Jersey-Beef ‘InFocus’For Sustainable Calf Solution

WORDS & PICTURES // FREE-RANGE AG

THE economic benefit of Jerseybeef is obvious for Anthea Day and Trevor Saunders. The Gippsland breeders sell most of their Jersey- ABS Beef InFocus™ beef calves for $200 at 10 days old. At the same age, they estimate a straight-bred Jersey would return about $12. Calculate this margin across about 200 calves and the gains don’t take long to multiply. But for Anthea, this new business direction is providing something much more valuable than additional income – peace-of-mind. And that’s not only for the future of her own business, but this also includes her beloved breed and industry. “First of all, I’m a sook – just absolutely hopeless – the one thing that breaks my heart and that I can’t deal with is bobby calves going on the calf truck,” the Shady Creek breeder said. “We saw the opportunity with sexed genetics, as an alternative, and if there’s a cow we don’t want to breed from, she automatically gets dairy beef. “We’ve set-up a couple of different markets, a new calf shed where we can rear them for one-to-two weeks and we are hoping to get carbon credits from the dairy-beef, it’s a new opportunity that’s opened-up.” Anthea and Trevor calve about 800 cows a year into their 650-strong Araluen Park Jersey and Ayrshire herd. Maintaining their “social licence” to operate as dairy farmers is something they factored into their business. “We are aware that overnight our bobby calf market could be shut, and we want to be geared for that,” she said. “I’ve always believed every animal deserves a life too, so InFocus for me is a win-win. I’m happy with it and it is making me feel happier about our business as whole.” ABS Beef InFocus is a specialised dairy-beef product that’s been specifically formulated to breed quality and consistent animals with the assurance dairy farmers need when it comes to calving ease, semen fertility and gestation length. Proven in Jersey herds throughout the world and now in Australia,

InFocus provides dairy farmers with consistency and quality as the genetic product has its own ‘proof’ demonstrating its vital traits. Having dabbled with other beef semen, Anthea and Trevor were drawn to ABS InFocus because of its track record with Jerseys. “What really attracted us was the stats ABS had on dairy-beef,” Anthea said. “They have stats on the dairy-beef out of Jersey herds, so there were a lot of pluses.” And just as promised, calving ease hasn’t been an issue and neither has semen fertility. “With InFocus, you just have to walk past with a straw, and they are in calf,” Anthea joked.

A true “game-changer” for the Jersey breed For third generation Jersey breeder and ABS Gippsland sales representative, Alan Blum the opportunities InFocus offers the Jersey breed are endless. He said there’s an appetite among farmers to find a viable solution for the lack of demand for Jersey bobby calves and in doing so improve the industry’s “social license”. “With InFocus it’s a win-win, as farmers can still make money while doing the right thing,” Alan said. “In some ways, InFocus™ is helping farmers prepare their businesses for the future in a way that makes them money – it doesn’t cost them money – so it makes sense.” Like Anthea and Trevor, Alan said many farmers were combining sexed genetics with InFocus to breed replacements from their genetically best heifers and cows and then adding value to surplus calves that were previously viewed as a dairy industry “by-product”. An option that “never existed before” Farmers wanting to include InFocus into their breeding program have been keen to learn about the entire dairy-beef supply chain, the value of the animals at various ages and the long-term demand, according to Alan. “The market price varies depending on when they are sold, but that is the great thing about InFocus animals, they are a diverse product and provide cashflow and farm management flexibility,” he said. “Most people sell them at 12-monthsold or younger, very few are selling them as calves now. “Initially most people sold them at 10-days old or weaned, but I guess that’s the benefit of InFocus animals, you can sell when it suits your farm business or take advantage of market trends.” The colour of the InFocus progeny and assurances about its safety and effectiveness in Jersey herds dominate many other dairy farmer queries. “Black animals still attract a premium and InFocus™ has the dominant black and polled genes, it’s a proven and consistent product,” Alan said. “As for the other questions, the InFocus sold in Australia has been specifically selected to ensure calving ease, semen fertility and a live calf, plus it’s been consistently proven over Jerseys.” Now InFocus calves have started hitting the ground in Australia and entering the beef supply chain, data will be collected on these animals’ carcass characteristics. “We have buyers who specifically want these animals, which is great because it allows us to more easily collect the valuable data that helps tell the story of Jersey-beef,” Alan said. “Obviously, the more InFocus numbers we have, the greater carcass data and demand due to the product’s consistency.” Providing Jersey farmers with “an option they didn’t have before”, Alan said InFocus not only delivers a sustainable solution to an industry “social licence” challenge, but it could also even alleviate labour shortages, as there’s less work involved with the dairy-beef animals. “I can see the potential for a product like this to be on every Jersey farm, be involved with every Jersey program,” he said. “In Denmark less than 5 per cent of conventional dairy semen is used in Jerseys to circumvent concerns about animal welfare and industry sustainability.”

Global challenges require local solutions Speaking about global greenhouse gas emissions and a growing movement away from animal protein, a sustainable development specialist working in the dairy value chain in Costa Rica recently challenged the Jersey breed to proactively address these “social licence” issues. Eduardo Robert Ureña told the World Jersey Cattle Bureau Online Conference that the image of farmers had moved from “heroes” feeding the world to “evil” businesses making money from natural resources.

What’s ABS Beef InFocus™?

A specialised dairy-beef product Beef InFocus has been developed by ABS to breed a terminal beef animal from a dairy cow in a commercial system. Established from the best terminal genetics in the United States of America it’s been trialled – and continues to be monitored in dairy herds to guarantee crucial traits such as a calving ease, semen fertility, gestation length and calf mortality. Backed by data from Jersey herds and verified across the globe, it delivers consistent beef calves that grow well and flourish in Australia. Many Australian dairy farmers consider the income from their InFocus animals as their ‘13th milk cheque’.

He said the dairy sector must take responsibility, urging the WJCB to create a dairy global taskforce – encompassing all breeds – to ensure the sustainability of the industry’s relationships with vital industry stakeholders. Genus Australia, trading as ABS, prioritises research into genetic solutions to help the dairy and beef industries overcome environmental and social licence challenges. InFocus and ABS sexed genetic product Sexcel® are just some of the examples of the sustainable products on the market and are at the heart of the ABS “Winning Game Plan” breeding strategy. Other ABS sustainability measures include breeding high generic merit animals that improve efficiencies — requiring less land, water, and resources to produce dairy products — supplying polled genetics to remove the requirement for disbudding and breeding healthier animals. ABS is also focusing on breeding animals with reduced methane emissions and improved feed conversion efficiency. These- and much more – including ABS’s own commitment to reducing

Social licence explained

The level of acceptance or approval that stakeholders and communities extend to a project, site, company, or industry. The phrase was coined in 1997 by a mining industry sustainable development executive called Jim Cooney in discussions with the World Bank. Difficult to quantify and measure. It’s one of the most talked about issues in agriculture. Examples of agricultural practices or industries that have come under “social license” pressure include live export, chemical use, native vegetation management.

Source: Governance Institute of Australia, Australian Farm Institute its carbon footprint are outlined in its new Sustainability Strategy available online.

A proactive Australian Jersey industry Driven by the Jersey Australia Board and a need to support members with new services, Jersey Australia General Manager Glen Barrett said the breed society wanted to provide an alternative for surplus calves. “When options like bobby calf sales can’t occur, and there’s mounting pressure in this space, it will have a bigger effect on the Jersey breed than other breeds,” he said. “So, it was up to Jersey Australia to actively find an alternative market and thanks to the uniqueness of Jersey beef, there’s an opportunity to find supply lines and market opportunities for our members to move their surplus calves.” Underpinned by a drive for industry sustainability, Glen said finding a solution included looking at what can be done on farm. “What a specialised Jersey-beef market offers members is an alternative income stream to move those calves on at a significant return over and above what surplus Jersey calves are worth now,” Glen said. “Members will be able to breed their replacement Jerseys with sexed genetics and breed the balance of their herd to beef to deliver a significant revenue stream.” Glen’s also confident that Jersey-beef could assist the broader agricultural sector to reduce its carbon footprint as dairy farmers could be contributing quality beef into the supply chain in addition to producing milk. When asked about eating Jersey beef, he said there’s plenty of human health benefits and it was also tasty. “Sure, there’s stigma around the potential for yellow fat because visually it looks different and supermarkets think they can’t sell it, but really Jersey-beef is unique as reports have found it has high beta-carotene levels which is good for cognitive function and health benefits,” he said. “Its marbling is only second to Wagyu.” “More and more high-end restaurants are favouring Jersey beef because of its uniqueness once it is cooked.” Back on farm at Shady Creek in Gippsland, Anthea Day and Trevor Saunders know it’s only a matter of time before consumers cotton-on to the delicacy that is Jersey-beef. “Jersey-beef, in carcass competitions at shows where judges look at and eat the meat, the Jersey Angus-cross wins time and time again,” Anthea said. “But to sell that, we haven’t had any carcass information, we haven’t had much to go on. “But I believe once the average consumer tastes Jersey beef-cross they are going to really like it.”

Maximise Profitability. Reduce Bobbies. Increase Sustainability.

With ABS’s Winning Game Plan

The Winning Game Plan aims to maximise the potential of every animal in your herd. By utilising Beef InFocus™ and Sexcel® together, you can unlock new revenue streams from the bottom of your herd and breed replacements from your best cows.