Genetics

AA Co selling Brahman bulls

Beef Central, 12/09/2017

For the first time Australian Agricultural Company is selling company-bred Brahman bulls in a move that reflects a strategic shift in its breeding program.

It is offering 38 Brahman bulls and seven composite bulls via AuctionsPlus this Friday, highlighting a recent decision to move towards phasing out Brahman bull breeding in favour of expanding its composite herd.

AA Co been breeding its own Brahman bulls since the early 2000s, originally producing 50 per year on Meteor Downs at Springsure and growing to about 200-275 bulls per year in recent years.

This Friday’s sale is understood to be the first time AA Co has offered its own Brahman bulls for sale to external customers.

Asked why AA Co has decided to sell its own Brahman bulls this year, AA Co general manager Central Queensland, Greg Gibbons, told Beef Central it reflects a decision to reallocate resources away from Brahman stud breeding to breeding more composite cattle.

AA Co’s composite herd focuses on fertility, growth and carcase traits to support its overarching branded beef program.

“As we continue to focus on building our beef brands we are now going to focus on more composite breeding rather than Brahman,” Mr Gibbons, said.

“We think it is easier for us to buy Brahman bulls as needed than it is to buy composite bulls.

“We battle to make enough composites with the correct traits that we want in them, and we need to apportion more cows to that program.”

Mr Gibbons said the bulls being offered had been bred and run in tick country near Rockhampton.

He said this Friday’s AuctionsPlus sale represented the first time AA Co has offered a complete sire battery.

“It’s taken us a few years to put this team of bulls together,” he said.

“They are focused on production traits, so there are a few older bulls in the sale but they are still in the herd because of their performance.”

He said the bulls were in the top 5 percent of the bred for fertility and ranked well on the two breed society indexes.

For more details on the sale click here 

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