More black cattle!

I had a real treat on Tuesday evening/Wednesday morning at Sydenstricker Genetics, one of the most well known Angus herds in North America if not the world. Their herd bull line up is a who's who. Although to modest to admit it they are widely said to sell more Black Angus semen than many of the AI companies do here! This really is an impressive herd with a true grasp of EPD's. I have long been a critic of breeding with numbers but I have to say I have turned a corner and learnt quite a bit here. Why do the cattle with good EPD's or EBV's quite often not live up to our expectations? As far as I can see its because they arent getting the basic criteria right

and strengthening their weaknesses. If they are not sound cattle with the right physical attributes to start with we will never breed cattle that match the data. Enough ranting.

I had a chance to see the fall calving heifers, heifer calves, bull calves, donors and some of the herd bulls.

These are a few pictures to let you see the quality of the cattle.

In the afternoon I (eventually) made it to the American Angus Association in St Joseph MO. I underestimate the journey time which was 3.5 hours! I spent a great afternoon and evening with the senior staff there finding out about the Association, the steps taken to address the genetic abnormalities and the incorporation of the Gene Marker information in their winter EPD run. This is a major Association with 33000 active members, the largest in the USA. They provide EPD calculation services for 8 other breeds and have a publications division as well as deaing with the normal breed society matters.