Technical Update

NORTHERN BIN STEER PROJECT UPDATE

By Paul Williams, Tropical Beef Technology Services (TBTS)

The joint Northern BIN Steer Project between the Droughtmaster Stud Breeders’ Society (DSBS), Australian Brahman Breeders’ Association (ABBA) and a consortium of Santa Gertrudis Breeders, with funding assistance from the Meat & Livestock Australia Donor, started in 2015 and is now in its seventh year. The project has currently purchased nine cohorts of steers from Spyglass and seven cohorts of steers from Brian Pastures. The Northern BIN Steer Project is providing data which is assisting in the future implementation of genomically enhanced EBV’s through the “Single Step” analysis and a future Tropical crossbred analysis. This is possible as the Brahman and Droughtmaster steers (from Spyglass and Brian Pastures) and Santa Gertrudis steers from Brian Pastures have been run together since birth, having only been split during the joining period of their dams in the Repronomics Project. To date the Northern BIN Steer Project has purchased 3,024 steers of which 1,205 are Droughtmasters. A breakdown of breed and calving year is shown in Table 1. The sires of the project steers are either proven sires with a large number of registered progeny (few of which have been performance recorded with BREEDPLAN) or young up and coming bulls. Of these steers 2,145 have been carcase scanned and over 1,800 have carcase data collected in the Abattoir.

2019 Kill Data Spyglass No 19 Steers

Spyglass No 19 steers were backgrounded at Spyglass after weaning for about 10 months before transferring to Warraka about 40km south west of Taroom and turned off on grass as Jap Ox steers. The steers were weighed, and carcase scanned on the 13th May for P8, Rib, EMA and IMF. The Droughtmaster steers averaged 558kg with scans of P8 fat 9mm, Rib Fat 5mm, EMA 70 and IMF 2.8%. The steers were slaughtered at Teys, Biloela on 21st June with the Brahman steers averaging 285kg and the Droughtmasters 296kg. The sires of the steers were from Breffni, Bryvonlea, Cashmere, Fairhaven, Heitiki, Ivanhoe, Lisgar, Lynsey Park, Strathfield, Truvalle and Vale View studs. The decision was made to sell the steers due to having to hold them over the winter, with minimal growth during that period. Table 2 shows the raw averages and maximum and minimum for the Spyglass No 19 Droughtmaster Steers.

Brian Pastures No 19 Steers

Brian Pastures No 19 steers were purchased in August 2019 and backgrounded at three different properties. Narayen Research station for one month before moving to Raglan Station in September 2019 until February 2020. From there they were moved to “Jimarndy” Clarke Creek where they were backgrounded, and then on to Barmount Feedlot on the 2nd November due to the lack of a break in the season and a shortage of feed. The Droughtmaster, Brahman and Santa steers were run in separate pens and a record of feed consumption was recorded. The Droughtmasters average daily consumption was 14.07 kg/head compared to the Brahmans 11.66 kg/ head and Santa Gertrudis at 14.45 kg/ head. The steers were weighed, and carcase scanned on the 4th February 2021 for P8, rib, EMA and IMF. The Droughtmaster steers averaged 564kg with an average daily weight gain of 2.19kg per day from feedlot entry weight with scans of P8 fat 12mm, Rib Fat 7 mm, EMA 71 and IMF 3.5%. The steers were slaughtered at Teys, Lakes Creek on the 15th March with the Brahman steers averaging 315kg, Santa’s 357kg and Droughtmaster’s 342kg. The sires of the steers were from Angle Zed, Clonlara, Comanche, Ivanhoe, Lisgar, Lynsey Park and Vale View studs. Table 3 shows the raw average and maximum and minimum for the Droughtmaster Steers. Warraka

There are currently around 630 steers backgrounding at Warraka made up of Spyglass and Brian Pastures No 20 and 21. Season permitting the steers will be turned off a mixture of grass and Leucaena or if necessary, the steers will be finished in a feedlot.

Table 1: Breakdown of steers origin and number per year

Cohort Year Brahmans Droughtmaster Santa Gertrudis Beefmaster X Total Spyglass No 19 Steers

Steers were last weighed for the 400-day weight in November 2020 with an average of 256kg. The Droughtmasters averaging 259kg and the Brahmans 253kg, with the weight’s ranging between 177kg and 333kg for the Droughtmaster steers. The steers are sired by bulls from Breffni, Bryvonlea, Cashmere, Garthowen, Heitiki, Locarno. Lisgar, Lynsey Park, Needmor, Strathfield, Oasis, Truvalle and Wajatryn studs. Steers will be weighed, and carcase scanned which will coincide with 600-day weight on the 21st July.

Brian Pastures No 19 Steers before slaughter

Brian Pastures No 20 Steers

Steers were last weighed for the 400-day weight in November 2020 with an average of 288 kg, with the Droughtmasters averaging 282kg, Brahmans 279kg and the Santa Gertrudis 297kg with the weight’s ranging between 224kg and 344kg for the Droughtmaster steers. The steers are sired by bulls from Clonlara, Fairhaven, Garthowen, Ivanhoe, Lisgar, Lynsey Park, Strathfield. and Yaralla studs. Steers will be weighed, and carcase scanned which will coincide with 600-day weight on the 21st July. Spyglass No 21 Steers

Steers were weaned late May and transferred to Warraka in June. At weaning they averaged 191kg, with the Droughtmasters averaging 194kg and the Brahmans 187kg with the weights ranging between 137kg and 247kg for the Droughtmaster steers. Brian Pastures No 21 Steers

Steers were weaned in April and transferred to Warraka in May. At the exit weight from Brian Pastures they averaged 262kg, with the Droughtmasters averaging 257kg, Brahmans 242kg and the Santa Gertrudis 282kg and weights ranging between 190kg and 326kg for the Droughtmaster steers. With the Repronomics project continuing to 2024 the opportunity to continue to purchase steers and collect all import carcase data to help drive the Droughtmaster towards both a Crossbred analysis with other tropical breeds, and to have genomically enhanced EBV’s.

Spyglass 2013 59 47 106 Table 2: Spyglass 2019 Droughtmaster Steers Slaughter results

Spyglass 2014 95 66 Spyglass 2015 99 107 Spyglass 2016 135 127 Spyglass 2017 111 105

161 206 262 216 Carcase Weight P8 Fat Rib Fat EMA MSA Marble

$ value Hump Height Min 239 2 2 64 120 1,479.32 75

Spyglass 2018 107 128 234 Max 348 20 9 102 410 2,309.28 145

Spyglass 2019 131 118 6 250 Spyglass 2020 146 109 3 252 Spyglass 2021 99 81 1 181 Brian Pastures 2015 55 37 63 155 Brian Pastures 2016 45 53 65 163 Brian Pastures 2017 50 42 54 146 Brian Pastures 2018 61 58 51 170 Brian Pastures 2019 73 54 81 208 Brian Pastures 2020 59 36 63 4 162 Brian Pastures 2021 47 40 56 143 Average 296 9 5 79 261 1,955.09 105

Table 3: Brian Pastures 2019 Droughtmaster steers Slaughter Results

Carcase Weight P8 Fat Rib Fat EMA MSA Marble

$ value Hump Height Min 267 8 3 52 250 1764.84 100