Two of Canada’s major purebred beef associations aren’t getting married but they are holding hands.
The Canadian Hereford and Angus associations are promoting the benefits of crossbreeding British breeds and have gone so far as to advertise the baldy female as the ideal cow.
“The baldy is an extremely efficient cow whether she is red or black and is probably the most popular cow in the country,” said Doug Fee, chief executive officer of the Angus association.
The two major British breeds have been the backbone of the Canadian cowherd for more than a century. Hereford and Angus crosses have been common from the beginning.
Read Also
VIDEO: British company Antler Bio brings epigenetics to dairy farms
British company Antler Bio is bringing epigenetics to dairy farms using blood tests help tie how management is meeting the genetic potential of the animals.
Together, the Angus and Hereford associations probably register half of Canada’s purebred cattle each year. The Hereford association registers between 25,000 and 35,000 animals annually and the Angus association registered 40,000 animals last year.
Besides a British alliance, the courtship extends to the competitors. Discussions with the Simmental, Charolais and Limousin associations are ongoing as they try to work together and produce better cattle and subsequently better meat.
It wouldn’t have happened 10 or even five years ago.
“We’ve matured,” said Jacques DeCorby, marketing manager of the Hereford association.
“It’s a Canadian thing where we try to work with our competitors,” he said.
Breeders already recognize that certain matings are complementary. As many as 10 percent of purebred cattle producers keep more than one breed.
The alliances go beyond crossbreeding programs.
They are talking to the Charolais association about collecting carcass data and storing the information in one computer system.
The Charolais allied with XL Beef in Calgary to measure meat quality that includes feedback on how well each carcass did. XL has information on file, which can be funneled to the appropriate groups with permission.
“Within our registry systems we already have the space to store carcass data. In the past we haven’t had the infrastructure to collect the data and now with the technology that is out there and the initiatives at the packers and the feedlots, it has become a lot more readily available,” said DeCorby.
This ability to handle data will change the associations from offices that file pedigrees and prepare ownership transfer papers to mega-information centres.
“We see our future as an information service provider. We collect, compile, manage, compute and distribute information,” DeCorby said.
In the future, such information could identify specific bloodlines within a breed that will cross well with bloodlines of another breed rather than haphazard mating.
A lot of this came about through the Canadian Beef Breeds Council, a round table organization with representatives from 14 breeds.
Together they share information, plan strategies to boost the image of Canadian purebred cattle and promote exports of genetics.
“The economics of the last few years where a lot of people were hurting made us start to realize we can’t all spend money doing the same thing. There have to be some efficiencies in working together,” said Fee.
