Royal Show

The Society was represented by its members at the Royal Show. The event took place from 27 May 2022 to 5 June 2022 at the Pietermaritzburg Showgrounds. The show saw 114 217 attendees during the 10-day event. A lot of enquiries were received regarding Wagyu. With many consumers enquiring about the sought-after Wagyu Burger. Next year will be the last Royal show at the current location as the property had been sold. We would like to thank our members that proudly represented the Society and Certified Wagyu Beef at the show.

Wagyu Conference and AGM

We are excited to announce that this year’s Conference and AGM are taking place during August. The event will take place outside Franschoek. The theme of the conference is ‘Unpacking the Wagyu toolbox’. The Conference & AGM will be held at Allee Bleue on the 25th of August 2022. There will be no virtual component or Sale at the conference this time. As usual we will present an Inspection course the day before, on the 24th of August 2022, at The Wagyu Experience near Paarl. The inspection course must be attended by all new Society members to avoid compulsory inspection of cattle in the coming year. This year we will also conduct the Society’s first Senior Inspection Course. We are delighted to announce that L’Omarins will host our post-conference tour on the 26th of August 2022, participants will be able to view their Wagyu herd and farming facilities, not open to the public, as well as the stunning motor museum. The conference program and entry forms will be distributed shortly. For enquiries, please contact the office.

Net Feed Intake: The Impact Explained

As feed costs have climbed to over 70% of the cost of production, skilled labor costs have risen, and consumer demand for sustainability grows, beef producers are under significant economic and social pressure. Today, selecting for net feed intake (NFI) is the best way to produce more feed efficient cattle that reduce costs and increase profit, while doing so in a sustainable manner. A 10% improvement in feed efficiency can lead to a 43% improvement in profit (Fox et al., 2001), and selecting for low NFI can reduce feed intake by 12%, reduce methane production by up to 30% and reduce manure by 17% (Agri-facts, 2006).

NFI is a measure of feed efficiency calculated as the difference between an animal’s actual feed intake and its predicted feed intake, for a given level of production (Koch et al., 1963; Basarab et al., 2003). Cattle with low or negative NFI are efficient as they eat less than predicted, while cattle with high or positive NFI are inefficient as they eat more than predicted. When NFI is used as a genetic selection tool, the resulting progeny will consume less feed for the same level of production. Since NFI is independent of growth, body size and other performance traits (Koch et al., 1963), selection for animals with low NFI will lead to reduced feed intake and improved feed efficiency without compromising body size, carcass quality or growth. Improvements in feed efficiency can be selected for and incorporated into a breeding program to produce more efficient offspring.

Cow Inventory

Thank you to all our members that sent through their updated cow inventory to the office. The deadline to update the cow inventory or request any resignations has passed. The office will send out the levy for your annual membership fee and cow inventory on 31 July 2022. There were not many corrections received for our CWB (slaughter) register. We urge all members to update their CWB register with the office and fate any slaughtered animals on the system. For any enquiries, please contact the office.

Wagyu Field Officer

The Society has employed a young student as field officer. Mr. Tumisang Tswidi has been extensively trained on the Society system. He was also trained on the audit requirements for Certified Wagyu Beef. On-farm Tumi can assist with practical challenges such as tagging and taking of a DNA sample. In the last month he has already visited two farms and received high praise from the farmers. Contact Tumi to schedule a farm visit at tumisang@wagyu.org.za.