.

The trends show that genetics are playing a role. Note however, where the R2 figure is low; this reminds us that other factors, such as management and environment influences, are also at play.

Analyses of changes in phenotypic and genetic traits - WPHS

Trait

No. Yrs

Slope of Trend-line

EBV Change/Yr

R2

Geno/Pheno

 

Analysed

Phenotypic change/Yr

Units/year

Genetic gain/yr

Units/year

Goodness of fit

linkage

BWT

26

0.14

kgs

0.07

kgs

0.2

GL

17

-0.09

days

-0.09

days

0.07

200D

28

0.02

kgs

0.71

kgs

0.01

400D

27

1.07

kgs

1.33

kgs

0.11

600D

22

2.77

kgs

2.46

kgs

0.45

MTW

24

0.87

kgs

1.79

kgs

0.11

SS

24

0.07

cm

0.11

cm

0.26

DtC

21

-0.56

days

-0.17

days

0.64

EMA

23

0.14

cm2

0.06

cm2

0.04

Rib

23

0.04

mm

0.01

mm

0.19

IMF%

14

0.04

%

0.04

%

0.35

Table 5

As you would expect, the changes in Wirruna’s EBVs reflect these phenotypic changes.

The graphs that follow show phenotypic observations (adjusted for age, etc), the trend in phenotypic observations for a number of traits, EBV trends for Wirruna and EBV trends for the Hereford breed.

I believe these graphs clearly demonstrate that selection on BREEDPLAN® EBVs works. Our experience at Wirruna Poll Herefords is that we have selected on EBVs in balance to move a number of traits concurrently in the desired direction (as opposed to single trait selection) and the phenotypic results clearly reflect these desired trends.

Locke Paper for Aldam Stockmans School 201211 March 2013

Page 10

Change in Weight Traits

Change in Birth Traits

Change in Fertility Traits

Change in Carcase Traits

Key Messages

To address the topic of moving towards a more sustainable beef production system, I first gave attention to the production system itself. The easiest way to achieve increases in profitability is to address issues like calving dates to better match your environment, getting the stocking rate and herd structure right and creating a reproductively efficient cow herd in your particular operating environment. Rather than being about maximising sale price, beef enterprise sustainability is about producing a market acceptable beef product at a lower cost of production.

The key messages are:

· It is important to identify and develop a deep understanding of the main profit drivers in our production system in our own operating environment

· A fertile and efficient cow herd is a key component of any profitable beef enterprise

· Beef herd managers need a disciplined approach to mating age, tight joining periods and culling policies to develop a reproductively efficient breeding herd

· In the longer term, driving ongoing genetic improvement though bull selection and cow herd screening in their production environment will continue to improve beef herd performance

· BREEDPLAN® EBVs work!

· Selection Indexes are a valuable tool to drive the improvement in the mix of genetic traits that affect herd profitability. The extra profit derived from the on-going quest to make genetic gains is the foundation for a sustainable beef business.

"Spring Valley"

Annual vs Winter Stocking Rate

Annual Stocking Rate DSE/Ha

95/696/797/898/999/000/101/202/303/404/505/606/707/808/909/1010/1111/1210.5419440532582311.3875864165920310.6624765651412812.5821843532145715.2916140882047814.7749613601236514.9090803709428214.2297527047913515.0224111282843915.0442040185471515.7144899536321514.4450927357032812.8415378670788312.3574961360124213.0132148377125213.8632148377125215.17851622874811Winter Stocking Rate Winter DSE/Ha

95/696/797/898/999/000/101/202/303/404/505/606/707/808/909/1010/1111/1210.0246022634082711.3617352796457910.4306462140992911.4065840433772812.3346986089644512.672565687789810.7116692426584210.5571097372488510.2093508500772810.2860123647604310.6107418856259710.313137557959868.788871715610447.731839258114388.2360896445131299.1484544049459059.353941267387986

DSE/Ha

Matching Animal Requirements to Feed Supply

Pasture Growth Rate (kg DM/Ha)JFMAMJJASOND0.00.030.060.050.030.015.070.0120.0150.0120.040.0Cow Energy requirementsJFMAMJJASOND22.020.09.08.07.07.09.014.017.019.020.021.0

Months

Pasture Growth Rate (kg DM/Ha)

Cow Energy requirements

Growth Curve - beef

% BWTMAT800.0799.0798.0797.0796.0795.0794.0793.0792.0791.0790.0789.0788.0787.0786.0785.0784.0783.0782.0781.0780.0779.0778.0777.0776.0775.0774.0773.0772.0771.0770.0769.0768.0767.0766.0765.0764.0763.0762.0761.0760.0759.0758.0757.0756.0755.0754.0753.0752.0751.0750.0749.0748.0747.0746.0745.0744.0743.0742.0741.0740.0739.0738.0737.0736.0735.0734.0733.0732.0731.0730.0729.0728.0727.0726.0725.0724.0723.0722.0721.0720.0719.0718.0717.0716.0715.0714.0713.0712.0711.0710.0709.0708.0707.0706.0705.0704.0703.0702.0701.0700.0699.0698.0697.0696.0695.0694.0693.0692.0691.0690.0689.0688.0687.0686.0685.0684.0683.0682.0681.0680.0679.0678.0677.0676.0675.0674.0673.0672.0671.0670.0669.0668.0667.0666.0665.0664.0663.0662.0661.0660.0659.0658.0657.0656.0655.0654.0653.0652.0651.0650.0649.0648.0647.0646.0645.0644.0643.0642.0641.0640.0639.0638.0637.0636.0635.0634.0633.0632.0631.0630.0629.0628.0627.0626.0625.0624.0623.0622.0621.0620.0619.0618.0617.0616.0615.0614.0613.0612.0611.0610.0609.0608.0607.0606.0605.0604.0603.0602.0601.0600.0599.0598.0597.0596.0595.0594.0593.0592.0591.0590.0589.0588.0587.0586.0585.0584.0583.0582.0581.0580.0579.0578.0577.0576.0575.0574.0573.0572.0571.0570.0569.0568.0567.0566.0565.0564.0563.0562.0561.0560.0559.0558.0557.0556.0555.0554.0553.0552.0551.0550.0549.0548.0547.0546.0545.0544.0543.0542.0541.0540.0539.0538.0537.0536.0535.0534.0533.0532.0531.0530.0529.0528.0527.0526.0525.0524.0523.0522.0521.0520.0519.0518.0517.0516.0515.0514.0513.0512.0511.0510.0509.0508.0507.0506.0505.0504.0503.0502.0501.0500.0499.0498.0497.0496.0495.0494.0493.0492.0491.0490.0489.0488.0487.0486.0485.0484.0483.0482.0481.0480.0479.0478.0477.0476.0475.0474.0473.0472.0471.0470.0469.0468.0467.0466.0465.0464.0463.0462.0461.0460.0459.0458.0457.0456.0455.0454.0453.0452.0451.0450.0449.0448.0447.0446.0445.0444.0443.0442.0441.0440.0439.0438.0437.0436.0435.0434.0433.0432.0431.0430.0429.0428.0427.0426.0425.0424.0423.0422.0421.0420.0419.0418.0417.0416.0415.0414.0413.0412.0411.0410.0409.0408.0407.0406.0405.0404.0403.0402.0401.0400.0399.0398.0397.0396.0395.0394.0393.0392.0391.0390.0389.0388.0387.0386.0385.0384.0383.0382.0381.0380.0379.0378.0377.0376.0375.0374.0373.0372.0371.0370.0369.0368.0367.0366.0365.0364.0363.0362.0361.0360.0359.0358.0357.0356.0355.0354.0353.0352.0351.0350.0349.0348.0347.0346.0345.0344.0343.0342.0341.0340.0339.0338.0337.0336.0335.0334.0333.0332.0331.0330.0329.0328.0327.0326.0325.0324.0323.0322.0321.0320.0319.0318.0317.0316.0315.0314.0313.0312.0311.0310.0309.0308.0307.0306.0305.0304.0303.0302.0301.0300.0299.0298.0297.0296.0295.0294.0293.0292.0291.0290.0289.0288.0287.0286.0285.0284.0283.0282.0281.0280.0279.0278.0277.0276.0275.0274.0273.0272.0271.0270.0269.0268.0267.0266.0265.0264.0263.0262.0261.0260.0259.0258.0257.0256.0255.0254.0253.0252.0251.0250.0249.0248.0247.0246.0245.0244.0243.0242.0241.0240.0239.0238.0237.0236.0235.0234.0233.0232.0231.0230.0229.0228.0227.0226.0225.0224.0223.0222.0221.0220.0219.0218.0217.0216.0215.0214.0213.0212.0211.0210.0209.0208.0207.0206.0205.0204.0203.0202.0201.0200.0199.0198.0197.0196.0195.0194.0193.0192.0191.0190.0189.0188.0187.0186.0185.0184.0183.0182.0181.0180.0179.0178.0177.0176.0175.0174.0173.0172.0171.0170.0169.0168.0167.0166.0165.0164.0163.0162.0161.0160.0159.0158.0157.0156.0155.0154.0153.0152.0151.0150.0149.0148.0147.0146.0145.0144.0143.0142.0141.0140.0139.0138.0137.0136.0135.0134.0133.0132.0131.0130.0129.0128.0127.0126.0125.0124.0123.0122.0121.0120.0119.0118.0117.0116.0115.0114.0113.0112.0111.0110.0109.0108.0107.0106.0105.0104.0103.0102.0101.0100.099.098.097.096.095.094.093.092.091.090.089.088.087.086.085.084.083.082.081.080.079.078.077.076.075.074.073.072.071.070.069.068.067.066.065.064.063.062.061.060.059.058.057.056.055.054.053.052.051.050.049.048.047.046.045.044.043.042.041.040.039.038.037.036.035.034.033.032.031.030.029.028.027.026.025.024.023.022.021.020.019.018.017.016.015.014.013.012.011.010.09.08.07.06.05.04.03.02.095.137651688049295.1279676306086195.1182061495748995.1083664347231995.0984476654434495.0884490105760395.078369628262595.0682086657756595.057965259358495.0476385340586595.0372276035551695.0267315699857795.0161495237738395.0054805434430394.9947236954436694.9838780339550994.9729426007136594.9619164248039494.9507985224719794.9395878969289794.928283538142694.9168844226329694.9053895132660694.8937977590381194.8821080948585294.8703194413327294.8584307045296594.8464407757642594.8343485313529694.8221528323850794.8098525244808994.797446437542494.7849333855044194.7723121660828394.7595815605173694.7467403332991694.7337872319128894.7207209865572594.7075403098693394.694243896640894.6808304235290294.667298548767494.6536469118586694.6398741332779494.6259788141602894.6119595359866594.5978148602560294.5835433281671694.569143460280594.5546137561780494.5399526941199794.5251587306920694.5102303004473394.495165815537294.479963665345494.4646222161018194.4491398105055594.4335147673236594.417745380992794.401829921213594.3857666325290694.369553733913294.3531894183219294.3366718522672694.3199991753637394.303169499873394.286180910237394.2690314626086194.2517191843627294.234242073607994.2165980986843694.1987851976523694.1808012777732394.1626442149745594.1443118533124794.1258020044195594.1071124469466794.0882409259810594.0691851524721694.0499428026324694.0305115173311894.0108889014771793.9910725233881893.9710599141491693.9508485669573293.9304359364542493.909819438049393.888996447218493.8679642988049693.8467202862950693.825261661083593.8035856317245693.781689363168593.7595699759828893.7372245455569293.7146501012960893.6918436257912693.6688020539823593.6455222722990293.6220011177799393.5982353771932593.5742217861113693.5499570279962193.5254377332474693.5006604782399293.4756217843388293.4503181168971793.4247458842373693.3989014365992593.3727810650880393.3463810005812793.3196974126280993.2927264083181893.2654640311340393.2379062597805493.2100490069850793.1818881182797993.1534193707624593.1246384718193193.0955410578415693.066122692902493.0363788674123293.0063049967526992.9758964198700192.9451483978579592.9140561125005292.882614664790292.8508190734172492.8186642732290392.7861451136579792.7532563571235292.7199926773919492.6863486579184692.6523187901459392.617897471777392.5830790050061792.5478575947242592.5122273466850592.4761822656356492.4397162534121792.4028231069983892.3654965165462292.3277300633632292.2895172178492892.2508513374100792.21172566432392.1721333235520292.1320673205504192.0915205389881692.0504857384570892.0089555521337391.9669224843883791.9243789083533291.8813170634561991.8377290528955491.793606841071791.7489422509808991.703726961552991.6579525049441591.611610263783891.564691468369591.517187193812991.4690883571416691.4203857143426491.3710698573595691.3211312110406191.2705600300307191.2193463956158791.1674802125127491.1149512056094391.0617489166462491.0078627008567590.9532817235387890.8979949565892690.8419911749750690.7852589531541390.7277866614471290.6695624623477290.6105743067889590.5508099303585890.4902568494486290.4289023573710690.3667335204136290.3037371738450490.2398999178777690.1752081135697990.1096478787000990.0432050835710689.9758653467921589.907614031004589.8384362385660589.7683168072081189.6972403056337589.6251910291015689.5521529949651189.4781099381816989.4030453067989689.3269422574121189.249783650604389.1715520463620189.092229699486689.0117985549885688.9302402434803188.8475360765672188.763667042244988.6786138003059588.5923566777635288.5048756642979288.416150407731388.326160209541688.2348840204180688.1423004358708188.0483876919013187.953123660743687.8564858466798287.7584513819641587.6589970228180387.5580991455693687.4557337428951587.351876420212387.24650239221887.1395864795952487.031103105899986.9210262946458286.809329666601486.6959864373228686.5809694149312786.4642509981641786.3458031747129186.2255975198788986.1036051955533485.9797969495647685.854143115398985.7266136123343385.597177946007985.4658052094434485.3324640845718785.19712284427385.0597493549704884.920311079812884.7787750824728884.6351080316076684.4892762059991384.3412455004367184.1909814323606684.0384491493164283.8836134372586783.7264387297497683.5668891180936683.4049283624560283.2405199040049283.0736268781380182.9042121288274682.7322382241406182.5576674729858182.3804619431332482.2005834805632282.017993730194681.8326541580459181.644526074882381.453570661402281.2597489950165181.0630220782743880.8633508689865680.6606963121011480.4550193733817980.246281074932580.034442532632379.819464995513979.6013098871272879.379938848950879.1553137858712478.9273969137652878.6961508092411378.4615384615384678.2235233266289877.9820693835306877.7371411928496577.4887039575561377.2367235859998276.9811667571441676.7220009880282776.4591947034098876.1927173075717875.9225392582498875.6486321426162475.3709687552856975.0895231782311674.8042708625622574.5151887120389874.2222551682285873.9254502971621173.6247558773760973.32015548916273.0116346048692272.6991806800715672.3827832454071172.0624339988610571.7381268982777271.4098582538441871.0776268202915470.7414338885279270.4012833764194570.0571819184062669.7091389536362669.3571668122776869.0012807996653268.6414992779273268.277843744712867.9103389086507667.539012761152867.1638966441648866.7850253134787866.4024369972034566.016173448989565.6262799956324165.2328055786415964.8358027894053864.4353278975729264.0314408722928563.6242053959614863.213688870152562.7999624134199162.3831008506961.963182693984661.5402901142457361.11450890406660.6859284311593860.2546415824496459.820744698685459.3843374995353158.9455229991660958.5044074123319858.061100051077257.6157132121654557.1683620554341356.7191644732898956.2682409516198755.8157144224414255.361710108661554.9063553613487954.4497794899795453.9921135861502253.5334903412898653.0740438589488852.6139094622553952.153223497184851.6921231322895351.2307461555767850.7692307692307750.3077153828849849.8463384061723149.3852380412767248.9245520762059648.4644176795122748.004971197171747.5463479523114547.0886820484820146.6321061771127546.1767514298000645.7227471160203445.2702205868416544.8192970651711144.3700994830270843.922748326296443.4773614873839643.0340541261291642.5929385392954542.15412403892641.7177168397761341.2838199560116540.8525331073020940.4239526343956839.9981714242158139.5752788444772739.1553606877715138.7384991250416338.3247726683090437.9142561425000537.5070206661684937.1031336408888836.7026587490561636.3056559598199235.9121815428291235.5222880894720335.1360245412580734.7534362249821134.3745648942961833.9994487773087433.6281226298106133.2606177937487432.8969622605342332.537180738796232.1812947261838431.8293225848245831.4812796200548731.1371781620423130.7970276499336330.4608347181698730.1286032846172129.8003346401840329.4760275396004929.1556782930545328.8392808583899728.5268269335927928.2183060492995527.9137056610853927.6130112412995427.3162063702329327.0232728264217326.7341906758992626.4489383602303726.1674927831757125.8898293958445925.6159222802116625.3457442308888225.0792668350516324.8164605504332724.5572947813173924.3017379524616924.0497575809046923.8013203456118823.5563921549308323.314938211832723.0769230769229522.842310729220422.6110646246965322.3831477525902822.1585226895097121.9371516513342621.7189965429476921.5040190058286121.2921804635290921.0834421650795920.8777652263597320.6751106694747320.4754394601869820.2787125434448320.0848908770593919.8939354635792519.7058073804156219.5204678082669219.3378780578986219.157999595328318.9807940654755918.8062233143208918.634249409634118.4648346603235218.297941634456718.133533176005517.971572420367217.8120228087116917.65484810120317.5000123891449817.347480106100817.1972160380248117.049185332462416.9033535068537216.7596864559879316.6181504586489316.478712183490916.3413386941885516.205997453889716.072656329018115.9412835924536315.8118479261272815.6843184230625815.5586645888966515.4348563429077315.3128640185827515.1926583637486415.0742105402978714.9574921235302714.8424751011386414.7291318718601314.6174352438160514.5073584325616414.3988750588663114.291959146243514.1865851182493214.0827277955663213.9803623928918313.8794645156431313.7800101564973513.6819756917809613.5853378777188713.4900738465602213.3961611025906913.3035775180435413.2123013289199313.1223111307302413.0335858741637812.9461048606979712.8598477381556612.7747944962166412.6909254618942512.6082212949812212.5266629834729112.4462318389749512.3669094920995212.2886778878572412.2115192810489212.1354162316625812.0603516002798211.9863085434964211.9132705093596711.8412212328277911.770144731253411.7000252998947511.6308475074574811.5625961916694311.4952564548904611.428813659761411.3632534248906511.2985616205837311.2347243646157311.1717280180478811.1095591810904511.0482046890130710.9876516081029510.9278872316718810.8688990761141810.8106748770144610.7532025853068810.696470363486510.6404665818722510.5851798149227810.5305988376048110.4767126218145910.423510332852110.3709813259483810.3191151428456810.2679015084308210.2173303274209210.1673916811017710.1180758241188210.069373181319710.021274344648639.9737700700925419.926851274677739.880509033517389.8347345769087389.7895192874805739.7448546973898389.700732485565999.6571444750046569.6140826301081969.5715390540737549.5295059863272729.4879758000038869.446940999473389.4063942179104069.3663282149088049.3267358741394269.2876102010507919.2489443206122469.2107314750983189.1729650219144689.1356384314631379.098745285049379.0622792728259579.0262341917764658.990603943737238.9553825334554388.9205640666843068.8861427483150238.8521128805430588.8184688610695938.7852051813380188.7523164248028538.7197972652325018.6876424650442968.6558468736714578.6244054259610188.5933131406034378.5625651185915168.532156541708858.5020826710485268.4723388455591758.4429204806199188.4138230666422158.3850421676991048.356573420180848.3284125314764648.300555278681088.272997507327528.2457351301438588.2187641258333928.1920805378795248.1656804733727848.1395601018615098.113715654224228.0881434215636458.0628397541228748.0378010602216028.0130238052139287.9885045104653367.9642397523501987.9402261612682737.916460420680367.8929392661624097.8696594844784527.8466179126702687.8238114371659197.8012369929047927.7788915624791087.756772175293087.734875906736917.7131998773780357.6917412521664767.6704972396565847.6494650912431837.628642100412287.6080256020065217.5876129715042097.567401624312397.547389015073367.5275726369843777.5079500211303157.4885187358290727.4692763859893467.4502206124804987.431349091514947.4126595340410327.3941496851490637.3758173234869267.3576602606877757.339676340808217.3218634397768717.3042194648536837.2867423540989827.269430075852927.2522806282242377.2352920385888927.2184623630978087.2017896861942837.18527212013967.1689078045483267.1526949059315367.1366316172489797.1207161574692327.1049467711383747.0893217279559977.0738393223597317.0584978731169657.0432957229243727.0282312380142067.0133028077689056.998508844341566.9838477822840246.969318078181536.9549182102943946.9406466782055186.9265020024748926.9124827243001026.8985874051831026.8848146266028356.8711629896941836.8576311149317136.8442176418207296.8309212285922066.8177405519042856.8046743065486456.7917212051622526.778879977944196.7661493723777496.753528152957116.7410151009191426.7286090139798526.7163087060755516.7041130071085276.6920207626972746.6800308339310616.6681420971288096.6563534436023126.6446637794234076.6330720251954576.6215771158285786.6101780003189346.5988736415319896.587663015989076.5765451136580826.5655189377478426.5545835045056896.5437378430186336.5329809950180096.5223120146877066.5117299684752476.5012339349064036.4908230044029136.480496279103196.470252872686386.4600919101990346.4500125278849946.4400138730181096.4300951037376746.4202553888866316.4104939078529326.4008098504128326.3912024165773936.3816708164413726.3722142700345846.3628320071758346.3535232673293446.3442872994632076.3351233619107646.3260307222337816.3170086570881856.3080564520919876.2991734016950516.2903588090515366.281611985894146.272932252410156.2643189371203346.2557713767588866.2472889161556956.2388709081209216.2305167133307146.2222257002154226.213997244849246.205830730841816.1977255492313966.189681098380226.1816967838706926.1737720184040336.1659062217003956.1580988204003556.1503492479677756.1426569445949856.1350213571086326.1274419388775386.1199181497220346.1124494558241526.1050353296399146.0976752498129666.0903687010887426.0831151742310886.0759141659394766.0687651787677456.0616677210441156.0546213067922016.0476254556539126.0406796928127146.0337835489184776.0269365600138666.0201382674610426.0133882178702686.0066859630289856.0000310598324865.9934230702154565.9868615610843935.9803461042513835.9738762763684355.9674516588636735.9610718378771795.954736404199145.948444953208035.9421970848102125.9359924033801685.9298305177017055.9237110409103915.9176335904361085.91159778794725.9056032592950675.8996496344597075.8937365474958545.8878636364806185.8820305434606945.8762369144016785.8704823991369075.8647666513182655.8590893283666745.853450091423855.8478486053046935.8422845384503255.8367575628818625.831267354154765.8258135913137745.8203959568491355.8150141366524235.8096678199739725.8043566993800465.7990804707115845.7938388330427575.7886314886404825.7834581429244015.7783185044275075.7732122847574035.7681391985578425.7630989634710845.7580913001007375.7531159319749845.7481725855105435.7432609899769035.7383808774613385.7335319828342125.7287140437147475.7239268004374355.71916999601901

Days

% of Mature Bodyweight

Rate of Genetic Progress - Grainfed $Index

Breed Trend01020304050607080910111246.87548.7550.6250000000000852.554.37556.2558.1250000000000860.062.065.069.0WPHS01020304050607080910111244.041.045.050.061.065.070.079.085.095.099.0

200 Day Weight

200D Wgt

R² = 0.0123

84858687888990919293949596979899000102030405060708091011199.65224.75209.3500000000004176.55217.1211.15218.8213.5227.9500000000001217.75169.65224.9205.05197.3206.3219.7199.55215.0179.5208.3500000000003201.0192.9187.3500000000003241.9500000000001222.55196.6233.65228.1200D EBV - WPHS848586878889909192939495969798990001020304050607080910118.88.99.09.510.313.013.014.114.615.915.818.717.818.219.020.820.321.020.320.822.023.724.024.624.928.027.928.6200D EBV - Breed5.36.06.77.48.39.510.511.111.712.813.714.816.017.118.018.719.720.521.222.122.923.824.325.125.726.527.027.7

kgs

EBV

(kgs)

600 Day Weight

600D Wgt

R² = 0.4522

89909192939495969798990001020304050607080910472.2999999999992464.25467.9474.8464.1500000000003466.55427.6500000000003443.7438.6500000000003505.35516.4499999999995490.35480.3483.6470.05519.2506.05504.9508.6530.0499999999994600D EBV - WPHS8990919293949596979899000102030405060708091017.819.121.523.225.925.033.329.132.133.937.737.638.336.939.242.146.448.350.751.859.361.8600D EBV - Breed17.719.921.623.125.627.930.733.536.238.540.342.844.746.548.450.753.054.556.458.060.161.9

kgs

EBV

(kgs)

400 Day Weight

400D Wgt

R² = 0.1137

848586878889909192939495969798990001020304050607080910307.75346.1343.85320.3999999999997385.4352.35343.0333.45351.95331.0334.5333.8291.25360.35393.1500000000003395.4357.25350.1353.6339.4317.3325.7370.8366.9373.5363.45374.1500000000003400D EBV - WPHS84858687888990919293949596979899000102030405060708091010.812.312.312.213.115.616.417.519.420.920.425.723.024.525.828.028.328.328.028.431.634.335.837.338.143.645.2400D EBV - Breed7.28.39.410.311.613.414.915.917.018.620.021.823.725.426.828.029.831.132.433.935.336.837.939.240.441.943.1

kgs

EBV

(kgs)

Mature Cow Weight

Mat Cow Wgt

R² = 0.1089

868788899091929394959697989900010203040506070809591.3572.8600.5572.2566.7569.6565.0568.0558.8555.5602.1569.4608.7579.7606.5604.6560.6562.9610.0603.7595.9599.7596.6572.7MCW EBV - WPHS86878889909192939495969798990001020304050607080911.014.817.516.920.523.024.123.124.832.626.430.334.238.335.236.035.936.839.139.941.344.544.850.8MCW EBV - Breed11.313.215.418.521.022.424.026.629.132.235.238.140.342.144.746.648.150.051.853.654.856.357.759.4

kgs

EBV

(kgs)

Gestation Length

Gest Length

R² = 0.0721

96979899000102030405060708091011284.6282.95282.6285.05288.75284.8283.05284.8999999999997284.7283.1284.25283.35285.05283.7282.7282.7999999999992GL EBV - WPHS969798990001020304050607080910110.10.30.20.10.600000000000001-0.8-0.8-0.8-1.2-1.0-0.8-1.3-1.3-1.8-1.5-1.5GL EBV - Breed0.10.10.10.10.10.10.10.10.00.00.00.0-0.1-0.1-0.1-0.1

Days

EBV

(days)

Birth Weight

BWT-WPHS Ave kgs868788899091929394959697989900010203040506070809101135.332.7533.1000000000000135.236.3535.338.7540.038.540.6000000000000141.6000000000000140.040.141.937.738.7536.739.9000000000000140.3535.9538.637.1538.4000000000000138.339.638.8BWT EBV - WPHS86878889909192939495969798990001020304050607080910110.7000000000000011.31.21.81.82.22.52.92.63.43.23.23.43.23.02.72.52.62.72.72.72.62.22.52.02.3BWT EBV - Breed0.50.6000000000000010.81.01.21.51.71.81.92.22.42.62.83.13.23.43.53.73.83.94.04.14.24.24.34.34.34.3

kgs

EBV

kgs

Calving Ease - Direct (%)

Genetic Trend

CE (Dir) - WPHS848586878889909192939495969798990001020304050607080910111.41.51.41.11.2-0.20.20.50.80.6000000000000010.2-1.3-0.600000000000001-0.3-0.7000000000000010.30.01.31.70.51.41.71.92.53.93.55.14.3CE (Dir) - Breed0.50.50.40.30.20.10.00.10.00.0-0.1-0.2-0.2-0.3-0.3-0.4-0.5-0.600000000000001-0.78-0.700000000000001-0.700000000000001-0.8-0.700000000000001-0.600000000000001-0.5-0.5-0.3-0.1

CE(Dir) EBV%

Calving Ease - Daughters (%)

Genetic Trend

CE (Mat) - WPHS84858687888990919293949596979899000102030405060708091011-0.5-1.1-0.600000000000001-0.4-0.3-0.3-0.9-0.9-1.4-0.8-0.3-0.9-0.5-0.4-0.5-0.80.4-0.3-0.700000000000001-0.2-0.20.50.40.7000000000000012.62.03.52.4CE (Mat) - Breed-0.1-0.1-0.2-0.3-0.2-0.3-0.2-0.2-0.2-0.10.00.00.10.10.10.10.20.20.20.30.30.30.50.6000000000000010.7000000000000010.7000000000000010.91.0

CE(Mat) EBV%

Scrotal Size

Scrotal Size

R² = 0.2459

87888990919293949596979899000102030405060708091031.334.132.432.530.032.331.932.033.632.932.933.234.432.933.132.832.732.732.533.033.332.834.234.8SS EBV - WPHS8788899091929394959697989900010203040506070809100.0-0.3-0.20.00.10.00.20.30.7000000000000010.30.50.40.7000000000000010.50.6000000000000010.7000000000000010.81.01.01.21.51.82.12.4SS EBV - Breed0.30.40.40.50.50.50.50.6000000000000010.6000000000000010.7000000000000010.80.80.90.91.01.01.11.11.21.21.31.41.41.5

cms

EBV

(cms)

Days to Calving

Days to Calving

R² = 0.6373

899091929394959697989900010203040506070809307.2305.5308.5310.8999999999997306.0308.8999999999997309.1312.0307.0304.8999999999997306.3302.8299.5304.0302.1303.2303.8999999999997297.3999999999997302.5298.6295.7DtC EBV - WPHS89909192939495969798990001020304050607080910110.50.7000000000000010.51.21.21.40.50.20.30.4-0.10.2-0.3-0.3-1.1-1.1-1.0-1.3-1.6-2.0-2.1-2.8-2.7DtC EBV - Breed-0.700000000000001-0.700000000000001-0.8-0.8-0.8-0.9-0.9-1.0-1.0-1.1-1.1-1.1-1.1-1.2-1.2-1.3-1.3-1.4-1.5-1.5-1.6-1.7-1.8

Days

EBV

(Days)

Eye Muscle Area

Eye Muscle Area

R² = 0.0449

888990919293949596979899000102030405060708091071.361.862.6000000000000164.4560.1500000000000158.1000000000000159.9000000000000159.0563.7571.6568.964.7560.466.9563.058.9558.370.6569.3568.464.267.45000000000001EMA EBV - WPHS88899091929394959697989900010203040506070809102.62.62.62.11.82.22.01.92.22.32.32.12.42.11.72.12.02.52.72.82.93.13.3EMA EBV - Breed1.71.71.71.71.71.71.71.71.71.71.71.81.81.91.92.02.02.12.12.212.22.32.4

cm2

EBV

(cm2)

Intramuscular Fat%

Intramuscular Fat%

R² = 0.3477

97989900010203040506070809102.02.01.751.91.9500000000000022.252.052.152.32.42.752.31.92.349999999999999IMF% EBV - WPHS9798990001020304050607080910-0.1-0.2-0.1-0.10.10.0-0.10.10.30.40.40.50.40.5IMF% EBV - Breed0.10.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.1

%

EBV

(%)

Rib Fat

Rib Fat Scan

R² = 0.1961

88899091929394959697989900010203040506070809104.23.753.753.253.3499999999999993.12.72.94.04.94.1499999999999993.8499999999999993.74.353.653.43.754.754.1999999999999974.33.75.149999999999999Rib Fat EBV - WPHS88899091929394959697989900010203040506070809100.50.50.50.40.20.20.20.30.20.30.10.30.20.30.20.30.30.40.50.50.6000000000000010.50.700000000000001Rib Fat EBV - Breed0.50.50.40.40.40.40.30.30.20.20.10.10.10.10.10.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.0

mm

EBV

(mm)

Retail Beef Yield%

Genetic Trend

RBY% - WPHS848586878889909192939495969798990001020304050607080910110.20.20.20.30.30.50.40.30.30.50.40.30.40.40.6000000000000010.50.6000000000000010.40.20.50.40.50.50.50.40.6000000000000010.50.700000000000001RBY% - Breed-0.2-0.2-0.2-0.1-0.1-0.1-0.10.00.00.00.00.10.10.10.20.20.20.30.30.40.40.40.50.50.50.6000000000000010.6000000000000010.600000000000001

RBY% EBV