Wirruna Poll Herefords is very focussed on providing beef genetics to the commercial beef producer that help them to be more profitable and have a product that is more valuable to the overall beef chain. This has involved a long history of diligent breeding & performance recording beef cattle for various economic traits, and more recently, adopting genomic technology to help better describe genetics so that the buyers of bulls can have more accurate information enabling the bull purchase decision to better meet a client’s breeding objectives.
Weighing calves is part of the performance recording routinely performed at Wirruna Poll Herefords. Ian Locke pictured.
“Traits of critical importance to our clients are things like calving ease, weight for age and fertility” Ian Locke said, “more recently, beef markets have been driving beyond farm-gate characteristics like better muscle and marbling, which is related to beef yield & eating quality. Wirruna are the highest marbling herd in the Hereford breed and are also at the top end of the breed for muscling”.
A great tool that is designed to balance on-farm breeding objectives to the requirements of market end-points is called a Selection Index ($Index). The $Index indicates the possible extra dollars earned per cow joined in self replacing herds. Wirruna have been driving economically important genetic traits that have seen the Wirruna herd average in the top 5% of the breed for these $Indices.
The Grain-fed $Index is one of four generic $Indices designed for the Hereford breed. The graph below shows that the Wirruna herd have double the rate of genetic gain than the breed average. This puts clients of Wirruna genetics 8 years ahead of the breed average Hereford herd.
Wirruna genetics are 8 years ahead of the average Hereford herd for Grain-fed $Index