OUR BREEDING GOALS

We have very clear and definable goals in our breeding program. We want these goals to be OBJECTIVE and not SUBJECTIVE. We, therefore, breed almost exclusively registered Angus cattle.

The reason for this is that a registered animal has historical, comparative data for many different traits, and this data can be compared to other registered animals. Each animal has it’s own set of “estimated breeding values” giving them a “number” for each of these traits which can easily be compared to other registered animals, and their position in the breed for these traits clearly defined.

The Angus breed society also has a number of “indexes” which combines a number of different traits into one number – which makes comparing performance between animals even easier.

In our breeding program, the emphasis has always been on “eating quality”. If beef is going to be raised to eat, why would you not want your animals to excel in these attributes?

With the above in mind, we have always had marbling (intermuscular fat) as a “must have” in our breeding program.

The other two “must have” traits are ease of calving and good growth.

Now, as we get older (and in our semi-retirement phase) docility has also become much more important. We want to share our lives with animals who also like human intervention and are relaxed and enjoy their lives at Lake Farm.

Angus, as a breed, have very good calving ease. It’s only first time calves we have to monitor. It’s one of the reasons we chose to breed Angus cattle.

Good growth is also an important trait. An animal that grows faster finishes faster. Not only will a faster growing animal be more profitable, but also better for the planet.

There are many influences that affect beef eating quality – but the single biggest influence is from marbling. Marbling is the small flecks of fat that reside inside the steak (not the fat on the outside of the steak). When the steak is cooked, this fat melts and enhances the flavour profile. Once the fat is melted, the result is meat that is more relaxed, more tender and more succulent.

This is Jenna – one of the first registered Angus cows in our herd. She epitomized docility, and to match, she had outstanding growth, outstanding carcass, and when she was scanned for marbling – was in the highest percentile.

She was here for 14 years, and gave us so much pleasure. We would be so happy if all the cows in our herd were like Jenna. A very special lady!