6 minute read
A ‘GOOD BULL’ THE START TO SUCCESSFUL WAGYU
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
A 'good bull' the start to successful Wagyu
of view, it would be difficult to persist. As a result, Gary opted to downsize his operations with the view to concentrating on a Fullblood breeding program. Gary says that as devastating as the fires were, there's nothing he could do to change what had happened. “I was insured and I still had my cattle so I thought of it as an opportunity to re-set and rebuild fences and infrastructure where they should be rather than where they had been and re-sow higher quality pastures to improve productivity and carrying capacity. It gives you something positive out of what is otherwise basically all bad. It’s difficult, but you just have to get on with it!” The missing piece was a suitable Fullblood bull to kick the program on. The challenge for Gary was that bulls used for the live steer market were not necessarily suitable for the Fullblood breeding program. “I asked the agent who organised the Fullblood cows, to find me a suitable ‘good bull’ not really knowing what I actually needed. The first one I bought turned out to be no good. I bought him sight unseen, without really understanding his bloodlines and EBVs, and on the basis that a vet check had been done. “After missing a season with no pregnancies to this bull, I got my own vet to give him the once-over. The verdict was that he was basically infertile and was prone to conformation problems. “When I spoke to the agent about his supposed ‘vet check’ he offered a refund or another bull. I took the offer of the second bull, which turned out to be a ‘good bull’. By then, I had learned my lesson: look at the breeding, understand the figures, get a fertility check (and paperwork) and actually look at the bull before you commit. And did I trust the breeder?” Gary now appreciates the value of data, but understands that it is not the whole picture of a bull – a recent case in point is that one bull he bred, on paper looked promising, but in reality, he was born prematurely, had very poor conformation, poor structure, and stunted growth – he was ‘no good’ and never would be. Gary chose to use him as an example for potential buyers as to why you must look at more than just the figures. “I remember at those Field Days Simon recommended that you use only your best or stud Angus cows, so that you know what your starting point is. Using a good Wagyu bull over a poor quality Angus cow can compromise the potential result. It’s still good advice, which I share with anyone looking to buy a bull for their breeding program.” Sales such as the Elite Wagyu Sale are as much a marketing tool for breeders as they are for sourcing top level genetics, and it is evident Gary said, that some of the prices paid have been as much about the reputation of the breeder as the breeding and EBVs of the sale lot. Submitting Lisheen Wagyu genetics into the Elite Wagyu Sale is a reflection of the quality that Gary produces, and the integrity of his breeding program. To get to this point, Gary readily admits, has been a steep learning curve. Collecting his own data, comparing it to the resultant EBVs, understanding artificial insemination and embryo transfer programs and more all needed to be taken onboard in a reasonably short period of time, by Wagyu breeding standards. “When someone comes to me looking to buy a bull, I like to understand what it is they want to achieve with the bull so I can make sure they are getting what they need. I can now give them a full set of records that I have collected from the day the bull was born, right through to the day he is sold. He will be fertility tested, DNA tested and parent verified, checked for recessive genetic conditions, vaccinated, registered and freeze branded. The vendor can be confident he will be calm and perfectly capable of being able to forage for himself.
“But the bull won’t go until the buyer has actually seen him or at least photographs of him, checked the details for themselves and is satisfied that everything is in order. Anything less, and I would be doing the buyer, myself and potentially the Wagyu breed a disservice. It’s all about quality and integrity.”
