Page 5 - AUTUMN BULL SALE EBOOK

GLOBAL ANALYSIS

Leachman Cattle of Colorado is excited to offer genetic predictions on the Rissington herd.

Our two programs have been pursuing the similar selection goals for over 30 years. With the
recent increased emphasis on beef quality in New Zealand and with the increasingly global
marketplace, our selection goals are essentially the same today. As such, it was an easy decision
to combine our genetic predictions into a single analysis. It is no surprise that the animal
rankings stayed very much the same as what had been predicted in both separate analyses.
While Rissington and Leachman have somewhat distinct environments, the birth weights, weight
per day of age through 400 day, and mature cow weights are very similar as are ultrasound
comparisons.

As customers of Rissington, you are tapping into one of the largest and most accurate multi-
breed databases for temperate region cattle in the world. The Leachman analysis currently
(September, 2016) includes over 740,000 animals worldwide. While some analyses are larger,
they lack the quality control found in the Leachman system as data is only accepted from top tier
Seedstock producers who are engaged in full herd performance testing. This includes leading
US breeders such as Thomas Angus Ranch in Oregon, R A Brown Ranch in Texas, and Ludvigson
Stock Farm in Montana. The database also includes the composite cattle in the UK, Australia,
and North America. Most interestingly, each of these herds are collecting feed intake data
on thousands of animals per year. This makes the Leachman database especially powerful at
predicting feed intake in Angus, Simmental, Gelbvieh, South Devon, and composite populations.
Today, dozens of leading breeders around the world are using $Profit to produce higher
productivity animals.

The Leachman database is further backed by years of research and development investment.
The database currently contains over 15,000 feed intake records and over 50,000 mature cow
weight observations. The investment in this data alone exceeds US$2,000,000. Leachman first
started validating the heritability of feed conversion in steers being fattened in 2010. Since that
time, thousands of AI sired progeny have been produced in structured contemporary groups
to evaluate growth, conversion, and carcass merit. In addition, the Leachman database utilizes
breed EPD’s (equivalent to EBV’s) from the American Angus Association, the American Simmental
Association, and the American Gelbvieh Association to increase the accuracy of outside sire
lines that are being sampled each year. This combination of top quality herds, complete data
recording, leveraging of breed genetic predictions, and extensive validation testing is unique.

We welcome you to inquire more about $Profit and the other indexes now being offered by
Rissington via its global alliance with Leachman Cattle of Colorado. We feel that this will add
huge value to our selection decisions and the bottom line of our commercial bull customers.

34 AUTUMN BULL SALE CATALOGUE • MAY 2017 5
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