A chat with Dr Udo Mahne

The best feeder is the best breeder and other words of wisdom. A chat with Dr Udo Mahne

17 years ago Dr Udo Mahne began his journey into the world of embryo technologies and bovine reproduction. Initially with 8 years in Africa before relocating to Australia in 2011, his avid interest and now, proven expertise in this area was displayed early when he graduated as a qualified veterinarian with an award for best student in clinical reproduction. In 2006, after completing the International Embryo Transfer Society (IETS) embryo export accreditation Udo worked with Dr Dries Cuyler, flushing and exporting over 300 Brahman embryos from South Africa to Australia. His achievements continued with a flush of over 2000 Boran embryos from Kenya and Zambia; exporting them from their respective quarantine centres to South Africa and Namibia. Prior to relocating to Australia, Udo was also lead researcher across a study in the growth of Bugfali, Sable and Roan antelope IVF embryos in Africa. Now, Dr.Mahne owns and manages “Embryo Life”; specialising in bovine reproduction, embryo transfer, retrieval and freezing. With an extensive territory in Australia, from Northern NSW to Victoria, South Australia and up to Queensland, Dr.Mahne is a man in demand. As he so simply puts it, “I basically work on a different stud cattle farm every day”. Servicing up to 100 clients, Dr Mahnes clients include both stud and contract recipient herds. I asked him to describe the demographic of his client base and the depth and breadth of his knowledge and experience was very clear across all sorts of operations. As he explained,“my biggest contract recipient client has 700 recipients. Stud herds vary a lot in size. An average big stud herd would have 150-250 stud cows. These farmers would make up less than 20% of my clients but are responsible for about 50% of my work. The medium stud herds usually average 40-80 breeders and make up 30% of clients and finally the small “start-up” breeders who have 5-40 head of cattle would make up the balance of my clients”. With his own personal herd of 100 Angus stud cattle, commercial shorthorn and Angus cattle in addition to a number of Speckle

Park first cross over Angus, Dr Udo Mahnes experience extends right to his own back paddock. With a reputation for breeding exceptional stud Speckle Park also, I asked him what he considers the best attributes of the breed. “They are good, easy doing, moderate frame cattle that can cope with cold and wet weather. They also slick off quickly in Summer and can cope with the other extreme of 40 degrees Celsius”. Speckle Park offered him a new challenge and were an attractive new breed. He adds, “I like new challenges and have an entrepreneurial nature. I wanted to be part of this exciting new Canadian breed that looked like it was ticking several important boxes. It sure is a breed that provides the goods when it comes to carcass and yield”. Speckle Park are starting to really stake a claim in the world of beef production and Dr Mahne was keen to detail his thoughts around genetic selection for breeding beef cattle. “It is very important to divide the beef industry into two parts. Firstly, seedstock production (Bulls and semen for stocker/backgrounding and feedlot production). Secondly, cow-calf production systems. These two systems are very different in regards to genetic selection but yet, need to merge, as the one is needed to make the other”. “The future of breeding, for me, would be to breed a consistent, reliable and predictable product that fits into a very specific product range and market. The beef consumer has become very specific on what he/she wants. Breeders are expected to meet these specifications with the bulls they breed for their clients, usually the commercial farmers that either grass rear or send the progeny into feedlots”. Dr Mahne detailed the specific trend at the moment to identify new genetic markers relevant to eating quality, tenderness and the tendency to lay down intra-muscular fat. “The big chase at the moment is to identify and locate the specific genes responsible for many sought after carcass traits , no matter what the breed of cattle. The idea being, that the animal either has the genetics

to marble or it doesn’t, no matter how much you feed it. Even though breeders strive to breed an “all in one” genetic package, it is near impossible to find animals that tick all the boxes and carry all the genes we want in a homozygous (double copy) format”. “The challenge for the Speckle Park breed after this enormous growth phase would be to try and identify genetics that compete with the rest of the beef breeds in the industry in regards to carcass traits where consistency, reliability & predictability is paramount”. He went on to detail some first hand examples in the world of beef production. “Wagyu breeders are genetically testing animals before they get fed for an extensive time period to make sure they will marble enough. They want to make sure that feed is not wasted on animals that will not meet the basic specifications they are looking to breed. In addition, Angus breeders are extensively using carcass data to identify specific genetics that will meet the carcass specifications they need to maximise profit. They run several independent trials to compare genetic differences under controlled conditions to give more accuracy to genetic performance when all animals are in the same environment”. Anyone who has had any sort of conversation around best breeding practices with Dr Mahne, would have heard his catch cry “nutrition, nutrition, nutrition”. Specifically I asked what his recommendation is at this critical post-drought recovery time for cattle breeding. “There is a lot of clover around that contains high amounts of phytoestrogens. Give drugs in your program that help with the ovulation process and prevent cysts. Supplement minerals too, as the cows probably drew and depleted the minerals stored in their liver and bones during the drought.” Specifically to increase success and pregnancy retention, Dr Mahne recommends a protocol before and after running a program. “There are multiple and often very complex nutritional variations that influence ruminant gut health and the overall health of a cow and her performance. At present, the extensive presence of clover should be noted. Dr Mahne recommends’ “taking recipients off clover and lush short green grass during ovulation time and feeding good quality hay for the ovulation period in the program or putting them on “mature” pasture”. Dr Mahne shared his observations and reasoning with me. “A lot more cystic ovaries are found when cows are on clover and lush high protein containing pasture. Persistent follicles or cysts make programmed females unusable for embryo transfer and significantly decrease AI conception rates. Clover contains phytoestrogens that can block LH release and the ovulation process”. In closing, Dr Udo Mahne explained that each program is a team effort and he feels his greatest asset is educating clients to help improve their results. “Nutritional management is the most important key to better results. The best feeder is the best breeder, I always say”. Author: Roz Alexander