After a very warm welcome and seriously good curry we set about educating me on the world of genetics. Lawsons Angus was set up 40 years ago by Harry's father and having been put in contact with them through my brother in law's recommendation that they are world class at animal breeding I was blown away by the detail they go into to ensure that their breeding bulls are out performing the Angus breed average by 10 years. Regular data is recorded through the use of ultra sound to collate fat scores, eye muscle size, scrotum size, marbling score and growth over 100, 200 & 600 day period. Through working in partnership with the US they bring over the best Sires and serve their own hand selected Dams through AI. This data is then centralised and indexed taking into account the pedigree of the parents and the farming system the bulls are being used in.
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| Harry Lawson with his young bulls ready for auction. |
Australia have firmly backed the Angus as their breed of choice and as a result there are very strict rules if you are to sell your Angus beef under the certified Angus label. Harry is very passionate about research having spent a lot of time in the US who are undoubtedly the leaders in this field. Continually Harry asked why is it that when the US have proved the best eating quality comes from the Angus (and many more of the British breeds - Hereford / Dexter / South Devon etc.) the British continue to be obsessed with Euro continental breeds that often result in lean tasteless beef.
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| A young Angus suckling on its mother |
So the question is, if all this info is available why are we not in the UK doing it. Putting my Medium Rare hat on, the one product that we have not had success in is beef. We have struggled to have a story that is different to any other producer and have also struggled to find consistent product and producers who can supply this to us. With this discussion Harry suddenly got very excited. Having already exported his bulls to Turkey, Russia and China this year could this be the start of a relationship with Medium Rare.
I am convinced now from meeting Harry and Ruth that for Medium Rare to have a successful beef product we need to produce beef our selves. We must focus on purely on British breeds and convince butchers that taste and flavour are more important than yield. A strong competitive advantage could be gained by bringing in embryo's of the best genetics globally and having a small herd ourselves to use for the shop window, yet using contract farmers with our genetics to grow the numbers. You may ask what is wrong with the Angus beef on sale in Waitrose. The requirements for Waitrose, which I know as I have visited one of the contact finishers for Dovecot Park, is that the animals only need 51% Angus and can be sourced from anywhere as long as they are on a Waitrose approved farm for 21 days. Compare this with certified Angus label in Oz is that they need to be pure Angus and meet the requirements of the MSA. Certianly food for thought to head home with!!
December 2010 Angus GROUP BREEDPLAN | |||||||||||||||||
 | Calving Ease Dir (%) | Calving Ease Dtrs (%) | Gestation Length (days) | Birth Wt. (kg) | 200 Day Wt. (kg) | 400 Day Wt. (kg) | 600 Day Wt. (kg) | Mat. Cow Wt. (kg) | Milk (kg) | Scrotal Size (cm) | Days to Calving (days) | Carcase Wt. (kg) | Eye Muscle Area (sq.cm) | Rib Fat (mm) | Rump Fat (mm) | Retail Beef Yield (%) | IMF (%) |
EBV | -0.4 | +1.9 | -2.7 | +2.9 | +37 | +78 | +104 | +89 | +10 | +0.2 | -3.6 | +66 | +7.0 | +0.6 | +0.9 | 0.0 | +2.9 |
Acc | 53% | 46% | 64% | 80% | 72% | 74% | 74% | 67% | 57% | 74% | 41% | 67% | 62% | 65% | 66% | 59% | 58% |
Breed Avg. EBVs for 2008 Born Calves Click for Percentiles | |||||||||||||||||
EBV | +0.0 | +0.3 | -2.4 | +4.6 | +36 | +67 | +86 | +80 | +12 | +1.2 | -2.5 | +48 | +2.9 | -0.2 | +0.0 | +0.2 | +0.9 |
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