Dear Friends,

Welcome to our first Western Australian Production Sale. The Sale will be conducted by Elders Esperance and bulls will be sold on property at "Woolahra", 799 Springdale Rd, Jerdacuttup, which is approximately 135 km west of Esperance and 35km east of Hopetoun. Sale will commence at 1pm and bulls will be auctioned by video in the woolshed. Bulls will be penned in small groups for inspection from 8am on Sale Day.

This is an exciting Sale for us and we have retained an outstanding contemporary group of bulls for our WA clients. These bulls are July-August 2010 drop calves out of two year old heifers and have run together from birth. Over half of these (19 bulls) are below breed average for birth weight EBVs (<4.7 BW) and are suitable for joining heifers.

Lawsons Angus is the largest Angus seedstock herd in Australia with divisions in Yea, Victoria, Goondiwindi, Queensland and Jerdacuttup, Western Australia. Lawsons Angus were one of the pioneers in performance recording and the adoption and use of Breedplan to assist in the selection of Angus cattle and make comparisons between years and between herds on a national basis. Essentially what Breedplan enables us to do is rank sires and dams very accurately for a large number of economic traits. Over the years we have seen the emphasis shift from selection for growth to selection for marbling and carcase traits, cow efficiency and more recently we have incorporated the use of Indexes to help buyers with selection decisions. Without Breedplan it is impossible to select for antagonistic traits like growth and calving ease and mature cow weight. If we just focused on growth we would also increase dystocia (calving ease) and mature cow weight and hence feed inputs. Our job as seedstock producers is to use this information (summarized by Breedplan Estimated Breeding Values) and continue to research to find animals that defy the odds that we refer to as "outliers". Over generations these outliers actually become the "norm" and we find new barriers to push past.

Once we are find the bulls that fit our breeding objectives then we need to use this information to breed more productive genetics that will continue to keep our commercial clients competitive with the best herds in the world. To do this we use 100% AI and ET, so every mating is carefully planned. This year we mated over 1,000 registered females in WA and 2,000 nationally. These numbers give us a strong base for selection. We are continually benchmarking the best of our young sires against the best we can find in the world so progress is on-going.

The bulls you see Sale day are some of the best grass converters in the Angus breed today; they are bred for calving ease, high growth, moderate maturity patterns and have nearly double the breed average muscle (EMA) and more than double the breed average for marbling (2.3 IMF vs 0.9). Our yearling bulls are heavier than our two year old bulls were 30 years ago even though they are run under larger groups and higher stocking rates. What you can’t tell visually is these bulls use grade (feed) more efficiently. Our US partner, Gardiner Angus Ranch have demonstrated under a 90 day bull test they improved feed efficiency from 8:1 down 3:1 over 30 years, so the modern Angus uses half as much feed to put on a kilogram of liveweight! This is highly correlated to 600D growth, so use this figure as your ‘horsepower’ rating and use other Breedplan figures to make sure bulls fit your criteria. If you are mating heifers stick with bulls under breed average birth weight (<4.7 BW EBV) as a guide and also feel free to discuss option with us.

Full pedigree details and photos of bulls are available on www.angusaustralia.com.au catalogue section. You will also find detailed explanation of Breedplan EBVs and Indexes. There are a number of potential stud sires in this year’s line up so good opportunities for both bull breeders and commercial herds to raise the bar.

For those breeders used to buying heavier two year old bulls, looking at younger bulls takes some getting used to but we can assure you the Breedplan information in our herd is extremely accurate and a comparison with figures from other studs Australia wide or bulls you have in your front paddock will demonstrate the opportunity for WA breeders to take their herd forward a few notches.

The results from using Lawsons Angus bulls are highly proven and predictable - more live calves, heavier weaning weights, faster liveweight gains on grass and in the feedlot and higher yielding, higher grading carcases. All this in a moderate maturity pattern, which is important for cow herd efficiency, reproduction and hitting the target specifications for feedlots. Fertility and cowherd inputs (feed) are still the biggest profit drivers in any beef herd, but marbling is still a very important component for MSA grading and the production of quality beef. We believe WA has a strong competitive advantage to produce quality beef that should be better utilised going forward for both domestic and export opportunities. Genetics is an important tool to keep WA beef producers making productivity gains on-farm and on the rail.

Bull buying decisions are the biggest driver of genetic gain and this is a part of the business you do have full control over. Genetic progress can be both rewarding and simple and can be achieved from $25 to $35 per calf with Lawsons Angus, which we regard as cost effective given most herds will make retrieve this cost with improved weaning weight, let alone all the other gains in whole herd efficiency!

Our WA business is well led and managed by Tim Stokes and Andy Robertson who have been up for the challenge of building a new production system from scratch. Please contact Tim or myself anytime to inspect the bulls or our breeding program. We have enjoyed the interaction with WA farmers and the sharing of ideas and information is what all keeps us moving forward.

Bulls are all vaccinated for pesti-virus (BVD), 7 in 1 and vibriosis. All bulls have been semen and morphology tested through Swans Veterinary Services.

We look forward to seeing you Sale Day.

Regards,

Harry Lawson

For more information please contact Harry Lawson on 0407101145 or email lawsons@lawsonsangus.com.au or Tim Stokes on 0407 898 427