It’s not often that you get the best of both worlds when it comes to targeting higher Intramuscular fat (IMF) and lower Net Feed Intake (NFI) in the beef industry.
But Allendale True Blue T325 performs exceptionally well in both traits and his popularity is showing the importance breeders are placing on these qualities.
“We’re seeing more breeders selecting for both feed efficiency and meat quality through intramuscular fat,” GA’s Beef Manager Damien Thomson said.
Higher IMF and lower NFI are negatively correlated, meaning that usually as IMF increases, feed efficiency decreases.
“Breeders have been targeting IMF for a long time, particularly in the Angus and Wagyu breeds, in pursuit of premiums in the market and to access buyers targeting higher marbling product,” Damien said.
“Generally over time as we’ve improved the quality of the meat, we’ve reduced the efficiency because fat requires more energy than lean muscle.
Generally speaking, an animal that genetically lays down more fat in the form of intramuscular fat needs to east more feed to put on the same kilos, whereas if they’re quite lean, they can put on a lot of muscle weight from eating less.
“Now there’s an increased awareness around the feed efficiency of animals.”
That’s where Allendale True Blue has been turning the tables. He’s in the top 2 per cent of the breed for Net Feed Intake and in the top 7 per cent of the breed for IMF.
“Through his popularity, we’ve seen people in the market selecting for those two traits. That’s why he’s so popular for commercial breeders and seed stock alike.”
Damien describes Allendale True Blue as a curve bender, a bull that has an unusual relationship by being positive for two traits that have a negative correlation.
He’s the only bull to feature in the top 10 per cent across the two traits. Overall, he is in the top 25 per cent of the breed for 14 different traits including calving ease direct, birth weight, 600-day weight, carcase weight, and EMA.
Allendale True Blue entered the market in May 2024 and had a strong spring and continues to attract a lot of demand. He was born in June 22 and hails from Allendale Studs at Bordertown in upper south-east South Australia.
Breeders and feeders can also use the new Angus Steer Select to target higher IMF and lower NFI. This new genomic selection tool is being used to identify the genetic merit of Angus steers (50% Angus content or greater).
It provides the ability to predict genetic differences in key production traits, enabling greater precision in sorting and/or marketing of steers into lines suitable for different paths in the beef supply chain.
The traits include MSA Marbling, Daily Feed Intake and Average Daily Gain, along with Eye Muscle Area and Carcase Weight.
Angus Australia is also producing an overall selection index, the Angus Steer Value (ASV), with the combination of Daily Feed Intake (25 per cent), Average Daily Gain (20 per cent), Marbling (27.5 per cent) having a huge influence over the index.
“It’s another new product to help in the push for increased feed efficiency and marbling by allowing commercial breeders to measure their performance in those traits,” Damien said.
“A large number of businesses are investing in feed efficiency measuring which is a good indicator of the importance of this trait which will continue to improve the accuracy going forward.”
