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9 April 2003

Letter from America by Expatriate Scot
AA Breeder

Robert Groom
Tullyfergus Herd, Lyons, New York, USA

www.land-care.org.uk
(Filed 8 April 2003)

It’s difficult to believe that it is nearly 5 years since Linda and I, along with our son Oliver, dispersed our Tullyfergus Aberdeen Angus herd in order to start a new life breeding, what else? Angus cattle in the USA.

Originally we came over to manage an existing herd here in Upstate New York but unfortunately that did not work out as planned. So we decided to set up the second Tullyfergus herd which was based on a core of 30 cows selected from the herd we came to manage, and moved onto the farm we purchased when we first came over in October ’98. Whilst here we have also been blessed with the birth of a second child, Charlotte, born in October 3rd 2001.

That’s the background. What are we doing now? In this article I will talk a little about how we went about creating a brand and a market for our genetics and some of the events and organizations we have participated in.

The ‘Tullyfergus’ brand.

Branding, one of the hot and current buzz words of the beef industry.

As ‘new’ Angus breeders we had to create both a niche in an already burgeoning market and also a recognizable name that would identify us from the rest. The first step was to activate a plan I had been formulating while still in Scotland; that was to set up a marketing program for our bull buyers feeder (weaned suckler) calves that would give them a premium price and also return carcass data.

Of course if you are going to set yourself up as providing high quality feeder steers produced from your genetics you have to have some inside knowledge of how your cattle perform already. Because we selected our foundation stock from the herd we managed we had already studied the kill sheets from cattle finished out of the herd and discovered that they graded, on average, choice, yield grade 3 or better. To translate that into the EUROP system it would approximate R conformation or better with 4H fat class. It was also marbled beef to the degree of about 5.0% or more intramuscular fat (marbling).

According to the data, we had the genetics with which to back our claims to the potential feeder buyers. We also had several herds to which we had sold bulls and who had previously been marketing their steers through local sale barns (auction marts). Over the past 5 years this program has returned, on average, a premium of 10 cents / lb over the market, or $99 / head on a 550lb (250kg) steer. We also offer guarantees to the buyers of these calves that the group will be of uniform weight, within given parameters usually 450lbs to 650lbs (200kgs to 300kgs) within a given age range (usually born March 1st to June 1st for December 15th delivery), weaned, eating grain and having completed a vaccination program for respiratory and clostridial diseases, pasturella and somnus. They will also have been treated with a pour-on wormer. Weaning management plays an important role in future carcass quality, and study after study has demonstrated the value of keeping calves healthy and thriving through the traumatic experience of weaning and maintaining growth rates. So that, essentially, is the program which gives tangible returns to both the seller and the buyer. Our payoff comes from selling our yearling bulls at a price we can dictate whereby we can turn a profit.

New York is an extremely difficult place to market bulls of any beef breed as there is an underlying belief that a bull is only worth beef price, or perhaps less! For many producers the bull is simply there to settle the cows. Herd improvement is rarely considered, in part due to the fact that they take their calves to sale barn and get, on average, 15 to 20 cents / lb less than the producers of feeder calves in the main beef producing States like Nebraska, the Dakota’s, Montana and Missouri. Multiply 20 cents / lb by 500, then again by 30 and you are looking at an additional $3,000 on the sale of one bulls progeny! That’s clearly why the ranchers west of the Mississippi tend to pay, on average $2,000 to $4,000 for Angus bulls whereas in New York the average price for an Angus yearling bull will be closer to $1000 to $1,200!

It is obvious that $1000 for a bull is not enough, given that you will be expected to stand behind that bull should something untoward happen, given that our bulls average between 660lbs and 750lbs (300 and 340kgs) at 200 days which, if we sold them through our own program as steers, would realize somewhere around $550 to $600. Add in development cost to a year of age, at minimum $1 / day, more realistically $1.35, would add another $160 to $200 per head, plus the registration fees and AI service certificates and you are already in to the bull for $750 to $850. Advertising, trucking, veterinary costs and all still to be added, and then selling that bull for $1000 makes it look more like a charitable exercise than a business! We basically price bulls from $1,500 and up, depending on pedigree, performance and potential. We make every effort to fit the bull to the customer in order to show them the biggest improvement we can in their calf crop, followed by marketing those calves for the highest dollar we can.

Our experience has shown we can keep our bull buyers with this strategy and also, as time goes on, they place an order for a bull that will complement a previous purchase. They will place less emphasis on what they like and more on our recommendation of what will work best for them (and we try not to keep or develop ‘ugly’ bulls!)

The second step we took was to develop a functional embryo program.

The dam of Braveheart was the first cow we flushed, and from her first flush we got 7 calves, 4 heifers and 3 bulls. Since then we have a further 4 daughters and 2 sons along with a natural heifer calf from her.

We also purchased a donor cow from the Forever Lady cow family, which has gained immense prominence here in North America, and stems from Forever Lady 395GDAR who some of you will recognize as the dam of Oscar 711. Our donor is a daughter of GDAR Forever Lady 11, who is the only daughter of 395 sired by one of the best female producing bulls the breed has seen Traveler 124 GDAR, and sired by VDAR Rito 953 who himself is a very well known sire, being a son of Rito 2100GDAR and out of Miss Wix 903 of McCumber. We have flushed this cow to a number of bulls and while the number of embryos produced has been low we will put all production into recipients this summer.

After running a total AI program for the past 3 years, which has maintained both calving interval and conception rates whilst infusing new genetics into the herd, this year we have purchased a herd sire to clean up after a one shot AI program. ‘SAV New Day 2317’ is from the Schaff Angus Valley program in North Dakota and is a son of a bull we will be using heavily in our AI program; Boyd New Day 8005 and out of a daughter of Bon View Bando 598. We will also be using an AI sire called ‘SAV 8180 Traveler 004’ who is out of New Day 8005’s flush sister. For the yearling heifers we will be breeding AI to Bon View New Design 878 who is out of a Bando 598 daughter.

With the use of these 3 AI sires and our natural service bull we will be able to neatly tie together all of our bloodlines and improve EPD’s for growth, milk and ribeye whilst maintaining marbling, mature size and carcass weights and lowering birth weights. To say we’re excited about the next generation is an understatement!

2003 also sees our first production sale, scheduled for November 1st, and in cooperation with 3 other Angus breeders from our region of NY State. We plan to catalog 20 lots that will include cow / calf pairs, bred yearling heifers, heifer & steer calves with show potential and some embryo pregnancies. We might also offer our Forever Lady cow for sale if we get good conception rates on our embryo’s.

From the start we have taken an active role in the State beef producers association and the State Angus association. I am currently vice-president of the Western NY beef producers and a director on the State association board. I am also vice-president of the NY Angus Association. We have exhibited cattle at the NY beef expo and at the NY State Fair in Syracuse, along with participating in a number of beef producer events such as the Empire Farm Days (EFD) (think Highland Show machinery lines!), which also includes an exhibit tent and beef BBQ which is extremely popular with attendees.

We organized a commercial Angus open day that proved very popular at a farm that has been using our genetics, and which also acts as a cooperator herd for our embryo program. We are planning a similar event for this August to run during the EFD located just a few miles to the north.

In addition we established an Angus breeders’ calf show, similar to the Black Beauty Bonanza at Thainstone, and which attracted over 50 entries in its first year. The show, however, was a little unconventional in that it involved judging the cattle unled and unfitted in small paddocks, a format that many people enjoyed as there was no way for the judge to know which animal belonged to which exhibitor!

To parallel with the registered Angus herd we have also started a consulting business called ‘Angus Genetic Solutions’. It is a service to both commercial and registered breeders offering advice and strategies for using and acquiring Angus genetics for their new or established herds. For a small subscription we offer a monthly e-newsletter highlighting various aspects of the registered and commercial business including promising new sires, proven sires that may have been overlooked by the mainstream, marketing outlooks and opportunities.

Robert, Linda, Oliver & Charlotte Groom
Tullyfergus Angus Herd
8974 Cole Rd.
Lyons, NY. 14489
001 315 946-8204 e-mail;
Rnlgroom@redsuspenders.com

© www.land-care.org.uk

Further Reading Recommended by Land-Care

Sundstrom, Brian (2002). Breedplan - Australian Based International Beef Cattle Genetic Evolution Programme.
(Filed 2002, www.land-care.org.uk, click here to view).

Hammack, Stephen P. and Paschal, Joe C. Expected Progeny Difference (EPD) in Beef Cattle. The Texas A&M University System. (Download PDF).