Woodbourn hosts successful ‘Closer to Your Clients’ day

Woodbourn Murray Grey and Angus Stud, Cressy TAS, hosted what can only be described as a successful practical field day. Presented by the Southern Beef Technology Services (SBTS) team, this was the first time a field day of its kind has been conducted by the SBTS team in Tasmania.

One hundred and twenty beef breeders keen to learn more about cattle selection and BREEDPLAN enjoyed early cups of coffee before Andrew Byrne and Christian Duff from SBTS started their day at Woodbourn at 9am on the 21st of October.

The day, “Closer to your clients” could just have easily been called, ‘What you see is not necessarily what you get – a guide to cattle selection – getting more from your beef operation.”

‘It was so good to see so many people here at Woodbourn and great to have the Angus and Murray Grey groups working together to hold this day at Woodbourn,’ Mr Wallace said. ‘It also seemed appropriate to hold the day at Woodbourn as we already had the facilities set up for such presentations, because of the Angus and Murray Grey sales we hold here each year.’

The day was divided into three sections which saw participants with all levels of understanding when it comes to the use of genetic technologies as a selection tool, being put through their paces throughout the day.

The presentation began with an interactive discussion on traits of importance, selection methods and an introduction to Estimated Breeding Values (EBV’s), as well as a guide to interpreting EBV’s.

A practical session followed with the theme being ‘What you see is not necessarily what you get’. Two pairs of Murray Greys were studied and discussed with different ages and body type being discussed with EBV’s in mind

Following morning tea, were three presentations detailing selection with EBV’s and the production outcomes which follow, how the figures are generated, information on the 18 EBV traits, and finally some work with $ Index Values.

After lunch, two groups of fifteen bulls, one Angus and one Murray Grey were allocated to the participants. Small groups of participants were then asked to choose bulls for purchase using a set of criteria and a budget. This was a very interesting session with much interaction and later discussion.

‘Holding a ‘Closer to Your Clients Day’, was something I have been wanting to do for a number of years’, Mr Wallace said, ‘The day far surpassed my expectations in both the interest shown by participants and the willingness of the sponsors to take part, and finally the professional and interesting presentations by the SBTS team who mixed well the interactive practical discussions with the yard demonstrations and group exercise’s’.

The day was a very interesting one with good comments from the participants as they left shortly after 4pm.

Peter Parnell, CEO of the Angus Society and Gail Menegon, Tasmanian Director on the Murray Grey Board were present as were representatives from the five sponsors for the day, Greenhams, Elders, NAB, Roberts, and Pfizer as well as members of the Tasmanian Angus and Murray Grey Groups.