Almost 200 Brangus cattle breeders from four continents will gather for the World Brangus Conference, being held next month as part of Beef 2012 in Rockhampton.

The Congress is just the sixth to be held worldwide, and the first in Australia, bringing together a wide cross-section of breeders and other seedstock industry stakeholders from North and South America, South Africa and Australia.

Delegates will participate in a wide range of activity during Beef 2012, including the largest gathering of Brangus cattle ever seen in an Australian stud beef competition, featuring 250 entries.

Brangus Congress chairman, Roma seedstock producer Ian Galloway, said the event aimed to foster and develop relationships between all the International Brangus Associations and their members, and act as a means of updating all stakeholders on developments of significance relating to breeding and marketing Brangus cattle.

A key focus will be the Congress forum on Tuesday, May 8, being held off-site at the nearby Brothers Leagues Club. A list of high profile international speakers has been engaged, including:

• Randy Blach, chief executive officer for authoritative US market intelligence gathering and forecasting body, Cattlefax
• Representatives from five International Brangus Associations who will present on developments and challenges within their own countries, including the US, Argentina, Mexico, Paraguay and South Africa.
• Beef CRC’s chief executive Heather Burrow will give a presentation incorporating results from CRC 3 – in particular the results from the Northern Fertility project
• Matias Suarez from Pfizer Animal Genetics will make a presentation incorporating information on DNA technology
• A representative from Tropical Beef Technology Services will present information on relevant genetic technologies
• A representative from Elders will make a presentation on future opportunities for Brangus in Australia.

The program will also feature a range of pre and post-congress tours, a meet-and-greet event on Sunday May 6, and the Congress gala dinner on Thursday, May 10.

There will be a number of commercial displays from breeders of Brangus cattle in a display area dubbed ‘Brangus Boulevard’. Exhibitors will include Triple B Brangus, Bimbadeen, Jett, Rocky Repro, Lazy S, Rushton, Voewood, Progressive Genetics, Chadwick Downs Cattle Co, Duarran, Doonside and Charlevue.

This will provide a central focus for members and overseas visitors to gather and relax, discuss business or use as a meeting point. The displays will be centrally located between the Expo’s cattle pavilions, centre ring and the trade fair.

Separare Beef Expo commercial trade displays will be mounted by Nindooinbah and Telpara Hills studs.

Independent of the formal Congress program, Telpara Hills Brangus in association with ABS Global will host an Elite Genetics sale.

In what is claimed to possibly be a world-first, the sale will offer an international semen package with the exclusive choice of the bull from three outstanding AI sires and the country of choice. The package includes 200 semen units from the purchaser’s nominated choice of bull and the exclusive rights for the purchaser’s nominated country for up to three years.

The Australian buyer of the actual bull will have both the opportunity to share in semen sale royalties from around the globe and have the sire working in their paddock. The sale has attracted the attention of ABS’s international partners, with Todd Sears, ABS Global international beef product manager visiting from the US, and Vasco Beheregaray Neto, ABS Latin American beef product specialist, coming from South America, to inspect Australian Brangus cattle.

“This is a great opportunity to take Australian Brangus to the world and we’re going to encourage international bidders to participate, with more than 100 exportable embryos collected from our Telpara Hills donor females either in Texas or North Queensland in our approved export AB facility,” said Telpara Hills Stephen Pearce.

• Congress program, click here