Warning given to Angus breeders

Press, 26 March 1981, Page 3

Warning given to Angus breeders

The chairman of Fletcher Challenge,, Ltd, Mr R. R. Trotter, had strong words for the Fourth World Angus Forum which began in Christchurch yesterday with cattle breeders present from nine countries.

Mr Trotter, who was introduced as a man controlling organisations with 20,000 employees and sales totalling $2OOO million a year, said he had read notes of past world forums and thought that the breeders could put their time to better use. “As a farmer I do not care if my bulls have white on their pizzles, nor do I care about their blood type unless it indicates a genetic defect, but I do care about performance,” he said. • He suggested that the meeting would be better employed debating what was a breed society for and what were its objects? If it was only to maintain a herd book, hold an annual dinner, and protect the business pf> established breeders, perhaps the society would not be in existence by the year 2000. “I know you are doing more than this but you have been very conservative and very timid. Objectives must

be positive and measurable ones which will improve and develop the breed. Measured excellence must be the aim. If you do not know where you are going, you will never know if you have arrived,” Mr Trotter said. “There are trends in the market place that breed societies should find disturbing. There are an increasing number of young breeders working outside the societies so that they can screen large numbers of commercial cattle to identify strains of superior genetic merit through performance recording. There are an increasing number of commercial farmers asking for such stock.” “This trend will continue if you do not do something about it.” Mr Trotter said that the Government, through the Lands and Survey Department, as the largest farmer in the country had developed an outstanding herd of unregistered Angus cattle. They were screening a basic herd of 25,000 commercial cows to identify 300 superior yearling heifers each year for mating, the best of which were admitted to a herd of 600 cows for progeny testing, and from this herd the best

were admitted to an elite herd of 250 nucleus cows. As a commercial man, Mr Trotter said he could assure them that there would be a demand for these cattle if they were publicly available. . However, Mr Trotter said he believed that it was also important that the country’s best breeding stock should be produced by the best stockmen through herds registered with a breed society dedicated to producing better cattle, using all the tools available, and setting high standards, even if this was at a cost to some of .their members.

In the long run it would bring its commercial reward and would give a substantial basis for promoting registered cattle to the commercial farmer. Registration should be their guarantee of superiority. The former. New Zealand livestock manager of Dalgety New Zealand, Ltd, Mr J. V. Evans, asked if Mr . Trotter could give him a guarantee that because a horse had been performance recorded it would win a race next week.

Mr Trotter said that he did not think that these tools should be dismissed.