Page 4 - AUTUMN BULL SALE EBOOK

WELCOME

Welcome to the 34th Rissington Autumn Bull Sale

We are proud of this Elite offering of bulls which includes our own natural sires from the spring.
We continue to sell our sires on an annual basis due to our ability to get over 80% of our females
in calf to AI. This allows us to roll the generations fast and continuously offer the very best bulls
to the industry.

The Beef & Lamb Genetics (BLG) Progeny Test continues to provide great commercial validation
of EBV’s and therefore the ability for you and us to use them to accurately rank and predict
the performance of sires and their offspring. The progeny test has further demonstrated the
huge variation from the bulls in terms of performance of their progeny which is reflected in
EBV’s of the sires. So, while some in the industry continue to sell and buy sires with little to no
acknowledgement of what is under the bonnet, we know our customers want to know they are
getting the horsepower they are investing in. EBV’s work and they are the best guide to rank and
compare bulls and economic indexes like our $Profit is the simplest overall method to predict
the performance of their offspring. $PROFIT allows you to rank each individual bull in a global
database reflecting the profitability from conception to the consumer. Rissington New Standard
is the No1 sire of 55 sires from NZ, Australia & the US, for weaning & yearling weight in the BLG
Progeny Test.

The home of $Profit is with our long time friends and partners at Leachman Cattle of Colorado.
We took what is almost an annual trip with several bull customers last month to see things in
action for ourselves. The LU Ranch of Mike & Sarah Healy in Wyoming was testimony to $Profit
where his 1400 cows are wintered and calved on semi-arid pasture at an altitude that ranges
from 5,000 to 8,500 feet. No supplement apart from some from protein tubs are used. In these
conditions 95% were pregnant in the 2016 breeding season. The 662 steers at slaughter in
2016 earned a premium per head of US$115 with 96% in the higher quality grade. His goals are
to have a quiet temperament, wean a high percentage of good healthy calves at an early age,
gain at a rapid rate to market as efficiently as possible, and to produce a quality product for the
consumer – sound familiar!

To achieve this, he was selecting for $Profit, and the progress he was making was clear to see.
His cattle were moderate framed and of a good even type. His first calving 2yr old heifers that
were nearing the end of calving were very impressive, equally uniform in type with great udders
and great set of calves on them.

As one of the early adopters of the Leachman program (since 1988) we are excited to finally have
a combined analysis where can be compared with a large population (1,000,000+) cattle globally.

We look forward to discussing your bull requirements and having the opportunity to show our
line-up of bulls and if anyone wants to join us next year in the USA be sure to register interest
with us.

Daniel Absolom

4 34 AUTUMN BULL SALE CATALOGUE • MAY 2017
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