Quality and the integrity of the information about each and every animal I breed is extremely important to me ...
A ‘GOOD BULL’ THE START TO SUCCESSFUL WAGYU THROUGH TRIAL AND ERROR, AND SOME HARDLEARNED LESSONS, THE RESULTS ARE SPEAKING FOR THEMSELVES
Lisheen Wagyu, north of Melbourne, started a grass-fed Fullblood Wagyu program in 2014, with a focus on quality, based on pedigree and estimated breeding values to produce a small herd that sits in the top 10% of the breed. Through trial and error, and some hard-learned lessons, the results are speaking for themselves. At first glance, the story of Lisheen Wagyu appears to be a recent one, but in fact, Gary Neal, owner of Lisheen Wagyu was one of the early entrants into Wagyu in the mid 1990s. Originally a producer of Angus, Murray Greys and Charolais, Gary grew tired of the unpredictable nature of the beef market in Australia. An ad in the local rural paper for a Field Day at Euroa on Wagyu caught his interest. That first Field Day was presented by Dr Simon Coates, back in the days when Wagyu production was perceived as a gimmick akin to emu farming. A bit of research, a sample of Wagyu beef, followed by a second Field Day and Gary was in. The aim in those early days was to improve the beef quality, not necessarily the breed, and as a consequence, Wagyu bulls were bought to put across his Angus heifers for the F1 and F2 live export trade. For many years, Gary ran his operation in this fashion, with repeat business every year, enabling a reliable level of farm income forecasting that had eluded him previously.
As the Japanese market faded, the Australian feedlot industry saw the benefits of Wagyuinfused cattle and were keen to continue on a similar level of business – at a better price. What was really missing, was data feedback on those F1 and F2 cattle. The assumption that repeat business meant satisfactory results, did not answer questions such as feedlot performance or carcase data to enable further development of the herd. Responses from Japan were minimal, and Australian feedlot data was almost impossible to obtain and what could be obtained, was not particularly transparent in how the data was collected. Gary prides himself on his ability to record accurate data on his entire herd, including birth details, weights at 200, 400 and 600 days, maternal traits and also docility of the animal. “I have a strong focus on having a herd that is quiet and easy to manage,” said Gary. “Quality and the integrity of the information about each and every animal I breed is extremely important to me. I take great care and pride in the accuracy of BREEDPLAN data I submit.” A period of expansion occurred, with the lease of 1,000 acres closer to Melbourne, but a number of events, including extensive bushfires on both the Lisheen and lease properties showed, from a management point ISSUE 73 - THE AUSTRALIAN WAGYU UPDATE
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