Join us for a field day at the across-breed Beef Progeny Test site at Pāmu’s Kepler Farm.  (BBQ lunch from 12.15pm)

Topics and Speakers

• Overview of the Informing New Zealand Beef Programme and the across-breed Beef Progeny Test – B+LNZ Genetics (Jason Archer, Anna Boyd, Franzi Weik)
  • Learn more about the purpose of the Progeny Test at Kepler
  • How the sires are selected and what is being measured on farm
  • Key messages from the original Beef Progeny Test that you can utilise on your farm. 
• Structural Assessment of beef cattle for commercial farmers – Bill Austin
  Bill Austin, Accredited Structrual Assessment Technician, will demonstrate on the 2021-born Progeny Test animals how to assess the temperament and structure of beef cattle using the Beef Class Structural Assessment scoring system. 
• The future direction of Pāmu’s cattle breeding – Rebecca Hickson (Focus)

• Meat Quality –Jason Archer (B+LNZ Genetics) and Travis Leslie (Kepler Farm Manager)
  On-farm management and key messages from the Progeny Test.

There will be no farm tour as part of this event, but progeny from the first (2021-born) and second (2022-born) cohorts will be available for viewing on the day.

The event will be outside, so please make sure to bring appropriate clothing and footwear.

The field day will be recorded and video footage made available after the event.

Background

The across-breed Beef Progeny Test has been run at Pāmu’s Kepler farm near Te Anau since its first mating in 2020.

Its purpose is to gather data from herds where different breeds are run together on an equal footing. Angus and Hereford cows are run side-by-side at Kepler, with Angus and Hereford bulls used across both breeds of cows.

As a component of the B+LNZ-funded Informing New Zealand Beef (INZB) programme, the Progeny Test is fundamental to a multi-breed evaluation. It allows the breeds to be analysed together as a dataset, as well as understanding the maternal performance and hybrid viguour of the crossbred cow.

Registration

Registration is essential.

Register here: https://events.beeflambnz.com/event/sessions?id=BLNZ_Genetics_Beef_Progeny_Test_Field_Day709165036