Technology to shorten Feed Efficiency Trials to 49 days

The Vytelle SENSE™ system features In-Pen Weighing Positions which measure individual animal body weight and growth continuously. The technology can be used in feed efficiency trials to collect daily weights from individual animals – up to 450 weights a day. Adding this technology to feed efficiency trials shortens the trial length from 70 to 49 days by providing individual animal growth curves. Results from the MacNeil et al. (2021) study indicate that In-Pen Weighing Positions can be used to confidently calculate ADG in a shortened test period of 50 days.

The benefits for individual animals management are vast; a few being, increased accuracy of individual animal weights, labor optimization, and improved animal well-being by significantly reducing stress related to weighing animals compared to traditional chutes. At an operation level, a 50-day test period will increase the number of trials run each year, therefore, increasing the total number of animals evaluated. Evaluating a larger number of animals is likely to reduce the test cost per head and is likely to result in greater power of a test for the hypothesis of interest (MacNeil et al. 2021).

Using advanced technology such as Vytelle’s In-Pen Weighing Positions in feed efficiency trials allow for shortened 49-day RFI trials. Producers are further supported with standardized procedures ensuring quality data collection from In-Pen Weighing Positions and are assured only quality data sets are included in feed efficiency and ADG analyses.

 

 

Wagyu @ Nampo 2022

Nampo is one of the highly anticipated events on the Agricultural calendar in South Africa. The event is known for attracting everyone from committed producers to the curious onlooker. Over 70 000 people attended Nampo this year. Unlike pre-Covid years Nampo was extended with a full day starting on Monday 16th May. As per usual the opportunity was fully utilized to market Wagyu on all fronts. Sponsors that attended received good value for money through interactions with interested parties. More value was added to sponsors that could not attend and provided the Society with marketing material and contact information to distribute amongst attendees throughout the week. The Wagyu house was consistently active throughout the week. Our Social media platforms shared the Nampo experience as it was happening. The Society received a lot of compliments from other breed societies, the Nampo executive, Society members and other industry stakeholders. A good effort was put in by the management team that ensured the success at Nampo this year, Especially by Charmaine, Robyn and the Wagyu office staff that prepared the venue beforehand and worked in the kitchen during the week.

Wagyu Burger sales at Nampo

Same as in 2019 the Society partnered with the Vierfontein NG church to bring our wagyu burger to the masses. There were 5200 burgers sold during the five days. We also had the opportunity to sell Wagyu biltong and droëwors from the Wagyu house. In just under a day 70kg of biltong and droëwors was completely sold out. Even the rain on Friday could not dampen the customers curiosity about Wagyu. Throughout the week customers were patiently queuing in front of the stall to get their Wagyu burger before the week was over. On Wednesday the 18th of May Elandri talked with Riaan Grobler of Pretoria FM about our Certified Wagyu Beef program. Riaan also had a live tasting of our Wagyu burger on air, describing the burger as “very flavourful and incredibly soft” to listeners.

Thank you to all who participated during the week. and a special word of thanks to the team for braaiing and building the Wagyu burgers during the week.

 

New venture for Wagyu at Nampo

The Wagyu Society partnered with the NWU Business School and AgriVoice to host their Roadshow Discussion Series at Nampo “Making Business Sence of Agri-Business”. These discussions were held at the Wagyu House everyday between 10h00 and 11h30. On the 18th of May Elandri was part of the discussion panel on enhancing traceability, stock control and stud management via technology. Our Chairman, Mr Johan de Vos was part of the discussion panel on Friday the 20th of May discussing the International Agri-Trade. The discussions held were to promote sustainability and modernisation in Agri-Business and Farming. All the discussions of the week can be viewed on the AgriVoice App that can be downloaded from the Google playstore, the Apple iStore or by following the link https://agrivoice-app.co.za/NewsFeed/fe22e45a-32c0-40d5-f4d4-08da17b799fc/115d9165-d089-467a-70dc-08da3bd78095.

Per Capita & CWB renewal

The office has sent out the per capita’s and CWB renewal forms to each member. Please ensure that your animal lists for both your stud register (herdbook) and slaughter register (CWB animals) are updated and current. Inform the office of any required changes before the 30th of June for animal cancellations and membership resignations. If you have not received an email, please contact the office urgently at office@wagyu.org.za or +27 51 492 1852.

Australian Wagyu Heifer most expensive beef animal

The Australian Elite Wagyu Auction was held in Melbourne on the 27th of April. On average bulls were sold for AU$83 500 and females for AU$67 000. Embryos were sold at an average of AU$2600 and semen an average of AU$5000. During the sale a 13 month old Wagyu heifer, Sunnyside S0014, was sold for AU$400 000. This makes her the most expensive beef animal in Australia. The title was previously held by a Brahman bull sold in 2017 for AU$325 000. Follow the link for more information on the Elite Wagyu Sale held in Australia https://www.wagyu.org.au/all-breeds-australian-record-smashed-at-the-2022-elite-wagyu-sale