president
MIKE BUCHANAN
A BRAND NEW PLAN PART II Dear Members, For all of us in the Wagyu industry, the pace of change in just a few months this year has been breathtaking, if not outright scary. On my own Mid North coast of NSW - from dustbowl paddocks and dry dams, to green grass as high as the elephant’s eye. We seem to have slipped from a global market situation of great promise, to one of extraordinary uncertainty and foreshadowed world recession. Does this foreshadow a new world order? In a June 1966 speech in Cape Town, as the world retreated from the Cold War and the brink of nuclear apocalypse, Robert Kennedy said: “There is a Chinese curse which says 'May he live in interesting times.' Like it or not we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty; but they are also more open to the creative energy of men than any other time in history.” As we have seen since – not least in the global technological revolution that began in the late 1970s - Senator Kennedy nailed that one. To return to 2020: in less than three months, we saw how rapidly events beyond our control can both redeem and threaten our fortunes. But we still have no over-riding reason to challenge Kennedy’s key affirmation: despite the difficulties, we should be confident that these are still times of great opportunity. 4
THE AUSTRALIAN WAGYU UPDATE - ISSUE 74
BOARD PROGRESS With a firm grasp on that optimism, I can report that your new Board has made substantial progress since taking over at the 2019 AGM in Brisbane. The day after, the Board held its inaugural 2019-20 meeting. On that day, we initiated an intensive review of core AWA business and member services. We accelerated existing proposals for the review of key breeding tools, including aspects of BREEDPLAN Carcase EBVs and BreedObject $Indexes.
review of carcase EBVs/Indexes, which is undertaken in partnership with our science partner, AGBU. I stress that ‘review’ does not equal change, but it should mean validation. Periodic review is universally accepted as basic good management, and accordingly, we have commenced a cyclical review of AWA Carcase EBVs launched in 2014. An outcome here may be additional Indexes. » Genetic Diversity: During 2020, you will receive details of AWA efforts to measure (and subsequently manage) the
The reviews are informed by and compliant to, the directions set in the brand new AWA Strategic Plan 20202025, as unveiled at the 2019 AGM.
challenged genetic diversity in our key
In mid February 2020, substantial components of the core business study were complete, and were accepted at the AWA Board meeting on February 10, 2020. These early results were outstanding. Other aspects of the review are continuing.
although the underlying issue is well
We were planning to share up-to-theminute findings at a special membersonly at the WagyuEdge Conference in April 2020. Instead we will share information through AWA media as we progress through this year.
breed, the Japanese Black. Measurement of genetic diversity has never being undertaken previously in AWA history, recognised in Japan. Work on local diversity and the related inbreeding issue is well underway at AGBU. A brand new tool has been added to our kit in the diversity project. Following our recent procurement of the leading international database, prefectural analysis will soon be available on the AWA website for each individual Australian registered Fullblood Black animal. Beyond use as a selection
HIGHLIGHTS WILL INCLUDE
tool, the structure of prefectural
BREED GENETICS DEVELOPMENT
development programs that have been
» Wagyu BREEDPLAN: In the next few months we aim to complete a full
analysis is applied in national sire a core component of modern Japanese management of breed genetic diversity.
