Blackrock Angus

See back page for details about...

50 years of quality stock backed by performance tested results

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In the beginning...“The Blackrock Angus Stud of Don and Felicity MacLeay will, in time, provide WA cattle breeders with quality stock backed by performance tested results”. Wesfarmers News 11 September 1969.

In 1969, 20 Angus females and one bull started

their journey from Victoria to WA to commence

the Blackrock Angus herd in Busselton. This move,

by Don and Felicity, evolved out of a genuine desire

to breed cattle better suited to the current market

requirements of the day. Their experience with bulls

was that progeny were too variable and lacking in

performance. Their goal was to rank bulls based on

the performance of progeny through herd recording

and progeny testing.

Performance breeding in its infancyBlackrock was the first herd in South West WA to

be enrolled on the National Beef Recording Scheme,

the forerunner of Breedplan, the gold standard in

performance recording. It has grown to become

widely accepted throughout the country and in many

countries around the world.

Blackrock continues to breed bulls focusing on the

key profit drivers of their commercial clients. These

drivers are fertility, growth and carcase combined

with a moderate birth weight and good temperament.

Don keeping an eye on proceedings. Beef Week 1976. Stephen Franklin with Mr & Mrs David McDonald

of Esperance Pastoral Co and Blackrock Tudor T17.

Beef Week 1976, Don holding Blackrock T38

sold to J & S Arnold Tirila park Coolup

Elders livestock agents visit.

Ken and a sale team December 2008.

Welcome to the 50th Anniversary of Blackrock Angus2019 is an opportunity to reflect...

For the first ten years the herd grew from the initial 20 heifers to around 80hd by 1979. The next ten years was a consolidation period before the decision was made to expand the Stud in the 1990’s by selling the commercial herd.

During period 2000 to 2009 the herd remained stable before expanding again in the last ten years facilitated by the purchase of additional land close to the main operation in Busselton. This measured expansion of the herd has allowed rigorous selection pressure to be applied for generations.

Customised breedingNow with over 330 matrons there are good numbers to select from without losing track of individuals. Importantly it allows us to individually craft our bulls by selecting the optimum mating for each female.

Attention to detail - DocilityPerformance recording remains at the heart of the Blackrock herd. While records have long been taken on fertility, growth and carcase traits, today docility scores are also taken on all progeny. Breeders have continually identified docility as the trait at the very top of their selection criteria. It has been shown to relate well to animal performance under feedlot conditions as well as the obvious benefits in handling and general herd management. Blackrock has been submitting temperament scores on all progeny since 2011 and first published data in our 2014 sale catalogue. Now, almost 2000 temperament scores later, by applying selection pressure the herd has produced a 2019 sale team in the top 25% of the breed.

Relatively speaking the Docility EBV is a newcomer, and like all EBV’s it is the science that enables us to make genetic progress in this critical area. With this important information now available the industry should no longer make ambit claims without the data to back it up.

Tight calving generates fertilityA tight calving spread means any female that can’t conceive in a commercial timeframe is culled.

How to improve fertilityTo improve cows and heifers weaning rate they

need to conceive in a timely manner. The recently

completed Maternal Productivity Project in WA

published the two significant factors that affect

conception in heifers. Their conclusions were:

• Weight followed by fat has the greatest influence

on whether or not heifers conceive.

• Heifers selected for high rib fat EBVs (early

maturing) have significantly better pregnancy rates

under either six or nine week joining periods.

• Fat should be considered as part of a balanced

breeding program (no need to select for extreme

high fat).

Fat is important in breeding programs and this year’s

Blackrock Angus sale bulls have EBV fat levels that

are above average for the breed. The way to increase

fat in your herd is to select bulls with a positive fat

EBV - not by selecting a bull that is fat!

Once pregnant, heifers have to produce a live calf.

As calf size is the biggest single contributor to calving

difficulty, Blackrock focuses on breeding bulls that

are moderate in birth weight, with the 2018 sale team

EBV average at 4.9 against a breed average of 4.4.

Moderate birth weight can still generate good growth

with this year’s team being in the top 25% of the breed

for all growth traits.

To cap off a solid sale team the average EBV docility

score is in the top 25% of the breed. Docility is a

free trait. CSIRO research tells us that “weak but

favourable genetic correlations between docility

score and the production traits indicates that docility

score is largely independent of these traits and that

selection to improve temperament can occur without

having an adverse effect on growth, fat, muscle and

reproduction.”

Like good wine a herd takes time to develop

Our philosophy has always been to breed bulls to maximise the profitability of our clients. To do this we have focused on the key profit drivers in any beef operation, cow weaning rate, that is calves weaned per cows exposed to the bull, followed by sale live weight followed by carcase traits. Or as we summarise..

Fertility, growth and carcase.

Ken MacLeay Ph: 9755 1136 Mob: 0438 926 363

blackrockangus@bigpond.com

www.blackrockangus.com.auCatalogue available online

CONDUCTING AGENTS

3% commission to outside agents nominating buyers prior to sale

Lot 5 Blackrock N105 > Booroomooka Galileo G501

Sale Team Average

Docility 200, 400 & 600 weight top 25%

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