Prime Time | Spring 2019

T H E N E W S O F T H E A M E R I C A N A K AU S H I A S S O C I AT I O N

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AKAUSHI

SPRING 2019

ime www.akaushi.com

Akaushi Numbers Boom Using

Embryo Transfer The Importance of

BULL MAINTENANCE

Akaushi Prime Time • Spring 2019

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SOR 1080 “Moose” Big Al x Kaedemaru 2 Semen and embryos x original import daughters available!

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www.akaushi.com • Spring 2019

P rime T ime AKAUSHI

SPRING 2019 | VOL. 2 NO. 2

20

8

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Features 16 Soefje Joins American Akaushi Association Welcome the association's new assistant to the director.

20 The Importance of Bull Maintenance

Regular vaccinations, BSEs and proper nutrition are vital to bull success.

22 Akaushi Numbers Boom Using Embryo Transfer How American Akaushi got its start.

ON THE COVER

This Akaushi bull, owned by Ranchline, Roswell, N.M., enjoys some sunshine. Photo courtesy of Kaci Carrales.

In Every Issue 6 Cattle Tales 8 DNA Matters 10 Akaushi Matters American Akaushi Association

P.O. Box 487 | Flatonia, Texas 78941 (361) 238-7218 office | www.akaushi.com Executive Director Kaci Carrales (361) 238-7218 | kcarrales@akaushi.com

12 Beef Matters 26 New Members 14 Irons in the Fire 26 Ad Index 18 Preferment 26 Calendar of Events

Prime Time Publisher BluePrint Media

Creative Director | Kathie Bedolli

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Managing Editor | Jessie Topp-Becker

Copy Editor | Larisa Willrett Ad Design | Holly Holland & Kim Tappan Materials Coordinator | Megan Sajbel

(970) 498-9306 | lbard@blueprintma.com (701) 307-0772 | jbecker@blueprintma.com

Advertising Sales | Jessica Ebert

Administration | Leslie McKibben

(785) 477-1941 | jebert@blueprintma.com

Akaushi Prime Time

The News of the American Akaushi Association is published quarterly and distributed digitally to all interested parties. To receive Prime Time, call or email the AAA office.

Akaushi Prime Time • Spring 2019

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E X E C U T I V E D I R E C T O R ’ S M E S S AG E

Cattle Tales

Kaci Carrales | Executive Director | kcarrales@akaushi.com

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019 has started out with a bang for the American Akaushi Association (AAA). We started the New Year in Herd Bull Alley at the National Western Stock Show in Denver, Colo. It was a great trip to the Mile High City and a wonderful opportunity to continue spreading the Akaushi message. Thanks to AAA members Joe Beltz, Kristy Wilson, Matt Robinson, John Meng, and Chance and Addison Robbins who all took time to share their testimony about how Akaushi has influenced their operations and production goals. It was so great to see the passion these breeders had while telling their Akaushi stories to visitors who stopped by the booth.

The Cattle Industry Convention and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Trade Show in New Orleans was the next event AAA attended. We had a great turnout at NCBA with lots of new interest in Akaushi. Not only was it fun to talk with potential members, but it was so wonderful to catch up with established Akaushi members from all across the United States.

Thank you to Ron Fisher, Nick Patterson, Ed Peck, Gene Dubas, Gail Morris, Melvin Kitts, Roger Mauney, Austin Brown, Rodney Sagrera, Jim Dyer, Amanda Dyer, Rafe Hargrove, Craig Archer, Francois Leger, the Chatel Farm team, the Matador Ranch team and Steve Anthony with Caviness Beef Packers for your continuous support of the Akaushi breed.

We ended March attending the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Convention in Fort Worth, Texas. The booth was a big hit! Austin Brown II hosted a signing of his book, Poet Lariat – Cowboy Poems from a Ranching Life, and HeartBrand® Beef prepared delicious Akaushi sliders and sausage.

Like we say, the beef sells itself! We heard many people say, “This is the best beef I Akaushi Prime Time • Spring 2019

have ever tasted.” As a producer of Akaushi beef, this should excite you. There were many questions about how to get involved and where to purchase genetics. Thank you to Herff Cornelius; Len Cornelius; Mark, Janet and Scott Mello; Craig Archer; Rafe Hargrove; James and Pat Palmer; Tim and Susie Stallings; Cyd Chauveaux; JD Russell; Howard and Carolyn Davis; Austin II and Nana Brown; Dan Guillote; Jayson Danek; Patricia Purvis; Jim Dyer; Amanda Dyer; and Lee Shipp for stopping by. To all Akaushi members, we appreciate everything you do for the Akaushi breed.

October may seem like a long way off, but it’s really not. It will be here before you know it. Just a quick reminder that this year’s convention will return to the beautiful Hyatt Lost Pines Resort and Spa. Here’s some exciting news – the resort has added a kids’ club, so please bring your entire family as we are all family. We are currently working on an informational brochure and will send it out with the registration forms around the beginning of June.

I am looking forward to this year’s convention, especially since we are celebrating 25 years of Akaushi in the United States!

How exciting is it to be a part of this great celebration? Make sure you plan to come an extra day as we have an exciting evening planned for Thursday night that you definitely don’t want to miss! Also, don’t forget about the opportunity to have a booth at our trade show or consider being an event sponsor. Both are great opportunities to showcase your ranch or business.

While you are out and about these next few months, be on the lookout for some fun and exciting auction items to bring.

I hope everyone has a wonderful spring with lots of new little Akaushi calves running around. Our team would like to thank each and every member for the hard work, dedication and passion you put toward your ranch and cattle. Together, we are Akaushi! PT 6

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www.akaushi.com • Spring 2019

A K AU S H I B R E E D G E N E T I C S

DNA Matters

Tim Kozelsky | DNA & Data Service Analyst | tkozelsky@akaushi.com

H

e’s the daddy … until he’s not! My column in this issue will focus on the DNA parenting verification process we follow when DNA is submitted.

When does a calf qualify as Akaushi sired? Why didn’t a calf qualify to any sires? What does it mean when we say a calf qualifies to a sire and/or a dam, but the mating doesn’t work? I hope to clarify questions people have about the verification process.

So, how does DNA work? First, we have to understand how the profiles for the two DNA methods we use – STR and SNP – are derived. Short tandem repeat (STR) looks for particular sequences of markers within a strand of DNA. The results are expressed numerically, such as 17/180, 146/150, 87/87, etc. These markers, or STR loci, are determined by the International Society of Animal Genetics (ISAG).

The positives of using STRs is that it is very easy to generate a profile, which makes it very favorable in forensic investigations where the amount of DNA available could be very minimal. The concerns are that it is also very susceptible to contamination in that the DNA can be influenced by any other DNA source the sample may have come in contact with. Also, the DNA profile only consists of 10-12 markers, so the ability for discrimination or complete identification of a particular parent may not be possible.

There may not be enough differentiation between the STR profiles of two sires to determine which the actual sire is.

The newer method the industry has adopted is called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP). It looks at the value of each nucleotide base. These bases contain one of four values: A for adenine, C for cytosine, G for guanine and T for thymine. The results Akaushi Prime Time • Spring 2019

are typically expressed as AA, AC, CC, etc.

These results are synonymous with homozygous and heterozygous traits such as polled, F11 and coat colors. Right now, there are more than 200 markers that make up an SNP parentage profile, and there are tests capable of looking at more than 250,000 markers for certain genetic tests.

There are many advantages to SNP. Parentage determination has a much higher degree of accuracy. Individual trait carriers can be identified. Expected progeny differences can be greatly enhanced. The disadvantage is that a good DNA sample is needed in order to extract the amount of DNA material needed to create the profile.

Parentage is called an exclusionary process in that all possible parents are considered until they can be excluded. Regardless of which method is used, DNA markers are always pairs in which one is from the mother and one is from the father. An example would be if an offspring had an STR profile in which allele TGLA had a value of 81/97.

The verified parents have the following values for the same marker: sire 81/91 and dam 91/97. In this case, the offspring got the 97 value from the dam and the 81 value from the sire.

Continued page 13 8

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www.akaushi.com • Spring 2019

A M E R I C A N A K AU S H I A S S O C I AT I O N U P D AT E

Akaushi Matters Loni Soefje | Assistant to the Director | lsoefje@akaushi.com

Whole Herd Reporting

H

owdy! I would like to take a moment to introduce myself. I’m Loni Soefje, the American Akaushi Association’s (AAA) new assistant to the director.

I found a passion for the beef cattle industry at a young age while growing up on a large cow-calf operation.

I spent my free time working in the barns with show cattle and decided to continue my education at Texas A&M University, where I recently graduated with an animal science degree specializing in beef cattle.

It is a wonderful opportunity to continue a career in the beef cattle industry with a breed association that has the same goal as I do – bettering the beef industry.

Being in the association office gives me the opportunity to hear what programs or services bring confusion or frustration to our breeders. Now, if you are a lifetime member who has been with the association since the beginning, or someone who is still considering membership, I would like to address a topic that has caused a bit of confusion: whole herd reporting (WHR).

Our job, as an association, is to promote the Akaushi breed and provide services to our members. In order for an association to stay in business, fees must be charged for the services provided, such as registrations and animal transfers. With the development of WHR, the assessment paid on the adult animals covers these fees for much less than the traditional calf-based fee structure.

entitled to register one calf born to each female during that year, and a single transfer of ownership of the progeny before the progeny reaches 24 months of age if female and 30 months of age if male.

The assessment on herd sires covers the registration of calves sired by the bull during the year of service. In other words, this assessment allows for purebred and fullblood Akaushi animals 24 months of age or older to be considered “active” for the following 12 months. Progeny are only allowed to be registered to dams that were considered “active” during the birth year of the progeny and sires that were “active” during the year the progeny was conceived.

Why Do We Use Whole Herd Reporting?

Since DNA is required on all Akaushi progeny, every animal is registered through the American Akaushi Association to ensure and maintain the purity of the breed. Rather than requiring a calf-based registration fee that discourages the reporting of complete contemporary group information and requires multiple fees for routine transactions, WHR simply requires a single, annual payment that covers most common breeder expenses. Other than this being a system designed to improve the reporting on all Akaushi animals, WHR equitably distributes the cost of running the association across the membership based on the ownership of purebred and fullblood animals.

Spring Herd Assessment vs. Fall Herd Assessment

The spring herd assessment includes fullblood and purebred cattle 24 months of age or older that were born between Jan. 1 and June 30. The fall herd assessment includes fullblood and purebred cattle 24 months of age or older that were born between July 1 and Dec. 31. Each breeder will receive a

What is Whole Herd Reporting?

Whole herd reporting is an annual assessment charged on all reproductively mature fullblood and purebred Akaushi animals that are 24 months of age or older.

Through this assessment, a breeder is Akaushi Prime Time • Spring 2019

Continued page 17 10

WE ARE THE POWER OF PRIME

USDA USDA QUALITY Yield Prime Choice Select Other Grade 1

0.07

4.06

4.79

.55

2

0.94

23.61

10.90

1.05

3

1.78

29.94

6.20

1.49

4

0.97

9.31

1.40

0.40

0.22

1.86

0.33

0.12

5

2016 NBQA - Other Breeds 9,106 Carcasses 3.98% Prime 72.76 Choice & Above 75.91% YG 1, 2 & 3 Avg. Carcass Wt.: 860 lbs.

USDA USDA QUALITY Yield Prime Choice Select Other Grade 1

.3

1.1

.3

.2

2

16.7

21.7

1.0

1.3

3

20.6

20.8

.3

.9

4

5.6

5.9

.1

.2

5

1.4

1.6

0

0

Certified Akaushi Beef from HeartBrand® Beef 44.6% Prime • 51% Choice 95.6% Choice & Above 85.2% YG 1, 2 & 3 Average Carcass Wt.: 849.19 lbs. (minus KPH)

The data displayed is a comparison of the 2016 National Beef Quality Audit (NBQA) results from 9,106 carcasses of other breeds and HeartBrand® Beef Akaushi carcasses. The USDA data from 20,852 Akaushi carcasses included 3,708 fullbloods, 16,241 halfbloods, 849 three-quarter bloods and 54 seven-eighths bloods. All Akaushi carcasses achieved 44.6% Prime and 51% Choice. Thus, all 20,852 Akaushi carcasses graded 95.6% Choice and above. In comparison, the 2016 NBQA carcasses produced results of 72.76% Choice and above, with only 3.98% achieving Prime. Certified Akaushi Beef also excelled with 85.2% scoring Yield Grade 1, 2 or 3, while the NBQA results had only 75.91% with a Yield Grade 1, 2 or 3.

MORE PRIME. MORE PROFIT. COME SEE US! 8th Annual American Akaushi Association Convention

OCTOBER 10-13, 2019

Hyatt Regency Lost Pines and Spa | Cedar Creek, Texas Kaci Carrales | Executive Director (361) 238-7218 | www.akaushi.com 11

www.akaushi.com • Spring 2019

A K AU S H I B E E F

Beef Matters

Brooke Young | Marketing and Customer Relations, HeartBrand® Beef Inc. | brooke@akaushi.com

W

elcome, spring 2019! After we get past those winter blues, we remember all the fun things we have to look forward to this time of the year. From Mother’s Day brunch to weekend T-ball games and then the big Easter dinner at grandma’s. With all this traveling, you can’t help but try to find somewhere to stop and enjoy a nice meal along the way. To avoid the “where to eat” conversation, go ahead and make it worth your while and pull over at Hopdoddy Burger Bar. With their 35 locations in six different states, I’m certain you can map it out for any destination.

Hopdoddy Burger Bar was founded in 2010 by a group of Austin businessmen who wanted to take a different approach to the food industry. They wanted to keep a relaxed feel, while still serving a unique twist with the best-quality products and ingredients that they could find. From the delicious truffle fries that are made with Kennebec potatoes, to the excellent Certified Akaushi Beef, their commitment to serving the best meal around really allows Hopdoddy Burger Bar to excel within this American classic.

The restaurant’s innovative ordering process enables the consumer to thoughtfully fulfil their craving by having multiple protein options as well as a handful of toppings to complement the burger. Sometimes, the best burger is created by the pairing of delicious beef and the best-of-the-best toppings.

HeartBrand® Beef looks for partners such as Hopdoddy that have high aspirations and dedication to their customers and are looking for ways to give back to their community. What is so unique about Hopdoddy Burger Bar is that they have created a burger that raises money for a specific charity near the location. The Goodnight/Good Cause program donates $1 of your purchase to a specific charity, ultimately raising more than $1,000,000!

Hopdoddy has been a huge supporter of HeartBrand Beef for six years, which is the reason they’re featured in this issue. They have been a great partner and look to grow more in the years to come. HeartBrand Beef is honored to be apart of the Hopdoddy community. We appreciate the continuous support that Hopdoddy has for Certified Akaushi Beef. Tune in to the summer edition to discover what’s new for HeartBrand Beef. PT

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DNA is a very accurate process. Once an exclusion is found, it is almost always a guarantee that an animal is not the parent.

However, due to the potential of contamination in a sample, or other possible sources of variation in DNA profiling, we allow for one exclusion in the SNP process. Since a very small number of markers are evaluated in STR processing, we normally do not allow for exclusions.

To date, we have processed more than 3,000 DNA samples, which is amazing considering that the weather has been less than favorable for working cattle. We are about 90 percent complete with our conversion to SNP processing. Most of the remaining ranchers have multiple dams in the A4 program. They are converting a few at a time so that the cost isn’t too drastic at one time.

When we get into late April and especially May, we hit one of the busiest times of the year. The lab backs up as well, so lead times tend to push out longer. Get your supplies ordered today so that you can take advantage of this off-time in DNA processing. PT

DNA MATTERS Continued from page 8

Using an SNP profile, offspring has A/T as its value for marker AY61135. The sire has T/T and the dam has A/A for their values at the same marker. In the STR instance, if the sire would have had 91/91 at the marker, the marker would have been called an exclusion and the male would not qualify as the sire of the offspring.

Mating parentage adds another level of comparison in that, as previously stated, one copy of the marker must come from the sire and one from the dam. Going back to the example above, it is possible for both parents to have the same values at a particular marker. In the STR case, the offspring has a value of 81/97. The dam is known and her values are 91/97 at the marker. If a list of multiple sires was identified as potential sires, any sire with “91” and/or “97” as a value at that marker would be qualified as a sire. The actual sire would be more likely be determined when the dam is added. When the variation across all of the markers are taken into consideration, the list of sires is whittled down through the exclusion method until the actual sire is determined.

The process is actually fairly straight forward, but given the amount of data that must be compared, it requires tools designed especially for the task. We have two tools that we primarily use. One is the GeneSeek® LIMS system, which allows us to compare offspring to lists of sires and dams, simultaneously. The other system is a manual verification within DigitalBeef. It compares an offspring to all sires or dams in the DigitalBeef system.

When we begin the verification process, we first look at the potential parents provided by the rancher. If we fail to qualify all offspring, we will look at all of the sires and/or dams that are in a member’s inventory or were in their inventory at the time of breeding. If we still have offspring that aren’t verified, we will run each nonqualifying offspring to compare against all sires and/or dams in the system to see if a sire hasn’t been properly transferred into a member’s inventory but qualifies. As you can see, we go through great efforts to try to verify all DNA submitted to the office.

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www.akaushi.com • Spring 2019

REFLECTIONS AND RECOLLECTIONS

Irons in the Fire Paul Marchant | Rancher/Columnist | idahomarchant@gmail.com

Immoral Addictions

A

fter having lived his entire life (up to that point) in the arid, rural West, my oldest son spent a couple of years in the Washington, D.C., area. He was quite an anomaly in the cities of the East Coast. While some of his roommates and acquaintances were not completely unfamiliar with the West, none of them could quite understand his addiction.

It wasn’t completely his fault. I suppose it was partly a product of the environment to which he was constantly exposed as a lad and partly due to his genetic makeup. You see, his father suffers from the same addiction. And, I must admit that I have never really tried to hide it or to overcome the ailment, and I have shamelessly subjected my family members to this scourge. I’ve never even considered entering a 12-step program because I would never admit that I had a problem. It took people who lived clear across the country and to whom our ways and lifestyle were completely foreign to recognize and identify the addiction.

I suppose the roommates figured it was completely harmless at first – the contents of the packages sent to my son from home.

What exotic literature or paraphernalia could possibly come from Oakley, Idaho?

I’m sure they never dreamed his parents would purposely send him something that would be potentially destructive to his psyche and his emotional health. But, thanks to the Freudian brilliance of those young, astute psychoanalysts, the dreadful addiction now has a name, if not a cure!

It started in the fall, let up a little during the winter months, but really became a problem in the spring, when bull sale season was in high gear. It probably seemed Akaushi Prime Time • Spring 2019

worse to the horrified bystanders than it really was because I was sending my son used product. Usually, by the time I sent it to him, it was well worn, and the urban natives soon discovered that when he received a package from home, the seemingly innocent country boy would be useless for an hour or two while he drooled and talked in gibberish they couldn’t understand as he fawned over the pages of what they came to know as – gasp – Marchant’s cow porn!

Yes, I admit it. After I gawked and lusted in my heart after the sinfully beautiful creatures in the sale catalog for the 14th Annual Too Hot to Handle Fall Female Extravaganza, I’d slip the perverse periodical into a discreet manila envelope and ship it via the U.S. Postal Service to my son in northern Virginia to cultivate the inescapable multigenerational cycle. (I think the postal workers probably sneak a peak quite often. Do you think Newman, of Seinfeld fame, would even think twice about it?) As far as I know, I never violated any interstate commerce laws.

It got worse around January when the catalogs for the many and varied breed sales that revolve around the National Western Stock Show would arrive. The nice, glossy ones of the high-dollar outfits are the best. The cattle are always set up, fit and pictured so perfectly. I know, I know. Various PETA types and activists, and some clergy and therapists will try to tell you that it’s blatant exploitation of cattle and that such attractiveness is only superficial.

Besides, they say, cattle like that don’t exist in the real world. There may be some merit to that argument, I suppose, but boy howdy, they sure are easy on the eyes. The good-looking ones are probably pretty  14

high maintenance, too. After a couple of tough winters and some marginal nutrition, they probably won’t look much better than that Pinzgauer-Jersey cross I bought from the dairy as a graft calf a few years back, but that still remains in the cow herd because she always looks too rough to sell when the cull cows go to town.

I refuse to take all of the blame for my decadent behavior, though. It’s a cycle that’s tough to break, and one that non-livestock folk can scarcely even try to understand. As a kid, I remember my dad staying up late with his stash of ABS and Select Sires catalogs. He didn’t even try to hide them. I’d find them on the counter, under the stacks of the Summit County Weekly Bee and The Western Livestock Journal, or behind the seat of the pickup. You know, I always used to believe him when he said he only read them for the expected progeny differences. PT

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www.akaushi.com • Spring 2019

Soefje Joins American Akaushi Association

T

he American Akaushi Association recently announced Loni Soefje as the association’s assistant to the director. Originally from Gonzales, Texas, Soefje grew up on a large cow-calf operation comprised primarily of Santa Gertrudis-cross cattle. Her involvement with her family’s cattle herd is what rooted her love for the beef cattle industry from a young age.

After high school, Soefje pursued a degree in animal science at Texas A&M University (TAMU).

“What I knew was that I had a passion for the beef cattle industry and a goal to make it better in some way, shape or form,” Soefje says.

During her time at TAMU, she considered careers in embryology; nutrition and feed sales; animal pharmaceutical sales; and animal chiropractic.

“Needless to say, I am well versed on these topics due to class time and shadowing many professionals,” she says. “But I wanted to be a part of something that would have a much

greater impact on the beef industry.”

She first heard about Akaushi while researching the breed as part of a class assignment. She was immediately impressed with the impact the breed has had on the beef industry.

“Sustainability is a major topic floating around the classrooms and lecture halls at Texas A&M, and there I was learning of a cattle breed and breed association that is determined to increase the bottom line for producers and improve the beef industry as a whole in the most sustainable way possible,” she says.

“I enjoy talking to and learning about our breeders,” she says. “I enjoy talking to the other team members about the history of the association and breed, obstacles that have been overcome and future plans for both the association and the breed.

“I look forward to meeting many of our members at the 2019 annual convention and am thankful to the team for giving me such a warm welcome.” PT

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RAPID RESULTS!

along with the ability to calculate reproduction and production herd averages. Without complete reporting, the credibility of Akaushi EPDs is reduced.

AKAUSHI MATTERS Continued from page 10

preliminary inventory report prior to the assessment being sent out that will list all active animals in the herd.

This is the time for breeders to report to the association if any of the animals listed may have died, been culled or sold, in order to prevent being charged for animals that are not currently active within the herd.

This is also the time to add any animals that are active within the herd that may not be listed on the inventory report. These changes must be reported before the WHR assessment goes out to ensure each breeder is billed correctly.

What About ET Calves and Multiple Births?

An assessment must be paid on all embryo transfer (ET) calves unless the recipient dam is active. If the recipient dam is active, no additional assessment is due for the calf. If the assessment of the donor dam has been paid, the donor dam is allowed one natural calf registration. Now, if a cow of assessment age were to have twins or triplets, there would be no further charge other than the dam’s original annual assessment.

As an association, the Akaushi team is here to serve our breeders, and we look forward to doing that every day. I hope I have encompassed and simplified all information about WHR that will help diminish any confusion regarding the topic. Of course, if you have any questions, please call and talk to any of the team members in the office. We would love to hear from you. PT

1/2 page horizontal, 4C Prime Time Landair Fall 2018

What are the Benefits of Whole Herd Reporting?

WHR offers simplicity with one fee covering most common breeder expenses. This will help remove the effects of reporting bias and ensures a more complete reporting of transfer of ownership. With complete reporting comes new selection tools for breeders, such as fertility and survivability expected progeny differences (EPDs)

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www.akaushi.com • Spring 2019

SEEDSTOCK MARKETING AND PROMOTION

Preferment Lisa Bard | Editor | lbard@blueprintma.com

T

his is the inaugural “Preferment” – a column dedicated to thoughts, ideas, concepts and discussion about seedstock marketing and promotion. So why “preferment” and not “marketing” or “promotion”?

Preferment is defined as “the advancement to a position of honor or profit.” Isn’t that what seedstock producers are striving for – the advancement of their cattle to a position of honor, which leads to a position of strong demand, which leads to an advancement to a position of profit? If we can’t make a profit with our cattle, then we will no longer be in business. The same goes for our customers who buy our cattle. If they are not profitable using our genetics, they won’t come back to buy more replacements or bulls the next time they need seedstock. The true advancement of cattle to a position of honor or profit comes through the genetics created or developed through selective and managed breeding programs.

Seedstock producers are genetic suppliers to the cattle industry, plain and simple.

Our job is to provide genetically superior bulls or heifers and cows to other seedstock producers and/or commercial producers that will improve or advance their herds. Typically, seedstock are purebred cattle that are registered through an association and have a pedigree that can be traced for generations. Most also have genetic predictors in the form of expected progeny differences (EPDs) that have been developed through performance evaluation and data. Some, like the American Akaushi Association, require DNA verification of parentage.

Not every purebred beef animal is destined to be seedstock. Not every heifer is of quality to be a replacement female, and not every bull calf should be a breeding bull.

Only the cattle worthy of being seedstock Akaushi Prime Time • Spring 2019

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should be marketed and promoted as such and put into the genetic pool for seedstock.

So what gives seedstock cattle value over and above commercial cattle – many of which are still marketed as a commodity? While an animal’s base value is still its salvage value, the added value for a breeding animal comes in the form of its genetic contribution to the commercial producer or even another seedstock producer wanting to improve their herd through the addition of specific genetics. In order to ask and receive additional value for a seedstock animal over and above its salvage value, a seedstock producer needs to be able to prove its genetic superiority. Without pedigrees and genetic information, there is no proof of its superiority. With this information, seedstock producers can produce and market cattle that will perform as needed and expected. Therein lies the value in the Akaushi registrations, pedigrees, data and DNA verification.

The very first step to successful marketing and promotion is to have a superior product. That begins long before you have anything to market and requires knowledge of your customer, your product, what you can and will produce, and how you’re going to get there. Growing up on a seedstock operation, I recall the lengths our family went through to produce a superior product. This was way before EPDs and indexes, and long before genomics was even a thought, much less a reality. Ours was a very extensive operation and the cattle needed to perform in some very difficult environments. Our goal was to make sure that what we produced could perform not only for us, but for our very demanding clients.

My dad spent hours poring through pedigrees and data, planning the breeding herds and matings. The goal was to produce bulls and heifers our clients were looking for or to produce replacement heifers that we needed to improve our own herd. We collected as much data as 

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Brown will also host a book signing during AAA’s 8th Annual Convention this October. PT possible and then spent a great deal of time evaluating that data so that our mating, culling and breeding decisions were based on fact and data, not on emotion. Last, we employed a stringent visual evaluation process to select for structurally sound, functional cattle, again because these were important traits for our customers, as well as for us. The selection process was long, involved and laborious, but it was effective.

In the end, we produced a product that met the criteria established in the beginning.

For Akaushi breeders, producing a superior product is made easier by the stringent standards set forth by the association and the planned and selective breeding done by those who’ve been producing Akaushi cattle in the United States for years.

Each breeder then needs to identify what makes a superior product for your operation, your customers, your environment, your management style and your marketing avenues, and then select and breed for those traits.

Elevate your cattle first to a position of honor and profit, and the marketing and promotion becomes so much easier. PT

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www.akaushi.com • Spring 2019

The Importance of Bull Maintenance

BY HANNAH WINE, FREELANCE WRITER

Y

ou have sifted through stacks of sale catalogs, watched video after video online, nearly drove the wheels off your truck and finally found the bull you wanted.

That bull is one of the most critical components of your cow herd. Without live calves on the ground, you’d be out of the cattle business. To ensure your calves and, in turn, your paychecks, are coming, it’s important to take good care of your bulls. Just as you change the oil, rotate your tires and on occasion flush the transmission on your truck to keep it on the road, you need to do regular bull maintenance to keep your bulls running the best they can in the pasture.

Health

Often when cows are worked for regular vaccinations and deworming, the bulls are left behind, and before you know it, it’s time to turn a bull out that hasn’t been vaccinated.

As for your vaccination protocol, annual vaccines for infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR), bovine

viral diarrhea (BVD), parainfluenza 3 (PI-3), bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV), leptosprosis (Lepto), vibriosis (Vibrio) and a biannual seven-way or eight-way clostridial are the norm. However, it’s of utmost importance to review your vaccination protocol with your veterinarian to make sure you have all the bases covered for your part of the country.

Bulls should be vaccinated 60 days ahead of the breeding season. It takes time for immunity to develop after a vaccination, and the age of the bull and vaccine can affect the amount of time. Any stressors or reactions from vaccines can compromise a bull’s sperm production.

If a bull experiences a high fever, the sperm forming at the time he had a fever will be abnormal, which causes an infertile period about 60 days after the fever.

Prevention rather than treatment is the most economical tactic to ensure good health and avoid losses. Treatment after the onset of a disease is not always effective and is often costly, and you risk losing a bull before diagnosis or treatment can even happen.

Breeding Soundness Exams

Breeding soundness exams (BSEs) are insurance

Akaushi Prime Time • Spring 2019

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for your breeding season.

Often producers buy a bull that has passed a yearling BSE and then consider him good to go for years to come. BSEs should be performed annually by your veterinarian to ensure a successful breeding. There are many factors that affect fertility, like age, weather and nutrition, which can affect semen concentration, motility and morphology. Since fertility changes aren’t visible to the naked eye, without a breeding soundness exam it might be 283 days until you discover there was a problem. Other factors that are evaluated during a BSE are visible, like feet and leg structure, body condition, vision and general health. These factors are just as critical − a fertile bull that can’t get around the pasture to breed cows is no better than an infertile bull that’s sound as a cat.

Nutrition

Inadequate nutrition can be detrimental to fertility. You should monitor the condition of your bulls just as you do your cows. During the breeding season, a bull can lose 100-200 pounds, equivalent to one to two body condition scores. Off-season nutrition, when the bulls are not with the cows, and the growing period for young bulls are of utmost 

importance to ensure optimal fertility and performance.

A young bull’s first breeding season can be hard on him, similar to that of a first-calf heifer raising her first calf. It is important for young bulls to get a little extra care to ensure that they are getting back to a body condition score of 6. A study by T.D. Rich at Oklahoma State University showed that if a young bull gets too thin, he will underperform in semen production for the rest of his life.

After the breeding season, bulls generally need some attention to restore their body weight and body condition. The amount of body weight and body condition that needs to be replaced can be considerable, especially in young bulls. Depending on the quality and quantity of forage available, bulls may need supplements.

In addition, a good mineral program is an essential part of your nutrition management. Bulls need proper levels of trace minerals for good sperm production.

Mineral programs can vary from ranch to ranch, but it’s important that you be familiar with local soil profiles, as they will provide clues to deficient minerals.

athlete, he’s got to stay in shape and condition so that he’s ready to get back in the game when it’s time and he has the endurance to do so.

A fertile but fat and unathletic bull is not going to do you any good.

In the off-season, whether your bulls are kept separately or as a group, they should be kept in pens or pastures

with plenty of room to exercise. Encourage exercise by putting protein supplements or feed bunks far from the water source. It often pays to try to make sure that the bulls you turn out together are compatible ahead of time, so they aren’t spending all their time fighting when they should be breeding cows. PT

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Exercise

Think of your bull as an athlete. Just because it’s the off-season doesn’t mean he can sit around, tearing up feed bunks, sleeping all day, eating everything he wants – and then when breeding season rolls around, he’ll just magically be back to his formidable self. Like any

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www.akaushi.com • Spring 2019

Akaushi Numbers Boom Using Embryo Transfer

BY MACEY MUELLER, FREELANCE WRITER

For 25 years, Akaushi owned Brazos Valley Ge-

genetics have been improving carcass performance and premium opportunities in the U.S. beef industry, but not without overcoming a few challenges – including minimal numbers and limited genetics – as the breed has developed in the states.

Starting with just 11 tightly-related, fullblood Akaushi – eight females and three bulls – imported from Japan in 1994, the domestic herd has now grown to more than 14,000 head. That rapid and intentional propagation was due in large part to Dr. John Shull, who began using an extensive embryo transfer program in late 2001 to build the breed.

Under the Burnet, Texas, veterinarian’s skilled hand, the herd quickly flourished and, in 2004 alone, more than 1,400 Akaushi calves hit the ground.

Shull, a board-certified theriogenologist, has been involved with embryo transfer work for more than three decades and has

netics since 1999. He says embryo transfer aims to propagate the genetics of a specific cow and bull on more than one calf per year.

He is often able to complete six to eight collections on one cow each year, and with an average of six embryos per collection, one cow can provide 40-50 embryos each year. Pregnancy rates average a little better than 50 percent when transferred into a surrogate female, and Shull has made more than 12,000 of those transfers since starting on the Akaushi project.

“Instead of having one calf per cow that first year – if they all got pregnant – we could have 20-30 calves per cow per year,” he says. “Embryo transfer makes propagation much more efficient in a short amount of time.”

And that propagation is important to improving beef quality. More than 95 percent of Akaushi cattle grade Choice or above, and Shull has been especially

impressed with the breed’s unique ability to improve marbling, even in just a halfblood commercial operation.

“There’s just no better way to increase that percentage of intramuscular fat,” he says. “I’ve seen Akaushi carcasses next to those of other finished steers, and it’s just amazing to see the difference.”

Expanding the genetic resources available to U.S. producers was another goal of the embryo transfer project. Shull worked closely with Elgin Breeding Service, Elgin, Texas, to create diversity among the offspring of the original eight cows.

Since the initial foundation nucleus of the herd was so small, embryo transfer allowed Shull to get more matings that were more diverse in their genetic makeup.

This was key to successfully growing the breed.

“There weren’t very many branches on that initial Akaushi genetic tree,” Shull says. 

Sherri Bentke and son, Corey, feed cubes to a set of young fullblood Akaushi cows on their ranch near Brenham, Texas. The Bentkes have been raising Akaushi embryo transfer calves for nearly two decades.

Akaushi Prime Time • Spring 2019

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In another effort to grow the genetic pool, in the early 2000s, 47 HeartBrandowned Akaushi females from Australia were en route to the United States, but a simultaneous change in the federal administration halted their import and, instead, left the cattle stranded in Guadalajara, Mexico. After more than a year of working with both governments, Shull was finally allowed to travel to Mexico to collect embryos from the cows, process and seal them in a sterile container and then transfer them to recipient cows in the United States.

“My technician and I flew down to Guadalajara every six weeks for nearly two years to collect, freeze and qualify embryos to send back to the states,” he says.

“It was a really neat project to be part of, and we were able to add significant numbers to the herd while also diversifying the genetics.”

As the herd grew, another challenge became maintaining a recipient pool of surrogate mothers large enough to accommodate the number of embryos that had been collected.

“As soon as the first set of heifers from the original eight cows was old enough to cycle, we began collecting embryos,” Shull says.

“Once that happened, we went from not enough cows to more donors than I had room for in the recipient supply.”

Shull has relationships with about a half-dozen recipient suppliers in Texas and Oklahoma, and has

relied on their cow-calf management skills to keep females in proper condition and understand the synchronization protocols in an effort to exceed the industry standard embryo transfer pregnancy rates.

“We’ve had a 62 percent pregnancy rate with this project, and I am pretty proud of that,” he says.

“There are a lot of links in the embryo transfer chain, and finding a quality set of recipient cows under good management is key to meeting production numbers like we achieved.”

One of those recipient suppliers is Mark Bentke.

Along with his wife, Sherri, son, Corey, and daughter, Continued page 24

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www.akaushi.com • Spring 2019

EMBRYO TRANSFER Continued from page 23

Colleen, Bentke has been raising Akaushi embryo transfer calves on his family’s Brenham, Texas, ranch for 19 years. After purchasing a set of Angus females to breed with his Brahman bulls, he was approached

by Akaushi breed representatives who convinced him to use his cow herd as recipients instead. Over the years, Bentke has made maternal improvements to that recipient pool with the use of Hereford and Brahman genetics.

Working closely with Shull, Bentke has raised thousands of Akaushi embryo transfer calves and has been so impressed with the breed that he now runs 800 fullblood Akaushi cows and

"Using Akaushi genetics on a set of cows is going to improve the quality of those calves and earn a premium." – Mark Bentke produces around 150 bulls and 150 replacement heifers a year for HeartBrand® Beef.

Bentke also personally owns about 400 Braford cows and uses Akaushi bulls to improve carcass merit and profitability.

“Using Akaushi genetics on a set of cows is going to improve the quality of those calves and earn a premium,” he says. “We started feeding some of our halfblood cattle and saw how efficient they were in the feedlot, and they were still grading 40 percent Prime.”

The Akaushi embryo transfer focus has shifted from increasing herd numbers to selecting for specific

desirable traits and bloodlines within the breed. A polled gene was recently identified in three of the purebred A4 Akasuhi calves Bentke raised, creating opportunity to quickly propagate that genetic trait using embryo transfer.

Bentke is optimistic that, as the breed continues to evolve, his fellow cattle producers will realize its potential impact on the beef industry.

“It really is some of the best beef available,” he says.

“When someone tells me how good their Akaushi steak was, I take pride in knowing I helped put it on their plate.” PT

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AAA MEMBER NEWS "Champion of the World was established to promote awareness, goodwill and trade between and within cattle-producing countries across the world", says PJ Budler, founder of wagyubreeder.net and the Champion of the World competition.

This cattle competition is broken down by regions – North America, South America, Asia/Africa and Europe – and then by countries. At this year’s competition, there were more than 1,000 entries from 77 countries representing 16 breeds, as well as one judge from each region. The Wagyu division consists of the five Japanese breeds: Akaushi, Japanese Black, Japanese Polled, Japanese Shorthorn and Mishima. To be nominated, your cattle must have won a national show within your country, or be nominated by your breed association or by a breeder.

The American Akasuhi Association is proud to announce that two Akaushi members – HeartBrand® Beef and Legendary

Akaushi Genetics – had registered cattle competing in this year’s competition.

HeartBrand Shannon V7297U and SOR Mr Hiromitsu were nominated to compete in the Miss World and Champion of the World competitions in the Wagyu division.

Both won the North American division and went on to compete against the other three regions.

At the 2019 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, HeartBrand Beef and Legendary Akasuhi Genetics were honored to accept the title of Miss World and Champion of the World!

Congratulations to both on a well-deserved title. PT

1/2 page horizontal, 4C Prime Time Brown Land & Cattle, LLC Winter 2019

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Producers of Red Angus and Hereford x Akaushi F1’s We have a great herd of Red Angus and Hereford cows that we breed to Akaushi bulls to produce superb quality F1 Akaushi heifers. The Red Angus F1’s are solid red and mostly polled. The Hereford F1’s are red white-faced cattle and all have been de-horned.

These cattle are a cowman’s kind and will be productive for many years. They're moderately framed with great maternal characteristics and mothering/milking ability! They will produce tremendous “A4-eligible” ¾-blood females and feeder steers with yield and quality grades to compete with the top F1 Akaushi genetics in the breed.

Call us and stop by the ranch anytime!

Brown Land & Cattle, LLC 2050 Brown Ranch Lane ∙ Beeville, TX 78102

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Austin Brown III 361-597-0373 aebrown70@gmail.com

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Austin Brown II 361-597-0377 firebrand1924@gmail.com

www.akaushi.com • Spring 2019

Flying Diamond Genetics, Jaclyn Wilson, Lakeside, Neb. Katie Jacobs and Don Stokes, Kechi, Kan. Corrales Livestock, August Bluth, Lovington, N.M. Robert Timpson and John Knudson, Silver Oak Beef Company, Colorado City, Ariz.

T-Bar-C Ranch LLC, Van Chatham, Grand Saline, Texas Buddy Gonzales, Angleton, Texas Carlson Ranch

NEW MEMBERS Bradley Family Farm, Dale and Pamela Bradley, Tecumseh, Okla.

Kimberlin Ranches, John and Charlotte Kimberlin, Dallas, Texas La Fortaleza de Zavala, Joe Durham, La Porte, Texas WP Ranches Family Limited Partnership, Wayland Perry, Llano, Texas Becker Ranch, Tyler Becker, Uvalde, Texas Burgess Farms, Vicki Burgess, DeFuniak Springs, Fla. Y2 Wagyu, Joshua Yarbrough, Noble, Okla.

Santa Monica, Gerardo and Benjamin Martinez, Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico Letovim, LLC, Daniel Rosenberg, Dallas, Texas Hodgen Farms, Jennie and Paul Hodgen, Roachdale, Ind. Fernandes Farms, Eugene Fernandes, Robertsdale, Ala. Pheasant Run Ranch, Brady Russell Brooks, Lebanon, Kan. El Mileno Ranch – Blanco, L.P., Juan Carlos Alonso, Austin, Texas FNJ Cattle, Frank Phillips, Palmer, Texas 4JB Ranch LLC, Christy and J.W. Lacy Jr., Harwood, Texas

CALENDAR OF EVENTS APRIL 23-24

Hemphill County Beef Cattle Conference, 1/4 Vertical, 4 color Canadian, Texas MAY 6-8 Prime Time National Pedigreed Livestock Council Comanche Cattle Company Annual Meeting, San Marcos, Texas JUNE 3 Convention Registration Information mailed Fall 2018

JUNE 18-21

Beef Improvement Federation Annual Meeting and Research Symposium, Brookings, S.D.

JULY 5 WHR Fall Preliminary Reports mailed

JULY 1-20

Comanche

Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association Annual Convention, Norman, Okla.

AUGUST 5-7

Cattle Company

Texas A&M Beef Short Course, College Station, Texas

OCTOBER 10-13

Proven Akaushi Genetics

8th Annual American Akaushi Association Convention, Cedar Creek, Texas

Selling registered,

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For more information contact:

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Canyon, Texas 806-683-7329 cowhand@me.com www.comanchecattleco.com

Akaushi Prime Time • Spring 2019

American Akaushi Association....................11 Bolz Ranch LP..................15 Bovina Feeders Inc............7 Broken Winds Cattte Company.......................13 Brown Land & Cattle LLC............... 12, 25 Cattle Stats LLC...............16 Comanche Cattle Company.......................26 Dove Creek Wagyu Cattle Co.........................3 26

Elgin Breeding Service Inc.......................9 FPL Food..........................24 HeartBrand Cattle Inc.......27 JMK Cattle..........................5 Jody Starr Outfitting.........19 Landair Inc........................17 Legendary Akaushi Genetics LLC...................2 San Jacinto Ranch...........21 Turquoise Butterfly............23 Ztags/Temple Tag.............28

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