SENEPOLS ‘OUT-MARBLING’ BRITISH BREEDS
Jon Condon
Queensland Country Life
Carcase results from some of the first large lines of Senepol-influenced cattle to be processed in Australia have reinforced the breed’s reputation for providing a unique package of high carcase quality as well as environmental adaptation.
The Australian Agricultural Company recently killed 80 Senepol-infused heifers bred and grown out at Meteor Downs near Comet in Central Queensland, which produced marbling performance ‘every bit as good, and in many cases, better’ than equivalent straightbred heifers from marbling-oriented British breeds.
This was one of the larger runs of commercial Senepol-influenced cattle slaughtered in Australia since the breed’s arrival in the late 1990s.
The milk-tooth heifers, fed 65-70 days for a Woolworths contract, were culled from the company’s Gulf Composite breed development program. One group carried 50pc Senepol genetics, 25pc Brahman, and 25pc Charolais, while a second line contained 50pc Senepol, 25pc Brahman and 12.5pc each of Charolais and Red Angus.
The mob, aged 14-17 months at slaughter, produced an average AusMeat marbling score of 1.3 during chiller assessment, with a range from 2.8 to 0.4.
Carcase weights ranged from 206kg to 295kg, with an average of 250kg. Ossification average was 169, while rib fat P8 thickness was adequate, averaging 8mm.
“The result certainly reinforces the message that these cattle do have a significant ability to marble, even at a very young age,” AA Co’s genetics manager Greg Gibbons said.
“Certainly through our Aronui feedlot, we have seen lines of straight Angus steers and heifers of equivalent age and weight that do not perform that well for marbling,” he said.
Within the mob, killed at Woolworths BrisMeat plant in June, 25 percent graded MSA boning group 2, and 75pc graded boning group 3. Just two carcases were ungraded, for high pH, meat colour or other issues.
MSA national operations manager Cameron Dart said both the marbling and boning group performance were at the ‘absolute top end of the range’ for MSA cattle of this age and weight.
“Anything above an average marbling score of 1 for such young cattle is doing very well,” he said.
Mr Gibbons said AA Co was highly encouraged by the results, given that the whole focus behind introducing Senepol into the company’s composite program was to inject some carcase quality, without compromising too much on adaptation.
“The result clearly reinforces the message about the potential role for Senepol cattle across Australia.” He said there had been a lot of interest in the heifer grading report among potential buyers of seedstock animals to be offered at the upcoming dispersal of the AA Co’s Senepol herd.
From 1996, AI sires ASL Dutchman and WC 701A were used over cows at Meteor Downs station near Springsure. The higher performance-recorded male progeny were then used as herd sires as part of the composite building program in the company’s Gulf properties.
AA Co’s livestock general manager David Connolly said it had always been the intention to disperse the purebred herd once it had achieved a mass input of Senepol genetics throughout the company’s northern composite cow herd, and that time had now come.
The company had carefully selected for high performance, larger-framed Senepols in it search for genetics both in the United States and the breed’s original home in the Caribbean Islands. The pedigrees represented in the sale are from some of the most highly-regarded seedstock herds in the world, including Castle Nugent Farms and Annaly, both foundation herds from the Caribbean island of St Croix, as well as Honey Bee Creek, Prime Rate Ranch and RA Brown Ranch in the US.
