Newsletter for the week ending 29 September 2006

IT IS EARLY AGAIN!

The newsletter is early again as I will be attending Limousin judging at the Royal Melbourne Show. Judging starts at 8.30 am in the brand new livestock judging complex on the rebuilt Melbourne Showgrounds.

On Sunday I will be participating in the Commercial Breeders Day at Mandayen Limousin Stud at Murray Bridge in SA. There is an excellent program commencing at 10.00 am and I am sure there will be some good Limousins on display.

BREEDERS AGREE WITH THE SCIENTISTS

I received the following email responses from Anthony Graham and Joan Stevens in response to the report in last week's newsletter about the minimal effect of the cow on the docility of her calves. At least two Limousin breeders agree with the finding of the scientists.

I know it is a little less rigorous, but in the early days our ET program highlighted the lack of physical effect the mother has on the calf's docility. We found that up to about six weeks of age the ET calves were running away with their mad Brahman mothers. Once they reached around that six weeks of age we would quite often walk or drive into a group of Limo calves while their mums look off over the hill. That made us feel more secure I can tell you.

Anthony Graham

I liked the bit about maternal effect Alex, I totally agree with that outcome - we have had some maniac recips over the years and the behaviour of the calves has not reflected that of the dams. The reverse can be said of very quiet dams giving birth to mad calves - their behaviour does not alter over time - they remain mad. (until they go to heaven of course).

Joan Stevens

GENE MARKER FREQUENCIES

There are now three gene markers available for marbling and four for tenderness. A graph of the proportion of Limousins with 0, 1 and 2 stars is shown below.

The frequency of the favourable allele for each marker varies between markers. For some markers such as the T1 and T4 tenderness markers there is a high frequency in the Limousin breed with 78 percent and 86 percent respectively of Limousin animals carrying two copies of the favourable allele. This is similar to most other British and European breeds.

Not surprisingly the frequency of favourable alleles for marbling is low in Limousins. The highest is the M1 where 12 percent of Limousins carry two favourable copies but to date there are no Limousins tested so far who carry two copies of the favourable allele of the M3 marker.

The frequency of favourable markers can vary quite a bit between breeds especially between British, European and Bos Indicus breeds.

However the three marbling markers and four tenderness markers explain only about 30 percent of the genetic variation for each trait. There are still lots of undiscovered genes that explain the rest of the genetic variation.

SINGLETON SUCCESS

Champion on Hoof at the recent Singleton (NSW) Prime Stock Competition was taken out by Oliver Joliffe with a purebred Limousin.

Champion carcase was a Limousin X Poll Hereford exhibited by Paul Danks.

Reserve Champion Schools Carcase was a Limousin exhibited by Patricia Whitby and Reserve Champion Open Carcase was a Limousin X Angus shown by Ross and Val Roe.

SUBMITTING DOCILITY SCORES

You do not have to be a member of BREEDPLAN to submit docility scores on your calves. Thirty non BREEDPLAN herds are currently submitting docility scores on their calves. If you would like to submit scores for your calves before the next docility analysis in early December please contact the ALBS office and we will arrange to have instructions on how to score and scoring sheets sent to you.

Calves need to be between 70 and 400 days of age when scored and it is recommended that they are scored around weaning.

LIMOUSIN SALES AND EVENTS

27^th October: Fernlea Complete Female Dispersal, Warragul, Vic (catalogue on the web).

24^th November: Classic Limousin Female Sale, Culcairn, NSW.

29^th January 2007: Premier Limousins and Longreach Limousins Female Production Sale, Moss Vale, NSW.

21^st February 2007: Mandayen 2^nd Limousin Performance Sale, Furner, SA.

23^rd February 2007: White Lakes Limousin & Angus Bull & Female Sale, Brunswick, WA.

1^st March 2007: Donna Valley Annual Bull Sale, Holbrook, NSW.

Yours in Limousin

Alex McDonald