|
 |
Dear Members,
Welcome to the first “Member News” in this format. You may notice that the newsletter looks very different to what you have become accustomed to. This is for good reason as issues of “Member News” are now designed to be sent and received in both hard copy and also as an electronic newsletter via an email subscription. The idea of this format is to reach members of the Association with information and updates more readily. By subscribing to the email format of the newsletter, members are able to share and spread the word on what the Australian Simmental Association is achieving and what major events and sales are coming up in the near future.
By increasing the Association’s contact records of current members and third party associates it will assist in the wider distribution of marketing and general information. We have identified the need to reach a broader number of potential buyers of Simmental genetics and we hope to be able to increase the exposure and benefits of advertising in Association publications such as the Annual magazine.
How can you assist? Please encourage anyone that approaches your stud for information to register their contact details with the Association. A link will be made available from the Simmental website homepage where anyone can register their interest, sign up for further information and subscribe to publications.
<<<<<<<<<<->>>>>>>>>>
Within this edition of member news, I would like to draw your attention to some important Simmental news and items of interest.
Annual General Meeting
The Association’s AGM will be held in Melbourne, Victoria on the 12th of July 2008. It is Council’s desire to convene the AGMs in different areas of the country so more members have an opportunity to attend and participate.
A members’ dinner has been arranged for the evening of the 11th of July, the day before the AGM, all members and their guests are warmly invited to attend.
The venue will be Locanda Cucina Bar - Rydges Hotel Melbourne, 186 Exhibition Street, Melbourne, commencing at 7:00 pm.
Please contact the ASBA office on 02 6773 2714 or email damian.coffey@abri.une.edu.au to assist in confirming numbers.
We hope to see you at the dinner on July 11 and the AGM on July 12.
For those members who are unable to attend this meeting, following is clarification of some of the financial and program performances for 2007 briefly explained:
- 2007 was another difficult year with not only a continual drought to contend with, but also external pressures impacting on margins such as grain and feed prices, the value of the A$ and the cost of oil and fertilizer. I have nothing but admiration for the strength under adversity our members have shown and how they have continued to advance the breed in producing quality lines of cattle.
- Primary calf registrations were down slightly on 2006 yet remained 4% higher than the five year average at 3,998. Secondary registrations, including Black, Red, SimAngus and Simbrah Simmentals increased a further 6% to 783.
- A steady number of calves were produced by Artificial Insemination (AI) and 19% more calves were registered as produced via Embryo Transfer (ET).
- Over 70% of the active Simmental herd was performance recorded in some fashion via the Simmental BREEDPLAN herd recording system.
- There were 9 new Stud and 6 new Junior members welcomed into the Association during 2007, however, net membership ended the year slightly down as a result of a trying year.
- Financial performance for 2007 produced a Surplus of $9,445 (Consolidated)
- Head Office Income increased by 3% or by $9,637
- During 2007 good results were achieved in live exports of Australian Simmentals to Russia, China, Indonesia and New Zealand.
- While the Audited report only states $7,117 spent on advertising and publicity, Head Office’s expenditure on breed promotion was approximately $27,000 (included in other items in the report). These included expenditure on brochures, magazines, website development and free advertising from rural press.
<<<<<<<<<<->>>>>>>>>>
Simmental Sales
For the year to date, Simmental bull sales have been performing well. There were some excellent results in SA and WA during the first few months of the year. Competition has been strong for the best quality lines and this has seen the average price in 2008 for 325 Simmental bulls at 16 reported sales increase by $500 to $4,309.
The average price for Simmental females is currently at $2,344 with reports received from three sales.
| State | 2008 | SALE | Top | Average | Sold | Clear | Gross |
|
|||||||
16 |
Simmental Bull | $30,000 | $4,309 | 325 | 79% | $1,400,572 | |
| WA | Jan | Naracoopa Albany (Mt Barker) | $7,000 | $5,425 | 8 | 100% | $43,400 |
| WA | Jan | Scotsdale Albany (Mt Barker) | $2,800 | $2,575 | 4 | 67% | $10,300 |
| WA | Jan | Inlet Views Albany (Mt Barker) | $2,500 | $2,500 | 2 | 67% | $5,000 |
| WA | Jan | Caringa | $10,600 | $3,569 | 16 | 62% | $57,104 |
| WA | Feb | Bonnydale | $8,500 | $4,272 | 45 | 87% | $192,240 |
| WA | Feb | Willandra | $7,500 | $4,845 | 29 | 83% | $140,505 |
| WA | Feb | Supreme Sale, Brunswick | $5,750 | $4,054 | 14 | 64% | $56,756 |
| WA | Feb | Bandeeka (Kitchen) | $8,250 | $4,500 | 9 | 41% | $40,500 |
| SA | Feb | Woonallee | $30,000 | $7,203 | 37 | 100% | $266,511 |
| SA | Feb | Waterfront | $7,000 | $3,781 | 32 | 94% | $120,992 |
| QLD | Feb | All Breeds Bull Sale, Rockhampton | $3,500 | $2,600 | 10 | 100% | $26,000 |
| SA | Feb | Corinda Downs Bull Sale | $7,250 | $3,609 | 23 | 100% | $83,007 |
| SA | Feb | Naracoorte - Euro Bull Sale | $4,500 | $3,375 | 14 | 100% | $47,250 |
| SA | Mar | New Direction (Lancaster) | $9,000 | $4,512 | 43 | $194,016 | |
| SA | Feb | Yerwal | $6,500 | $3,233 | 15 | 65% | $48,495 |
| NSW | Apr | Prime Beef Simmental Sale, Illabo | $6,000 | $2,854 | 24 | 51% | $68,496 |
3 |
Simmental Females | $6,500 | $3,125 | 20 | 100% | $62,503 | |
| SA | Feb | Woonallee | $6,500 | $3,654 | 13 | 100% | $47,502 |
| SA | Feb | Waterfront | $5,000 | $2,143 | 7 | 100% | $15,001 |
| NSW | Apr | Prime Beef Simmental Sale, Illabo | $2,750 | $1,823 | 30 | 81% | $54,690 |
Please contact the Simmental Breeders Association to post your sale results.
<<<<<<<<<<->>>>>>>>>>
Upcoming Events
June 4 - 6 |
Farmfest, Kingsthorpe, QLD |
June 13-30 |
Simmental Trade Mission to United Kingdom |
July 3 |
Barana Simmental Bull Sale, Coolah, NSW |
July 11 - 12 |
Ag-Grow Field Days & Simmental Sale, Emerald, QLD |
Aug 8 |
Brisbane Royal Show - Simmental Judging Ring 2 08:30 am |
Aug 21 |
Wombramurra Black Simmental Sale -Nundle, NSW |
Aug 25 |
Select Simmental Genetic Sale - Roma Saleyards, QLD |
Sept 1 |
BCM Simmental and Simbrah Bull Sale – Rockhampton, QLD |
Sept 3 - 5 |
Ag Show, Toowoomba, QLD |
Sept 6 |
Adelaide Royal Show, Simmental Judging |
Sept 12 |
Roma Simmental & Simbrah Bull Sale, Roma, Qld |
Sept 27 |
Melbourne Royal Show– Simmental Judging, Melbourne, Vic |
Sept 27 |
Gowrie Simmental & Simbrah Bull Sale - Charleville, Qld |
Sept 27 |
Pert Black Simmental Sale, Broadford, Vic |
Sept 30 |
Perth Royal Show |
Nov 10 |
Victorian Simmental Spring Sale, Whittlesea, Victoria |
<<<<<<<<<<->>>>>>>>>>
2010 World Simmental Congress
It is with great privilege of the Australian Simmental Breeders Association to announce that the former Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Malcolm Fraser AC CH has agreed, more than willingly, to be the official Patron of the World Simmental Congress 2010. Mr. Fraser has served in numerous leadership positions in Government as well as national and international services organizations. He has a great interest in the Simmental breed as a former breeder.
In 2010, Simmental has been secured as the feature breed of the Royal Melbourne Show, with judging scheduled to be conducted on Wednesday the 22nd of September 2010. Now is the time to start preparing and selecting progeny for this event. Members will be informed of the full itinerary in the coming months. For further information and to view an online version of the brochure used to promote the 2010 event, please keep your eye on the following site http://www.worldsimmentalcongress2010.com
<<<<<<<<<<->>>>>>>>>
SBTS (Southern Beef Technical Services)
A powerful new benchmarking tool is now available for Simmental seedstock producers. Known as TakeStock, the tool collates all available BREEDPLAN and Selection Index information to enable Simmental producers to assess and improve the rate of genetic progress in their herd.
TakeStock enhances the ability of breeders to manage genetic change. It enables seedstock breeders to focus on the key variables affecting the rate of genetic gain being made for the particular breeding objective of their commercial clients.
What does TakeStock do ?
- Provide a range of statistics relating to the genetic structure of the breed and individual herds.
- Evaluate the rate of genetic progress that has been made by the breed and the individual herds within it. To do this, TakeStock assesses the genetic progress that a herd has made for each Selection Index and benchmarks the individual herd’s progress with the genetic progress that is being made by the breed as a whole.
- Determine the key factors that explain significant differences in the rate of genetic progress between herds within a breed across a given period of years. These factors are known as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The KPIs help breeders identify the type of factors that had the greatest impact on the rate of genetic progress made by herds within their breed. Herds are rated for their performance against each KPI to benchmark the performance of their breeding program.
 |
 |
 |
<<<<<<<<<<->>>>>>>>>>
Simmental Trade Mission
Peter Speers has led a strong contingent of Members on the Simmental Trade Mission to the UK over the last few weeks of June. The Trade Mission will encompass areas in Northern Ireland, Scotland and the World Simmental – Fleckvieh Federation Congress in Norfolk, England.
A big marketing campaign has been coordinated to assist in promoting the Australian World Simmental Congress to be held in Melbourne 2010. With the help of Tourism Australia, an exciting presentation was put together which Peter will be presenting to the World Simmental community at the UK Congress. An extensive colour brochure was also developed and will also be made available to all delegates to assist in attracting as many international Simmental breeders to Australia in 2010 as possible.
We wish them all the very best on their mission and for a safe return.
<<<<<<<<<<->>>>>>>>>>
The power of the Australian Simmental website is becoming more and more evident. The site has continued to grow in popularity throughout the year, recording a significant increase in hits at an average of 67,000 hits per month at an average of 4:20 minutes per session. We require your assistance in contributing to the content in providing good news stories from members and state branches and also in the review process. If you see something that is amiss, please notify us.
The site has become a key component in herd management. The powerful animal and EBV search facility enables users to search all animals in the Association’s registry database and can be manipulated to search for particular parameters within specific traits.
<<<<<<<<<<->>>>>>>>>>
Simmental Annual Magazine ~ 2008
Following the success of last year’s Annual Magazine, the Association has again engaged The Land (Rural Press) to produce our 2008 Annual Magazine. To help all members advertise in this year’s magazine, the Advertising rates are being kept at last year’s rates.
Our commitment is to publish it and mail it out by early December so it is available before Christmas.
To achieve this, a strict booking deadline of October 24 must be adhered to.
So please give this your urgent attention and contact one of the Land (Rural Press) contacts listed on the attached flier to book your advertising.
<<<<<<<<<<->>>>>>>>>>
Technical Guidelines
- Transfer of ownership
It is essential that animals and genetic material that have been sold or passed onto another breeder are transferred as soon as possible. It is the responsibility of the vendor to provide the Association Registrar with the transfer requirements and certificates within 60 days of the exchange. By exceeding this period, the registration of progeny from the animals in question could be jeopardized.
- DNA typing and further testing requirements
With the existing agreement with The University of Queensland (UQ), samples for DNA and Parentage Verification testing sent via ASBA remain at the discounted rate of $24 plus GST per sample.
GeneSTAR Market testing (eg for Marbling, Tenderness and Feed Efficiency) will continue to be undertaken by Catapult Genetics under the existing contract with the Association.
Members are reminded that they are required to submit hair or empty straw samples of all untested sires or potential sires of calves born after November 2006. All Accredited AI Sires have data recorded as a prerequisite of registration.
We recommend collecting hair or semen samples of all sires before the joining season commences. Store in plastic bag or collection kits, marked with the animal’s identification, in a dry place. Submit these to the Association, in either the UQ or Catapult collection bags (available from ASBA), for DNA testing once it is known which sires have calves to be registered. Then if the sire is sold or dies before his calves are due to be registered, his sample is stored and ready for testing.
You can check the Simmental website’s animal search facility to see if an animal has its DNA type on file. If a sire has already been tested, there is no need to submit a sample for this sire.
- Check Imported Genetics
Imported genetics can be very useful in introducing valuable traits to our Australian Simmental herd. However, care should be taken to check that the calves resulting from these importations can be registered with the Association. If in doubt, please check with ASBA ‘s Registrar. It is a matter of checking to see if the particular sire is an Accredited AI sire registered with the Association.
<<<<<<<<<<->>>>>>>>>>
IMPORTANT REMINDERS
(1) DNA fingerprint of ALL sires (except Accredited AI Sires) is required to register their progeny
Check the Simmental Website (Animal Search) to see if an animal’s DNA is on file.
(2) Hair or Semen Samples Required
- When applying to transfer a bull to another stud or junior stud member, a hair or semen sample of the bull must be submitted to the Association
(3) Check the AI Sire is Registered with ASBA
- Before using an AI sire, check that he is an Accredited AI sire with an ASBA registration number.
This avoids problems in not being able to register resulting calves.
Simply ring the office or check the Simmental Website before using such semen.
(4) Please contact Claudia Scott if you require a copy of the Association Bylaws simmental@abri.une.edu.au
(5) Recording Birth Weight
- When recording calves on the S1 Form or in Herd Recording software, members are requested to record their Birth Weights.
However, if you do not actually weigh the calf within 48 hours of birth,
PLEASE DO NOT ENTER A BIRTH WEIGHT. PLEASE DO NOT GUESS IT.
Best wishes,
Damian Coffey
Executive Office
