By Linda Mantova

All Brahmans are not the same, and that is what the new Brahman Feedlot Trial and Carcase Competition will undoubtedly prove.

Launched by the Australian Brahman Breeders’ Association (ABBA), the new event will see steers enter the feedlot on April 14 to be killed at JBS Rockhampton on August 2, with a presentation dinner held on August 15.

ABBA senior vice president and competition organiser, Matthew Noakes, said the aim of the trial and competition was to identify outstanding performance and commercial viability of Brahman cattle in an effort to combat the current discounting mentality.

“We just want to combat the way the Brahman breed has been maligned, not without reason, within the feedlot industry,” Mr Noakes said.

“The problem with Brahmans is they have the greatest geographic spread of any breed in the country, and the greatest variety of types due to the fact that they are based on significantly different areas and pastures, and bred for different reasons,” he said.

“So we’ve ended up with this wide range of Brahman cattle hitting the market and basically it appears that feedlots tend to treat them as one-in, all-in, and discount the lot.

“We want to prove that there are Brahmans out there that can perform in a feedlot environment; we want to measure that and have it regulated, so we can say to feedlot buyers, that all Brahmans are not the same – you will get some performance out of the better end of them that will be fully competitive with crossbreds, and in some instances better, especially as far as feed consumption is concerned.”

Mr Noakes said there were Brahmans amongst the breed that were well and truly “up there” and didn’t deserve to be discounted in today’s market.

“We may get criticised for having a breed specific trial, but we need to identify our high performers,” he said.

Steers for the competition must be purebred Brahman, either stud or commercial.

“They will be assessed using a balance of weight gain, carcase quality and carcase yield traits in an attempt to identify the most profitable Brahman animal for producers and 100 day grain fed markets,” Mr Noakes said.

“We believe with the scoring system that we’ll use, we will identify the most profitable animals in the group, which is our ultimate goal.

“We, more than any breed, need to identify our high performers, because we are copping a bit of criticism in the industry.”

Mr Noakes said he had already received significant interest in the competition and hoped to have between 300 and 400 steers to go on feed as part of the trial.

“We’ve had interest from as far afield at the Northern Territory,” he said.

“We want to help people with smaller entries to group together and come on cheaper freight, so it’s not prohibitive for those with one entry etc. If numbers make it viable pick up points for larger loads 2-3 decks may be able to be arranged at central points eg. Gracemere, Gympie, Cloncurry or Charters Towers etc.”

DNA samples will be collected from each entry and used in the process of validating genetic carcase and performance traits.

“We don’t get enough raw data, and if we’ve got a genetic trait that points towards marbling and we take a DNA sample of 400 carcases and most of the cattle that have that DNA marker also display above average marbling that is a huge bonus for the industry,” Mr Noakes said.

“Everyone wants to talk about genomics, but nobody wants to sit down and fully understand the work that’s got to be done in that whole validation process.”

He said producers could enter as many cattle as they liked, with five head per entry, and the best three scores would make up a pen of three that would be judged.

“The cattle will be fed at the Barmount feedlot, operated by Phil and Lynise Conaghan and family, some of the most experienced feeders of Brahman cattle in Central Queensland.”

There will be prizes for pens and individual animals, with entry specifications including 0-4 teeth 400-480 kg, curfewed weight, and entry weight for weight gain purposes will be taken 5-8 days after arrival at the feedlot.

All steers will be HGP’d, and all feed costs will be deducted from proceeds after slaughter.

Nominations opened on March 1, and will close on March 31, with sponsors still being sought for the competition.