The heritage of the past is the seed, that brings forth the harvest of the future

Phillips

GM’s View

Apparently, time flies as your age increases! A year seemed to take forever when at school and now January blends into November. March 2023, marked twenty years of breed society management for me. It just doesn’t seem that long. When doing my day to day office routine, I am grateful that I had a practical farming background. Raised on a family farm and then having twenty years of stud cattle management including Charolais and many other breeds offers some advantages in management of a breed society. Having a practical knowledge of gestation length, calving intervals etc helps maintain the integrity of the Herd book. It’s super easy to make a mistake on dates and sometimes asking a question provides clarity on the registration of an animal. For members filling in Society forms, requesting DNA tests etc can be daunting and ensuring documents are clear and easy should make breeding Charolais more enjoyable.

It’s easy to be passionate about Charolais promotion when you have seen the benefits first hand. Although I am a big believer in “all breeds have a place” and “breed diversity is essential in our industry” the abilities of the Charolais breed resonates deeply. The concept of pushing to achieve maximum return through the utilisation of heterosis and breed complementarity is just so engrained in my mind. When we look at the pork and chicken industries, crossbreeding rules supreme. It is so well proven. Somewhere along the way, the beef industry got highjacked into other thought processes.

At times it seems logical to surrender our heritage and take the easy route like so many have done, but Charolais over many centuries were bred for a purpose, came to Australia for a purpose and have proudly proven that purpose day in, day out for over fifty years.

Whilst perceptions on premiums may be colour coded, performance is reality based. Saleyard scales do not calibrate on coat colour when weighing our weaner calf pens or the steers leaving the feedlot. As Charolais breeders with the successful motto “cross into profit” we have the tools to give so much to successful commercial beef breeding programs.

We should look to highlight our core strengths. These could include our awesome growth rate, muscle development and versatility in marketing options. We know Charolais infused genetics can perform equally well on grass or grain. We know Charolais genetics thrive equally as well in the northern, southern and western states of Australia. Perhaps light coloured coats assisting in heat stress reduction is an under promoted advantage?

Recent heat spells across the globe saw substantial death rates in cattle on feed, but white coated cattle didn’t feature in any of the images I saw of these unfortunate incidents. In an American study at the USMARC Feedlot involving four breeds, one Black coated, one dark red, one tan and Charolais, different respiration rates, panting scores, and surface temperatures were evident. Behaviour data showed that heat stress increased drinking and standing behaviour, and decreased eating, lying, and agonistic behaviours, and that dark-hided cattle adjusted their behaviour more than light-hided cattle. When we consider the northern cattle industry and that hotter environment, Charolais should be a logical choice for many crossbreeding programs. Different research programs across the world have all shown similar results indicating our breed can master a hot environment.

Charolais sired crossbred steers finishing on grass at Yea, Victoria. A great example of crossing into profit in a grassfed program. Images: Cheviot Hills, Yea, Victoria