Northern Focus
Behind The Beef – Angus in the North Cheyne Twist, Communications Officer
Angus Australia’s Northern Development Officer Jen Peart joined the Behind the Beef podcast to discuss her role within Angus Australia and the work being done in the development of Angus and Angus influenced genetics in the northern Australia. Jen works to support producers with her passion about producer profitability and delivering research and extension of value. During the episode Jen breaks down the Northern Development Program, the recent research and development and where Angus producers can find further information that can assist them in integrating Angus into their northern herds. What is your role within Angus Australia? My role is Northern Development Officer, as part of the Strategic Projects area headed up by Christian Duff. In my field we’re doing a lot of work around predominantly research and development to support those using Angus in northern Australia and looking at opportunities that we can take advantage of to provide genetics to northern Australia. Can you give a little snapshot into the northern beef production system and the role Angus cattle play in the supply chain in the north? Northern beef production is really the powerhouse of the Australian beef industry. Queensland has the largest population of cattle in Australia and we’re seeing more and more Angus influenced cattle within that. Obviously, there’s a lot more crossbreeding in northern production systems, however based off a recent study Angus Australia conducted, there’s about 1.8 million head of Angus influenced animals in Queensland only, therefore it’s a sizeable population in the north. Angus cattle have a somewhat negative perception in terms of utilisation within northern Australia due to traits, such as coat colour. What is the aim of the Northern Development Program with regards to its work in supporting the utilisation of Angus genetics in the north? Some areas within the northern production system present challenges to the Angus breed and there are parts of Australia that aren’t suitable to Angus, however there are vast tracts of the north that can capitalise on some of the benefits of Angus, like the maternal traits such as fertility that are sought after in the Angus breed. Angus Australia is continuing a lot of work regarding heat tolerance and looking at heat tolerance in feedlots and its impact on fertility. We are also investigating tick resistance, as there is a lot of opportunity to do work there given the challenges that areas of Queensland and the Northern Territory present to Bos Taurus breeds, and specifically Angus. You are assisted by the support of the Northern Development Consultative Committee, what is the role of the committee? The Northern Development Consultative Committee is a group of producers with experience in the north, either based in the north or selling bulls to the north. They offer a range of experiences and are invaluable to the program because they give us a source of ground truth 46
and information around what they’re seeing on ground, what their experience is with a lot of the projects we have implemented or are planning to implement. They are very good at providing advice and identifying the priorities for producers on the ground. It’s a very effective committee and very engaged. We are very fortunate to have them on board. When it comes to common misconceptions of the Angus breed in the Northern Australia, what traits do Angus feature that is a driving factor for producers in the North? The thing that really attracts people to Angus is the marketability of them. There’s a lot of avenues that are open to people considering that there’s quite a demand for Angus. You see a lot of people breeding them as they can sell them as weaners, as feeders, they can finish them and they perform very well in a meat quality sense. It incentivises producers to try Angus and breed Angus because they can sell them. A survey was conducted by Angus Australia in a co funded project with Meat and Livestock Australia from May to June last year of Aussie beef producers. What was the primary purpose of the Australian Beef Breeding Insights survey? The survey was conducted to achieve a number of objectives, one of which was to quantify the number of Angus cattle there are in Australia. The survey gives the research that Angus Australia does weight when you consider the amplifying factor of the number of Angus in the Australian production system. Additionally, where the cattle are distributed gives us reasonable information to go off when we are setting research priorities, looking at what we want to achieve and where it’s going to benefit producers the most.
