Breeding Principles
Lawsons Angus genetics are the most efficient converters of grass to quality beef, but equally as important they excel in key drivers of commercial profitability – calving ease and fertility. Our competitive advantage is we can do this in large numbers with a great deal of consistency and predictability. Keeping genetic progress simple and cost effective is our business.
A global approach to performance data keeps our clients making genetic progress at comparable rates with the best herds in the world.
Lawsons Angus’ has been operating a partnership with Gardiner Angus Ranch (GAR), regarded as the leading Angus herd in the world, for over ten years. This involves importing elite Angus genetics through frozen embryos each year and implanting these along with embryos produced from Lawsons Angus elite donor team.
This provides Lawsons Angus clients with access to the best genetics in Australia and provides a direct comparison with the world’s leading Angus genetics under our Australian conditions. This is powerful information and one of the strategies that keeps Lawsons Angus clients making faster genetic gain than other commercial Angus herds.
Ultimately, the beef business is a competitive global market and Australian producers compete on price and quality.
LAWSONS ANGUS STRIVE TO OUT -PACE OUR COMPETITORS (GLOBALLY) THROUGH RESEARCH, GLOBAL NETWORKS, PLANNING AND THEN HARD WORK TO IMPLEMENT THE PLAN.
Lawsons Angus have an extensive network of international breeders and research institutions that keep Lawsons Angus at the leading edge of genetics, reproductive technology and farm management and grazing systems. Genetics are considered an integral part of any efficient beef system, but must be integrated as part of the overall farm plan.
Every one of Lawsons Angus matings is individually planned, taking into account pedigrees (inbreeding), EBVs, phenotype, structure, temperament, maturity pattern and udders. At the end of the day we are accountable to our commercial customers for supplying a quality product , just as they are totheir customers, the consumers. Hence the importance we place on both on-farm efficiencies and meat quality.
Effective use of Breedplan combined with our large scale commercial progeny testing and large scale breeding operation gives Lawsons Angus an extremely powerful, objective basis for making selection decisions that will benefit the long term breeding programs for our commercial clients.
Those breeders that choose not to use these objective systems (like Breedplan and Estimated Breeding Values) can never make the same progress as those breeders that adopt this technology. In our breeding program our Breedplan data mirrors what we see in the paddock and on the rail and puts this information into a system that allows us to compare this years bulls with last, and across herd comparisons. Breedplan is the only system that allows us to accurately compare animals between herds.
ENERGY SMART CATTLE ARE THE MOST PROFITABLE
Lawsons Angus are breeding cattle that have a unique advantage in how they use feed and partition energy. Over 30 years Lawsons Angus has improved feed conversion efficiency from 8:1 to 4:1. That means Lawsons Angus genetics are capable of using half as much feed to put a kilogram of liveweight on as they were thirty years ago.
Lawsons Angus breeding program is all about breeding efficient cattle that get to market earlier, can finish on grass or grain and hit carcase specifications with less days on feed.
Through performance recording Lawsons Angus have developed a population of cattle that have an unmatched balance between calving ease, high growth, feed conversion efficiency, fertility, moderate maturity patterns coupled with the ability to produce high quality, high yielding carcases on the rail. These days through a long term vision, careful selection, a disciplined approach to breeding, 100%/AI and ET and large numbers, you can have it all!