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Qld Branch President's Report 2010

ILLAWARRA CATTLE SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

QUEENSLAND BRANCH PRESIDENT’S REPORT 2010

It is with pleasure that I present the Annual Report of the Qld Branch of the ICSA.

Membership has once again remained steady. It is pleasing to note that after nearly a decade of dairy deregulation there has not been a mass exodus or a collapse in numbers.

The four clubs within the Branch remain active with meetings, calf days and shows promoting the breed. The Downs Club continues with its on farm challenge which also includes production indexes in its placings. John King was the judge for this year’s event. The major shows of Malanda, Gympie and Maleny continue to be well supported and present an opportunity for interstate judges to officiate. In this regard Geoff Cochrane at Malanda, Michael Tuhan at Gympie and Liz Hurford at Maleny were the judges selected.

Our two Royal shows continued to be keenly contested with a quality display at both. David Kuhl from South Australia judged at Toowoomba where F.S. Johnston & Sons won champion cow. A & D Whatman won junior champion who was also runner up all breeds. The juvenile champion was from the Ledger family. M & G Henry won the on grounds milking competition.

Brisbane saw another good display with Ian Mueller making a return visit as judge. The highly decorated Panorama Angeline 9 was again champion cow for the fourth time, three of which have been in succession. Jock Johnston showed the reserve cow with Jondene Dainty 97 with KE & AM Dorries Panorama Honey 14th honourable mention. There is a body of opinion that the performance of Panorama Angeline 9 is a record at Brisbane. With the passing of many of our old hands in such matters it has been hard to verify. Does the Branch or the RNA have previous results on file over the years? Michael and Glenda Henry showed the junior champion with Alan and Denise Whatman the juvenile. Michael and Glenda Henry were the most successful exhibitors for the first time. Also present at Brisbane was the American exchangee, Jessica Achen who was helping the Ledger family.  Nicole Priebbenow acquitted herself well as Illawarra dairymaid. The Federal President Mr David Henry was present at both Toowoomba and Brisbane shows.

JP Bourke & Co won the national Holzhauser competition for the top ten cow’s production award also filling fourth place with their second group. The Chelmonte farming company finished in fifth place in this competition. The Bourke family therefore also won the State branch top ten cow competition. Their cow Myrtleholme Empress won the Michael Ledger memorial trophy for the top production cow in the state.

Two of our younger members deserve congratulations for their efforts during the year. Aleicia Dorries was the Oakey show princess and went on to win the Regional award at Toowoomba Royal and although unsuccessful at Brisbane performed her duties very well bringing credit to herself and family. Matthew Henry as well as his studies and showing efforts has elected to stand for State council. He already has a fine track record as a young judge and exhibitor and we welcome his input on State council. Matt won the Queensland final of the Young Judges competition and will now compete in the National final at Adelaide.

On a personal note it was my honour and privilege to judge at Dairy Week this year and as I understand it the first resident Australian to do so. I certainly hope I haven’t put the cause back for years to come and that it will be a regular occurrence for an Australian to judge our breed at Dairy Week.

Mention should be made that Brisbane this year was the first showing by Phillip McConville from the Warwick district. He won place ribbons with his heifers and we wish him well for the future.

As a variation to our usual publicity the Branch produced a calendar and later a flyer which were both distributed to all Queensland dairymen. The calendar was self funded by the advertisers, was professionally done and well received by all. The flyer was a later reminder to dairymen of what is available in the Illawarras. I believe more needs to be done on a Federal basis in keeping commercial dairymen aware of available Illawarra AI sires.

The treasurer will deliver his report showing the Branch remains on a sound financial basis. I thank Mike Henry for his efforts as our treasurer. Rob Radel is standing aside from State council. I thank him for his contribution during his membership of this committee.

Our thanks to Lloyd Peters for his work as field officer. Lloyd is often the only contact dairymen would have with the Branch. Alison Teese continued her good work as publicity officer and deserves the thanks of the members. Our secretary Betty Ledger deserves all praise for her work throughout the year as the go between with our clubs, show societies, sponsors and Federal office.

The branch committee meetings continued to be conducted in harmony with all matters receiving due diligence for which I thank the members.

RA LESTER
PRESIDENT

2019 Presidential Reports

Report by Bob Lester on USA Trip Oct 2010

Recently it was my privilege to accompany Keith Dorries (Panorama Stud, Oakey) on a trip to the United States. Everything was arranged by Dave Kendall the secretary of the American Milking Shorthorn Society and included a week at the World Dairy Expo at Madison and staying on the farms of the Ruzic family at Hixton, Winconsin and Stuart & Emily Rowe at Orland, California during the second week.

It was the first visit to the United States for the both of us and as such we went with an open mind fully aware that there had been an exchange of semen for many years and more recently Illawarra embryos to the United States. Foremost in our minds was firstly the comparison between the two breeds both in type and production, secondly the contribution the semen exchange had made in the United States and thirdly would further cooperation with the AMSS be beneficial to the Illawarra breed.

The Shorthorn display numbered well over two hundred head and was judged by Mr Ronnie Mosser from Indiana, a jersey breeder and judge. In his comments from time to time he commented on the big improvement in the dairyness of the Shorthorns since he last judged Expo sixteen years ago. He also appeared to tolerate a little depth in udder especially in the young milking heifers that perhaps the two Australians wouldn’t have. It was interesting to see the different emphasis he placed on various points. It would have been good to have some members of the touring party in 1997 to make the comparison between then and now but generally speaking we were both impressed with the showing.

Comparison between shows in Australia let alone between Australia and the United States are very often only for arguments sake. However to make this comparison was one of the reasons we were in the US. The two most recent shows we had attended were the Brisbane and Adelaide Royal shows. Keith has had an outstanding record as an exhibitor at Brisbane and perhaps sometimes it is difficult to be totally objective as an exhibitor when making comparisons. In recent years I have become an independent ringside observer and as a result I have no such problems being objective. Generally speaking the Illawarras would have been competitive class by class with the Shorthorns at Expo and even allowing perhaps for our own natural bias we believe the Illawarra champions and reserves in both cows and heifers at both Australian shows may have had an advantage over those at Expo. Such statements are always subject to some debate but it is an opinion we both share. However I do note it would be good to return in a few years time to see how the young heifers on display turned out. They all displayed outstanding quality.

For someone who grew up on the Imperial standard of weights and measures it was often confusing converting pounds of milk to litres or kilograms of milk further compounded by the difference between an American pound weight and the Imperial pound. None the less it is more than obvious that the Shorthorns produce very well both in volume and composition. This was evident not only at Expo but at the various farms we visited. It was also obvious that similar to other breeds they also have “patchy bulls”. Again the point is we should be able to use the American bulls confident that they can maintain or improve production of Australian Illawarras and as with all well managed programmes the bulls of the future should be better.

We also caught up again with Jessica Achen, the youth exchange ambassador from the US whose family was exhibiting at Expo. Heath Williams who was visiting the US linked up with us at Expo and joined us on some of the farm visits. This trip will prove invaluable to Heath and reinforces the importance of the Youth Exchange programme.

I firmly believe that there should be greater cooperation between the two societies and expanding this to include Canada and the UK. In recent years the US breeders have followed the Australian path of introducing outside bloodlines and similar to us have used the Holstein Red factor and European bloodlines. The contribution of the Red Holstein has been very positive with many very good cows both at Expo and on the various farms. Some concern was expressed about the type variation of the European strains.

We have two populations of cattle with similar type and background. In both countries there are various protocol requirements for the export of semen all of which can be overcome. The export of embryos from Australia has become very frustrating but again with perseverance should be possible. There is strong demand for top type Illawarras in the US and the race should be on for our breeders to provide the embryo that becomes a World Dairy Expo champion.

Once again our thanks to Dave Kendall, the Ruzics and the Rowes, the exhibitors at Expo and the various farm owners we visited for a wonderful time in the United States.

IDP Report - May 2012

pdf  CLICK HERE for IDP Report - May 2012

IDP Report - August 2010

ICSA Federal President's Report 2011

In presenting my second Annual Report to the Illawarra Cattle Society of Australia I believe that our breed has made good progress during the past year.

The year began with an impressive display of Illawarras as the feature breed at the Adelaide Show. This was combined with activities and tours hosted and organized by the South Australian branch, our Annual Meeting and the Board of Directors meeting. At the time of writing this report I have just returned from another outstanding show of Illawarras in Adelaide. Shows in Brisbane, Sydney and International Dairy Week have been strong and competitive both in our breed classes and in the Interbreed classes. From our young people to the more senior members, people enjoy the showing of Illawarras.

The Illawarra Cattle Society has eight branches which are mostly active apart from the WA branch. There are a number of Cattle/Calf Clubs that are active and are supported by the Branches. We need to link these branches and clubs together so that their programs, meetings, shows, field days and social events are widely known be it through our website or our newsletter. For this to work, sending the meeting minutes, annual reports from Presidents, Secretaries, Treasurers and reports from the leaders of the clubs to the Federal office would be necessary.

Our Society is involved in a number of publications and conducts several competitions amongst its members. Lloyd Peters has been largely responsible for the publication of the Herd Book/ Year Book with registration information supplied by the Kiama Office. Two newsletters are produced each year and the Society is involved in supplying editorial for the Crazy Cow Magazine. Our branches and members must become more involved in the supply of news, results and editorial.

Federal Council meets annually in the period from September to November alternating between Kiama and being hosted by one of our branches. It may be necessary for the running of the society for the Federal Council to meet during the year or alternatively, Management Committee could meet in the March to May period. It would be an advantage if our branches were able to hold meetings after our Annual meeting and before a half yearly meeting of Federal Council or Management. I believe this would allow better communication between Federal Council and our branches.

Following last years AGM of the Society, the Senior Vice President Geoff Williams resigned and members mourned the loss of our Federal Treasurer Gordon Downes. Gordon, who passed away following a brief illness was a highly respected citizen and much loved brother, husband and father. His life time devotion to the Illawarra Cattle Society and the farming community of Jamberro will not be forgotten.

The Society's asset at 33 Bong Bong street Kiama is currently in good repair and condition with minor repairs carried out to the exterior of the building. Directors will be given a more comprehensive update on the change of names on the Certificate of Title for the property at the Directors meeting. There isnalso an issue with the boundry fence on the eastern side of the building which Directors will need to be aware of.

There are a number of important issues concerning the running and operation of the society that will need to be discussed by the Directors. Recommendations from our solicitor regarding the Memorandum and Articles of Association will need to be debated and formalized . Continuing with the role of trustees is another area that the directors will need to consider.

Information and results received at the Kiama office from the All Breeds Classification scheme has been far from ideal. They tell us that 1,038 heifers @ 3.37% VG and 210 cows @5.24% Excellent since the commencement of the scheme. I hope to have more information by our meeting.

I appreciate the effort that members on our various committees have given during the year often travelling long distances to attend and contribute to the running of the Society. Also to Anne Ryan and Janelle Johnson I appreciate their work in the secretarial, financial and registration recording of our Society. I look forward to seeing as many members as possible at the Illawarra Spring Fair at the Berry Showground 20" October 2011.

Qld Branch Presidents Report 2009

ILLAWARRA CATTLE SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

QUEENSLAND BRANCH PRESIDENT’S REPORT – 2009

It is with pleasure that I present the annual report of the ICSA Queensland Branch.

It is once again pleasing to report that our membership has remained consistent and despite the continued contraction of the Queensland industry our membership has been constant. The various clubs throughout the state have remained active in their respective areas promoting the breed.

During the year members were saddened to hear of the passing of two prominent members namely Michael Daley and Alan Lawley. At the time fitting tributes were made for Michael Daley. As this is the first meeting of the Branch since his passing it is appropriate that we acknowledge the contribution of Alan Lawley as a breeder, exhibitor, judge, a member of state council, federal delegate and of course as Federal President. Members formed a guard of honour at his funeral in Maleny fittingly in the showground pavilion built by his son Ed Lawley. My condolences to all members who have suffered bereavements during the year.

Our major shows continue to be well supported. This year saw three judges officiating at their first major appointment namely Ian Hindmarsh at Gympie, Greg English at Toowoomba and Anthony Norman at Brisbane. All three acquitted themselves well and established themselves as candidates for future appointments.  At Toowoomba one of our keenest exhibitors, Alan and Denise Whatman received top honours, a fitting tribute for a couple who regularly support our shows from Dairy Week to Brisbane and Toowoomba and always have a well presented team.

Brisbane once again saw the domination of KE & AM Dorries winning the Senior and Junior champion double. Special mention should be made of Panorama Angeline 9. Not only did she win successive champion cow awards but also the 300 day production championship, the all breeds breed type and production championship and a member of the all breeds team of two cows championship as well as being runner up for Supreme Champion Cow award. Their Junior Champion heifer Panorama Honey 14 won the supreme all breeds udder award and was runner up for all breeds Junior Champion. Jock Johnson won Reserve Champion cow for the 24 hour milking competition.

This year at Brisbane saw entries under the federal showing policy for the first time which means that our two Queensland Royal shows have similar entry requirements.

John and Geraldine Nahrung continue to be supportive of our youth and this year presented shirts and caps for members of our Youth Challenge team at Brisbane. As this was the first Youth Challenge it is understandable that there were some problems. The Branch however is very appreciative of the support from John and Geraldine.

Last year I mentioned that it was the first showing of JP Bourke & Co. This year they have continued on firstly winning the group of three cows at Toowoomba and then Reserve Champion cow at Brisbane. During the year Shane Bourke was elected by Federal Council delegates to the IDP committee joining our other Queensland representative John Bradfield. The Bourke family have maintained the outstanding production standards again this year winning the top production cow of the year Myrtleholme Lemon Empress 14 who is the winner of the Michael Ledger Memorial trophy. They have also won the top ten production team which also won the Holzhauser award.

During the year two well known studs were dispersed namely Celevale of Fred and Robin Horrocks and Rosedale of John and Kim Bradfield. Whilst the breed can ill afford to lose herds such as these it was pleasing to see the interest and demand for these cows and the very good prices paid.

The Treasurer will present his financial report showing a profit for the year under review and that the finances of the branch remain in a healthy position.

For the first time in thirty-two years Fred Slatter did not officiate during the supreme judging at Brisbane and I might say was sorely missed. We trust Fred and Betty will continue to support the Branch as they see fit.

Lucy Duncan performed her duties very well during judging bringing credit to herself and her family.

The Branch meetings have always been harmonious and full attention given to all matters under discussion. Our aim at all times to promote our breed. Thanks are due to Alison Teese as publicity officer for her work throughout the year. Betty Ledger continues to be the most efficient secretary and makes the business of the Branch so much easier.

RA LESTER
(PRESIDENT)

Queensland Branch President's Report 2011

ILLAWARRA CATTLE SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

QUEENSLAND BRANCH PRESIDENT’S REPORT 2011

It is with pleasure that I present the annual report of the ICSA Queensland Branch. The year under review saw some of the extremes of weather possible. Widespread flooding during the Christmas New Year period caused widespread devastation to many of our members. The continual wet weather caused crop losses, some stock losses and associated herd health problems.  Whether it is a measure of the resilience of our breed or the resilience of our breeders but within a matter of months many of those most severely affected were reporting that their herds were going better than ever.

Members were saddened during the year by the passing of life member Clarrie Marquardt OAM. Clarrie’s contribution as a premier breeder and involvement in the administration of the breed earned him life membership of the ICSA. His passing reminds us of the long association he had with the late Dave Savage and the debt of gratitude we owe to these gentlemen in the administration of our breed in Queensland and federally. Another former federal president Gordon Downes also passed away after a short illness. We also mourn the passing of Ray Daley from Maleny.

I find it almost amazing that after years of post deregulation upheaval, factory closures, constant price uncertainty that our membership has remained stable. On the other hand we would certainly welcome enquiries from younger men and women wanting to milk big herds of Illawarra cattle. The four clubs within the branch continue to function, meet regularly and carry on the good work of promoting our breed.

In previous years I have listed the major prize winners at our two royal shows. As these have been documented on our website and are still available there I will instead congratulate the various winners on their success. At both these shows we saw interstate judges making their first Queensland royal show appearance namely Mr Paul Ringland from Bega and Mr David Moxey from Rolland Plains. For those with a sense of nostalgia it was good once again to see Sunny View exhibiting the champion cow at Brisbane. Mention should be made of the huge effort of Greg and Bronwyn English in exhibiting at Brisbane. Also at Brisbane it was our pleasure to have Mikayla Krause, the USA exchangee with us.

I attended the Malanda show where Keith Dorries was the judge. A very good show was had and the pleasing feature was the number of younger members exhibiting very good cattle. A visit to a couple of farms in the district reinforces my view that the breed is in very good hands on the Tablelands.

During the year some of our members received special accolades. Life membership of the state branch was awarded to Harold Thompson in recognition of the contribution he has made both with the Alfa Vale herd and his work on state and federal committees over many years. Matt Henry received the John and Geraldine Nahrung Young Ambassador Award. This is not an annual award but rather when someone of outstanding achievement is recognised. Matt will be contesting the national final of the young judge’s competition in Adelaide. We owe a debt of gratitude to John and Geraldine for their continued support of the branch especially in relation to youth activities. Simon Tognola won this year’s young judge’s competition with Will Smith third. Simon will be eligible for next year’s final.

Once again some outstanding production results have been achieved. The Michael Ledger Memorial Shield was once again won by JP Bourke & Company of Gladfield with their cow Myrtleholme Glenda 16 who produced 11270 litres of milk and 932 kgs of fat plus protein. Several state records were broken during the year. The Priebbenow partnership broke all three sections of the Junior 2 records while Chelmonte Farming took out the Senior 2 milk and protein, the Junior 3 protein and fat and Senior 3 milk and protein and Senior 4 fat. JP Bourke & Company were the winners of the top ten cow competition.

The ongoing problems of registration and showing regulations have once again surfaced with discussion foreshadowed at the forthcoming federal AGM. I personally would have thought it best to let the changes made at last years meeting settle and give those changes a chance to evolve before once again tampering with the system. While those changes may appear extreme they do have the desired effect of returning to a higher percentage of Illawarra blood.

On a personal note it was my privilege to accompany Keith Dorries on a trip to the USA last October which included a visit to the World Dairy Expo at Madison. Keith was thrilled to see progeny of Panorama bulls at the Expo and on farms that we visited. Regular updates from the United States show that Royal Treble is going very well and may in fact be the leading sire in latest surveys. Subsequent visits to the UK by Geoff Cochrane and Neville Mueller reinforced my opinion the need for greater cooperation between the various breed societies. To do this as well as promotion within Australia I believe we need a federal secretary whose role is promotion as distinct from the work of the LBC.

The treasurer will give his report once again showing that we remain in a healthy financial position. We have continued our usual promotions and advertising and this year will break new ground by advertising in the American Milking Shorthorn journal and American Red and White Association journal.

The branch committee has a blend of youth and experience and continues in its efforts to promote the breed. Special thanks must go to Alison Teese for her efforts as publicity officer. Betty Ledger, our secretary performs her role with distinction. Her efforts in establishing the web site are to be commended for this provides an international window for Australian Illawarras. I personally thank Betty for her work as secretary.

Thank you for your attendance here today and my thanks to the South East Queensland club for hosting the meeting and the provision of morning tea and lunch.   

RA LESTER

Qld Branch President's Report 2008

ILLAWARRA CATTLE SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

QUEENSLAND BRANCH PRESIDENT’S REPORT

2008

It is with pleasure that I present the annual report of the Queensland Branch of the Illawarra Cattle Society of Australia Limited. The year under review has seen an improvement in prices paid to producers which has given at long last a renewed optimism in the Dairy industry. While many areas have enjoyed good seasonal conditions compared with previous years the weather remains a concern in many districts.

Our membership has remained fairly constant despite the post deregulation exodus and the poor weather conditions over many years. The various clubs remain active and continue to support their feature shows, calf days and social activities.

Brisbane and Toowoomba Royal shows continue to be well supported as do shows such as Gympie, Maleny, and Malanda. Unfortunately the number of smaller country shows with no dairy section continues to grow. This presents a problem especially in the appointment of young judges which was a stepping stone in years gone by. Toowoomba this year saw a good display judged by Mr Geoff Williams with principal honours going to the Ledger Family. Toowoomba this year was the first showing of J.P. Bourke & Co. While this was their first showing venture it should be noted that successive generations of the Bourke family have farmed successfully in the Gladfield district.

Brisbane maintained its reputation as our premier show and was judged by Mr Tony Hayes.  K.E. & A.M. Dorries made a welcome return winning Champion cow and also Junior Champion. The breed performed creditably in the Interbreed always being in the top three and equal second in the Supreme Cow award. Steve Ledger deserves commendation for his milking competition results. The Radel family is one of our longest serving members and to have won Supreme Champion cow is a singular honour. I just hope that next time it is with an Illawarra cow. Congratulations none the less.

During the year many awards were made some of which were new. The Ledger family wished to make an award as a memorial to Michael Ledger. Following discussion at State Council and following their wish it was decided to make the top production Illawarra cow annually the recipient of this award. At the February meeting of the Darling Downs Illawarra Cattle Club it was my pleasure on behalf of Grant and Betty Ledger to present this trophy to the Priebbenow Partnership and their cow Silverleigh Mima 5.

It was also my pleasure to present Life Membership to Betty Slatter at the Royal National Show for her many years of service to the State Branch which is testimony to the fact  that behind every successful man is a very, very good woman. Congratulations Betty.

The Queensland Department of Primary Industries conducts a cost price survey each year known as the QDAS summary. It is definitely not a competition but rather an analysis of costs and returns on a per cow basis and a per farm basis. The top herds on the Darling Downs were the Illawarra herds of J.P. Bourke & Co and John and Kim Bradfield.

In a milk quality award of the Dairy Farmers Group Australia wide the herd of Noel and Fay Weick and Family was amongst the top grouping.  The annual production award for the Top 10 cows was won by Chelmonte Farming from J.P. Bourke & Co with the Priebbenow Partnership third in the fat plus protein section. The total milk section was won by J.P. Bourke & Co with an average of over 10,000 litres.

Baden Teese has retired from State Council. I thank you for your many years of service Baden. You have taken part in all matters under discussion and together with Alison as Publicity Officer have played a valuable roll on State Council.

Last October members were shocked to hear of the devastating accident to Harold Thompson and the subsequent upheaval to all at Alfa Vale. As a measure of his tenacity Harold remains on State Council and was re-elected to the Council of the RNA. One can only admire the faith and fortitude displayed by Harold and Nancy at this time and we extend our best wishes to you and your family.

Many members attended Dairy Week and the World Shorthorn Convention. The highlight of the judging was the champion award to Panorama Angeline 8 owned by the partnership of K.E. & A.M. Dorries and D. & D. Malcolm. She had also been champion cow at both Toowoomba and Brisbane. It was also a welcome return for Doug Savage as judge and keynote speaker at the Convention. Following on from the Convention it is my belief that we should forge closer links with the breed societies in the UK, USA and Canada.

During the year State Branch embraced the new technology and developed our own website which is of course a window to the world for Queensland Illawarras. I also believe we as a breed should be embracing other technologies such as gene marker for sire selection and new embryo techniques.

The Treasurer will present his report showing we had a trading loss for the year which will need to be addressed. Despite this the Branch generally remains in a sound financial position.

May I extend my condolences to those members who have suffered bereavements during the year.

May I as your President personally thank Betty Ledger for her work as secretary. Betty has at all times been totally professional in her dealings with members, Federal Office, and agencies such as the RNA.

R.A. LESTER

Blood Percentages Report - Lloyd Peters March 2011

Doug Savage Addresses World Confrence 2008

A review of global dairy cattle numbers makes for interesting and at times surprising reading. While most people would think of western Europe and north America as the world’s leading dairy producers, these regions are far from having the largest dairy cattle populations. By a large margin the leading country is India, with around 82 million head, followed by Brazil with 15 million. China has the fastest growing population, now at 10 million and currently surpassing the US. A large portion of the world’s dairy cows are in economically developing countries, have low level production per animal, and are generally in tropical and sub-tropical regions. When it comes to the need for improved genetics and better livestock management, these countries represent the future markets of the world. Most regions in more temperate climates already have highly developed and competitive markets when it comes to livestock genetics. This point is very relevant when setting the long-term breeding goals for the Illawarra breed. What the world will need in the future is a high performance animal that has good fertility, good calving ease, is resistant to the eye and skin cancers that plague the Holsteins in tropical climates, and is generally adaptable to the hotter environment. Because of the perishable nature of dairy products, around 94% of the worlds dairy production is consumed within the country it is produced with just 6% traded internationally, half of which comes out of New Zealand and Australia. That scenario is not likely to change, with the burgeoning human populations in these developing countries requiring dramatic improvements in their own domestic dairy industries.

A good measure of genetic improvement programs around the world is to look at the numbers of young sires tested annually through structured young sire sampling programs. Here the Holsteins set the pace for genetic improvement with well over 6,000 bulls sampled annually around the globe. The dual purpose red breeds, usually based on Simmental bloodlines, follow with around 1200, while the red dairy breeds test 500, and the Brown Swiss and Jersey breeds around 400 each. If we look at the individual red dairy breeds we see that the Scandinavian countries – Norway, Finland and Sweden – have each sampled around 100 per year, and by an interchange of genetics between them, together with adding a little North American Ayrshire, have been able to maintain good genetic gains without use of red Holstein blood. Most other countries with smaller numbers – such as the Danish Red and the German Angler – have found it necessary to make significant outside infusions including red Holsteins. Over the past few years as interest in cross-breeding has gained attention, the red dairy breeds have gained a golden opportunity. Accordingly, both the Danish Red and the Angler have ceased the addition of further red Holstein genes so that they can join Sweden, Norway and Finland in being seen as a cross-breeding alternative for use over Holsteins. With the Swedish Red bull Peterslund having now sold over 700,000 doses, generating tens of millions of dollars in revenue, the stakes are high. However, it certainly remains to be seen if crossbreeding is just a passing fad or if it will become a long-term industry practice. I see it as a window of opportunity for other breeds to gain market share, and the various breed comparisons have certainly made commercial producers aware that while the Holstein has a long lead on production, it does not have such a large lead when it comes to efficiency or even profitability. Which ever way the crossbreeding scenario plays out, I don’t see international countries looking to an Illawarra breed that samples 5 to 10 bulls per year as a major source of outcross genetics. To me the goal of producing a cow that can improve the genetics of the much larger population in the tropics is a much more viable long-term objective. To take a somewhat different path to some of the other red breeds may ultimately have advantages.

Why does the number of bulls sampled matter so much? Well every animal receives two sets of alleles, one from the dam and one from the sire. Any group of progeny can be mapped on a bell-curve, with most located near the centre, an average of the two parents, but with a few outliers – one that was lucky enough to get only good alleles from each parent, and of course one at the other end that got only poor alleles. Almost all the truly great animals that drive genetic progress were lucky enough to be a long way above their parent average. Scientists use the term Mendelian sampling to cover this lucky inheritance. A skillful breeder can make mating decisions that produce animals that have the right balance of traits, but no-one has control over which mating will produce the lucky animal that gets only the best genes of both parents. That’s why bulls go through a progeny test program so as to identify the lucky ones. In general terms, about one in ten bulls sampled should be good enough to continue use, but only about one in a hundred will be way above parent average and have a truly exceptional proof that should make him a sire of sons. That’s why over the past 10 or 15 years the bulls Prince and now perhaps Monarch have been the only bulls the breed has produced that really deserve significant use as sires of sons. You simply don’t sample enough bulls to find those exceptional ones very often. However, with your open herd-book policy, you have the opportunity to use sires of sons from other populations, populations that are large enough to be making competitive genetic gains.{mospagebreak}

Judging from yesterdays show, the Illawarra breed has certainly come a long way over the last 20 years or so, by using an infusion of outside blood. The improvement in udders, the consistency and depth of the classes was most impressive. Over recent years many international judges attending DairyWeek have returned to North America raving about the quality of the Illawarra display. But the improvement does go much further than just the appearance of the cattle. If we look to your national breed production averages over the years you will see that the only breed to have greater production gains than the Illawarra has been the Brown Swiss, a breed that is still getting established in Australia. Most notably the Illawarra is somewhat ahead of the Aussie Red, the other red breed built on an Illawarra base but focusing more on European red breed bloodlines. However, the Aussie Red does have slightly better fat and protein percentages. The column I want you to look at is the lactation length, which for our purposes we can use as an indicator of cow fertility. It is certainly not a surprise that the Holstein, with its widely publicized poor reproductive performance, has one of the longest lactation lengths. At the other end we have the Jersey, well known for it’s good fertility. Right there at the same level as the Jersey is the Aussie Red, while the Illawarra is about half-way towards the Holstein figure. It stands to reason, if you use a significant Holstein infusion you are not only going to benefit from it’s superior performance but you will bring in some of it’s weaknesses too. It’s a warning sign. To continue on and use more and more crosses of red Holstein will eventually give you a Red Holstein breed. And given your smaller numbers, you would not be particularly competitive with the much larger populations of Red Holsteins that already exist in other countries. To me it’s a question of striking the right balance, of capitalizing on the improved performance, but also ensuring that you improve the traits that will make you a more viable breed for the tropics – better fertility and calving ease, better skin pigmentation to avoid eye and skin cancers, and general hardiness to withstand the heat. You can have too much of a good thing. The history of livestock breeding is littered with examples of people who thought that since one cross was good, two or three more crosses must be better. When the Australian Poll Hereford breed first saw the progeny of the imported American bull Beartooth Advancer 12H back around 1980 they were amazed. They were a foot taller and two feet longer than the thick, lower-set cattle that Australia had before. The results were so impressive that they followed it with another and then another cross of American blood. By then the cattle had so much frame that they didn’t have the thickness to fatten in the paddock and required concentrate feeding to finish. With the extra bone and size they had calving difficulties, a real problem with paddock calving. Had they been a little more patient and gone back and consolidated their gains in size by adding back more thickness and muscling they could have better capitalized on the advantages of the introduction and still maintained a breed better suited to the Australian environment.

So how do we go about consolidating gains? To me the key is to worry less about what the source of genes will be, and to concentrate more on setting breed goals and then using whatever genetics will help get you there. If improving the fertility along with the performance is a goal, then use the genetics that can make that happen. To go back to use a ‘traditional Illawarra’ might help the fertility but the performance will suffer – and we really don’t want to go back there. There has been no bull with a ‘traditional Illawarra’ pedigree emerge with a competitive proof over the past decade or two. And if one hasn’t appeared in that time it certainly won’t in the future as the infused bloodlines have moved ahead while the traditional lines have not had enough numbers to drive competitive genetic gains. In deed, even sampling a ‘traditional Illawarra’ pedigree today is simply wasting a sampling space. Cattle breeds are always in evolution and you can’t go back or even stand still. The concept of using the best genes from whatever source to reach breeding goals is not new. One of the early Illawarra breeders is quoted as saying that ‘a good Illawarra is a red or roan Shorthorn with as much Ayrshire as can be hidden under its Shorthorn skin.’ The modern version of that after seeing the cattle yesterday is ‘a good Illawarra is a red or roan Illawarra with as much Holstein as can be hidden under an Illawarra skin’, and in some cases it is not quite so well hidden. However, the performance of your breed has come a long way. If we go back further in history to the 1700s, it was red and white cattle from Holland, forerunners to the Holstein, that went to England and became the basis of the Teeswater cattle. The Teeswater had a heavy influence in the North Country English Dairy Shorthorns, and also formed part of the basis of the Ayrshire breed. Breeds are always in evolution and genetic infusions are not new.{mospagebreak}

So if a ‘traditional Illawarra’ is not going to have the performance to help, then we need to create some alternative bloodlines that can help the fertility without costing us performance. You could make use of the significant advances made by some of the European red breeds to create bulls to suit your cause. It’s a case of finding the right balance of bloodlines to get you to the breed’s goals. Looking through the red breeds you will see significant genetic linkages tying them together, and a couple of bloodlines stand out as excelling across all these breeds. The Swedish bull T Bruno may not produce many that could stand out there at your show, but he is a dominant bloodline that you could work with. Of his Swedish sons I think B Jurist may suit you better than Peterslund, with better udder attachments and more body capacity. But an option with better type could well be the T Bruno son from the Canadian Ayrshire breed, Duo-Star Normandin, an all-red bull backed by the great type bull BB Kellogg and then a Heligo from one of the best production families of the breed. Or you could look to the Danish Red breed, which again would give more of the type you seek, and would give you more strength and substance of bone. The top Danish Red bull, Bangkok, is a constructor bull that would give you lots of width and capacity with strong bone and great udders, though pins can be high. He is sired by T Fjembe, a son of the red Holstein Momentum, with the dam being a T Bruno out of a daughter of the Danish bull Mabru. The number 2 and 3 bulls in Denmark are both sired by Fyn Aks, another Momentum son. R David is also from a T Bruno out of a Mabru, while R Degn is the breeds top milk bull and is out of a Ladby with the next dam being a T Bruno. So there are a number of ways to access the T Bruno bloodline, and in many cases much of the work of improving the type to make it into the kind you want to work with has already been done.

Daughter of R David	R Degn (Fyn Aks x Ladby x Bruno)

 The other bloodline that stands out is Backgard. He left more compact cattle but with better udders and good functional traits. His best son is the Swedish bull Orraryd, who appeals to me as his dam is sired by the Danish bull Mabru and so brings in that better type and stronger bone. Another son of the same cow, Brolin, is at the top of the Swedish list but does not leave the impressive udders. I judged the dam of these bulls at the Swedish National show back in ’99. Orraryd is a 2nd crop bull and the most consistent udder bull in their breed, and also scores very well for temperament, something to watch with these breeds.

Orraryd combines the good udders of Backgard with the stronger bone and type of Mabru and is seen here with one of his daughters.{mospagebreak}

To me breeding sons of Orraryd, or the Danish bulls, or the Ayrshire Normandin, would give you genetic options. I can see that using your x, y and z genetic introduction program to try to prevent the breed from becoming a red Holstein breed has merit, but I see no reason to put barriers in the way of these other red breeds. They are all becoming interlinked and are making significant genetic gains that you can make use of. If you want to differentiate your breed from a Holstein than these can help you do it. Once you have a good Illawarra cow sired by a red Holstein, you need to have the option to use whatever other source of red you can over her to maintain a balance, and so applying the x, y and z for these other breeds only gets in the way of good breeding sense. I would strongly urge reciprocal rights for these other red breeds.

Here I should emphasize that genetic introduction from other breeds is not just about a quick fix for an in-breeding problem. You need to have permanent access to breeding programs of a size that samples at least 100 bulls per year in order to have genetic gains that will be competitive with the major breeds. Most of the other red dairy breeds are now quite interlinked, and you will need to continue to pick their best sires of sons to use on an ongoing basis. That 100 bulls sampled is not a scientifically supported number, it’s just that any breed with less than 100 sampled has struggled to make enough gains over recent decades to survive on their own. So given the Illawarra breed size, you will always need to draw from other red breed programs. That’s why I see no value in continuing with the x, y and z limitations to the other red dairy breeds. To me in-breeding has got a bad name, and has become a convenient scapegoat for breed weaknesses such as the poor fertility of Holsteins. Personally I see the fact that we have been intensely selecting over an extended period of time for high production, which is inversely correlated to fertility, as being the major cause of the problem. Nowadays we have a proof for daughter fertility and can select for it, though correcting the problem will take time. If you look at the pedigrees of most of the great animals in any of the breeds you will find a very high percentage were quite line-bred. In an Illawarra breed with an open herd-book policy I don’t think you need get too worried about in-breeding. If one cow family produces a few top bulls then go back and get some more. Differences in genetics coming in from the sire’s side will take care of that issue. Back in the 70s many people thought that the Illawarra breed suffered from becoming too in-bred on Sunny-View bloodlines. But I wonder if it wasn’t a case that those bloodlines simply didn’t perform quite as well as we expected once they were out and used under other herd management conditions across the country. Perhaps they were not quite as superior as they appeared to be when they were still at Sunny-View. Given your open herd-book status I don’t think in-breeding requires much thought; producing superior genetics needs to be the focus.  

How do you go about setting breeding goals? In the modern breeding industry that is done via the total performance index. Never underestimate how powerful a tool these composite indexes are. The ranking of the proven bulls directly dictates which bulls will get the most use in the breed. Some national indexes are more effective than others, judging from semen usage patterns, with virtually all the bulls getting significant use being in the top-10 or top-20. Your APR doesn’t appear quite as successful, as there are quite a few bulls in the top-10 that don’t get much use, at least in your Holstein breed, mostly because of negative udder scores. Most countries now realize that while these indexes need to be scientifically based, those who milk the cows need to have some input, and such traits as udders need a little more emphasis than the science may support. It stands to reason that if we want the breeds within a country to excel for different traits, then we need to have different total indexes for each breed. Canada has just implemented that approach this year, and the US already has separate total indexes for the breeds. Within the next 5 years I would expect all countries will move in that direction. So I would urge you to push for, or even develop your own, Illawarra Profit Index, putting extra weight on such traits as fertility, calving ease and whatever other traits you feel are necessary to differentiate your breed and make it more appropriate for a sub-tropical climate.{mospagebreak}

One of the weaknesses in virtually all breeds other than the Holsteins is that while extensive use is made of top bulls, not enough use is made of the top cows for breeding purposes. If I want to buy into the top 10 Holstein cow families in North America I can go to sales almost every month of the year and buy embryos, picks of flushes, or heifers from all the top families. In the Illawarras you have traditionally had to wait for a dispersal sale to access top families from other herds. As in most red breeds very few top Illawarra cows ever get flushed. There is not the market for young bulls to pay for the flushing. To me this is an area where the Illawarra Society needs to get involved. An ongoing program giving structure to boost use of ET on top cows is needed. It doesn’t have to be complicated. If for instance 15 or 20 breeders would put up say $500 each to get into an embryo balloting program, you could then go out and flush 6 or 8 of the top cows in the breed to the best bulls and distribute the embryos between them. The owners of the cows could be paid with access to other embryos. This would spread the top cow families around a lot more herds, would produce a lot more calves from the top cows that are currently receiving few opportunities, and would generate more bull calves that may potentially be available for young sire sampling. Having extra genetic linkages between your herds may even help the accuracy of proofs. I think you would find that many of the owners of the top cows would have enough pride in their cow that they would want to see it flushed and have the chance to have progeny perform in other herds. That’s the real proof of weather you have a superior cow is if it’s progeny will perform in other herds under different management. But the program would need to be structured. There is simply not enough marketing of embryos within the breed to justify breeders doing the flushes of their own accord.

It’s important for a breed society to move forward and use the best possible programs if the breed is to be competitive. An example would be the all-breed classification program that has been developed by Holstein Canada. They have put in a huge amount of money to develop a state-of-the-art program, using measurements for as many traits as possible, and relying on the program to calculate a final score. Each breed can simply fine-tune the numbers to customize it to their breed. It is now used by all the dairy breeds in Canada. Small breed associations can’t spend that sort of money on developing a program. It’s a case of why waste money trying to re-invent the wheel? The Holstein Association in Australia uses that program. Canada now has all breeds classified with the system, meaning all breeders now get classification visits at regular intervals, and of course the data flow or technical support issues are taken care of.

I would like complement your Illawarra Association on its initiatives in the area of young sire proving where you are now working with some organizations that have major international marketing networks. These major AI organizations know that developing markets in some tropical and sub-tropical regions will require a product other than just Holsteins. A few months ago I completed a request from Semex for an article introducing the Illawarra breed, which was to be used by their sales network in South America. They see your Illawarra breed as having potential for marketing into some of these developing countries, areas where they wish to build a market. If they could get even a modest market for Illawarra semen, it would certainly lead to greater interest from the AI industry in helping you develop the breed. I would certainly recommend that you continue to work with them and do what-ever you can to help them develop that market for you. {mospagebreak}

I should just add a few comments on what I would see as the best sources of red Holstein genes. The way to access the highest quality Holstein blood is to use red factor bulls to breed red Illawarra sons. While that does lead to some black animals that you don’t want, it will give you access to better genetics. The talk of the red factor world is your Australian bull Talent. He is widely regarded as the best udder and rump bull of the Holstein breed, and is in such demand around the world that later this year he should become Australia’s first million-dose seller. He is extremely consistent and very reliable with great longevity and fast milking speed. To me, any red son he produces in the Illawarra breed needs to be sampled. September Storm is another red factor Storm son, and the other Storm son I should mention is the Italian bull Ralstorm. He is actually a black/red bull, meaning he was born red and changed to black. All his calves out of red cows would be born red but half would change to black, a gene you would want to be careful of. Of the red bulls I know that Advent-Red is going to get a lot of use. He is easily the highest type red bull there has been, and will produce show winners. However, to me his proof does not have enough milk to make him a sire of sons – you would be better trying to work with his best daughter. They are tall, dairy and sharp with good udders but lack width through the front end and spring to the fore rib.

Advent-Red, high type red Holstein	Daughter of Talent: his sons should be  sampled.

From Europe Poos Stadel Classic-Red is their best type red bull, likely with no more production than Advent, but I like the calves, good width and spring of rib, great legs, more strength than dairy. One bull I should mention is Aggravation Lawn Boy-Red, moderate production with what will be the best bloodlines for the management traits that you will get from the Holsteins. They have good udders and feet and legs, but lack depth of rib. He should add a little strength to some deep, open-ribbed Illawarra’s, and should perhaps have sons sampled. Of interest, he is polled. I know there are one or two good Illawarra families that are polled, so if that is a trait that you want to breed for there are now some options available. The red factor bull Hickorymea Ottawa is a polled bull with high production and moderate type, and then the Norwegian Red breed has a number of their better red bulls descending from the bull Nylokken that are also polled. Of course if you want to be really adventuresome you might even look at adding some tropical red breeds with a Bos Indicus background such as the Red Sindhi from Pakistan or India. You could add tick resistance and heat tolerance, as long as it doesn’t cost you too much in production performance. 

In summary, the world needs a better dairy cow for the tropics. To achieve that, I think you need to set your breeding goals and implement them via an Illawarra Profit Index. To me any debate over which breed to introduce is not of value – It’s a case of finding the right balance to give you the kind of Illawarra cow you need in the future. I would see the only threat to overtaking your genetic pool coming from the Holstein, and so could justify retaining the x, y and z to limit that introduction, but I would recognize all other red dairy breeds with reciprocal rights and let your breeders make the most of what genetics are out there. The continued development of young sire programs with major international AI companies certainly offers you improved prospects for international marketing of semen in the future. And as an Illawarra organization I would definitely move to set up a structured embryo balloting program to make better use of the elite cows, and to better distribute the top cow families around the breed. These steps would certainly help you to produce the kind of Illawarra cow that could have considerable opportunities around the dairy world of the future.  

IDP Report Oct 2010

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