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BEEFEdited by Louise Hartley01772 799 412louise.hartley@farmersguardian.com

Although other types ofcattle can be affected,in beef animals thosemost likely to developdisease are young

autumn-born cattle in their firstgrazing season, according to vetHannah Orr.The cattle lungworm dicty-

ocaulus viviparus is the cause ofsevere outbreaks of the colloqui-ally known ‘husk’ or ‘hoose’.The severity of the disease

which develops depends on thenumber of lungworm larvae ingested and the immune statusof the animals, explains Mrs Orr.She says: “In spring-born beef

calves grazing with their dams, alarge proportion of their diet ismilk, whereas the adults whichare grazing will be eating thelungworm eggs which lie on thepasture.“In most cases, these older

animals will have previouslybeen exposed to lungworm andwill have developed some immu-nity, so they are resistant to developing marked infection.However, autumn-born calves intheir first grazing season will be

Autumn-born calves lungworm risk

Young autumn-born cattle which are in their first grazing season are the beef animals most susceptible to disease, says Hannah Orr.

at higher risk, as they have notyet developed immunity and aregrazing more than their spring-born counterparts.”It is important to gauge the

level of pasture contaminationwith lungworm larvae whenturning out youngstock. If mov-ing cattle onto silage aftermaths,understand how ‘clean’ the pas-ture really is, says Mrs Orr.“A field which has been closed

off for winter and had a cut ofsilage taken prior to putting cat-tle out is relatively low in lung-worm numbers. A field whichhas been grazed by youngstockinto late winter or early springis likely to have fairly highnumbers of lungworm larvaedespite subsequently being cutfor silage.“Studies have shown on these

pastures, worm larvae are foundin high numbers at the base ofgrass swards because they arenot removed when silage is cut.”When autumn-born calves are

turned out in April or May, thefirst signs of infection can beseen between mid-June to late-

July, explains Mrs Orr.She says: “Towards the end of

summer, between August andearly October, more severe out-breaks are seen. Diagnosis is pri-marily based on the presence ofdisease symptoms, season of theyear and the animal’s grazinghistory.“Once mature worms are

present in the airways, they will produce larvae which arecoughed up and can be detectedin the faeces. Signs of disease canbe present for up to two weeksbefore adult worms are presentto produce these larvae.

Infection“If animals with husk survive beyond the first phases of infec-tion, they mount an immune response to the lungworm. Thistakes two to three months, inwhich time most, if not all, of the adult worms are expelled.

“The accompanying reactionin the lungs then resolves overthe next four weeks or so. Not allaffected animals recover. Lung-worm causes lung damage andcan predispose to pneumoniaproblems and a secondary bacterial or viral pneumonia can become established in the already damaged lungs.”Most commonly available

wormers can control both thegut and lung roundworms simultaneously. At intervalsthrough the season, monitoringfresh faecal samples for lung-worm larvae can help decidewhen worming treatment is necessary, advises Mrs Orr.She says: “If calves are

gathered in the weeks prior to housing for treatment such aspneumonia vaccines, this is anideal time to treat with a long-acting wormer.“Lungworm are killed and

expelled from the lungs beforehousing – long-acting wormerswill prevent re-infection during the remaining time atgrass.”When developing a preventa-

tive worm control strategy, be aware occasionally natural immunity fails to develop in thefirst grazing season, which canleave adult cattle susceptible to husk.

ImmuneMrs Orr says: “This occurs inadults which have not becomeimmune through natural pas-ture challenge. For example,they have not been exposed tolungworm because their previ-ous pasture did not carry theparasite.“In addition, long-acting

worming treatments [boluses,pour-ons and injectables] andover-worming in the first grazing

season may reduce exposure tolungworm, to the extent naturalimmunity is not acquired.“In this case, vaccination

provides effective protection, although it should also be notedover-worming should always beavoided.”Using the right product at the

right time can reduce both med-icine costs and parasitic diseasein livestock, says Mrs Orr.“Also, if the risk of lungworm

is considered high but treat-ment for round worms is not often used or required, vaccina-tion prior to the grazing seasoncan be considered. In endemicareas, first season cattle can bevaccinated prior to turnout,” MrsOrr adds.

LISTEN TO THE PODCASTA podcast on this topic will be

available from September 5 atwww.sruc.ac.uk/livestock-podcasts

If calves aregathered in theweeks prior tohousing fortreatment, thisis an ideal timeto treatHANNAH ORR

MILDLY-infected cattle havea husky cough, particularlywhen moved, whereasmoderate infection gives amore persistent cough andan increased breathing rate,Mrs Orr explains.Severe infection leads to

obvious difficulties inbreathing and may causedeath. In most cases,whatever the degree ofinfection, it is accompaniedby failure to thrive, withreduced weight gains.

Symptoms

A seven-page Farmers Guardian special feature

BEEF24 | FRIDAY AUGUST 29 2014

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By crossing pedigree Limousins with his newly-establishedHereford herd, one grass-based farmer is now producingLimford beef suckler heifers. Neil Ryder finds out more.

Limford calvesmake their debuton Cumbrian farm

David and Maggie Kelly are trying a Hereford bull on female Limousins at their Cumbrian farm.Limford calves are beingbred by Cumbrianfarmer David Kelly, whobelieves they will havereal potential as top

quality commercial beef sucklerdams.The cross, a Hereford bull on a

Limousin female, is being triedby David and his wife Maggie af-ter they set-up a new pedigreeHereford herd to run alongsidetheir established pedigree Lim-ousin herd.Mr Kelly says: “We knew the

Hereford was a successful crosson the Simmental as well assome other beef breeds, andthought it was well worth tryingon some of our Limousin heifers.“The hope is to produce a

cross-bred suckler dam whichhas the ability of the Hereford tobe fed cheaply off grass and beeasy to care for, with the beefingability of the Limousin and becheaper to feed.

“Providing all goes to plan, wewill be using Limfords in ourown commercial suckler herd, aswell as having some for sale.”A former civil engineering

contractor, Mr Kelly came toNether Hall, Mansergh, KirkbyLonsdale, 17 years ago with nofarming background. Now farm-ing alongside Maggie, they havetwo children, Harriet and John.

Mix of enterprisesInitially the farm carried a mix oflivestock enterprises, includinga mixed commercial sucklerherd, a North Country Cheviotsheep flock and some pigs aspets. The sheep have now gone,partly because of Mr Kelly’s backproblems, and the farm is now apure cattle enterprise.Impressed by the Limousin,

both as a terminal beef sire andthe Limousin cross suckler cowsin their herd, the Kellys boughta few pedigree Limousin cows

which proved the foundation oftheir successful Netherhall Lim-ousin outfit.Mrs Kelly says: “The Limousin

gave us good quality carcases,were selling well at the time andwere an attractive breed. Alsothey are very good commercialcattle.”While on holiday in New

Zealand two years ago, the Kellys were introduced to theowners of Haldon Station inSouth Island, which ran a herd ofHerefords on an extensive grass-land system.Mrs Kelly says: “We were

impressed by the ease of man-agement, easy calving and lowcosts involved, including beingable to finish cattle off grass.“We were told Australia had

some fantastic Hereford genet-ics and when we got home wetrawled the internet and cameacross Wirruna Poll Herefordsin New South Wales.”

Impressed with the philoso-phy and cows at Wirruna, theKellys invited their breeder IanLocke, to visit their farm whenhe was on a trip to the UK. Sincethen Wirruna embryos havebeen bought and implanted intothe Kelly’s own herd.

ProfitMr Kelly says: “It is easy to become obsessed with toppingthe market with high prices, butwe have to be thinking aboutprofit.“If the animal topping the

market has cost a great deal toproduce there is little profit,whereas an animal costing muchless to produce and making alower price will be more prof-itable.”With the farm ‘good at grow-

ing grass’, the Kellys say theyhave chosen hardy cattle, whichhave the ability to thrive off pas-ture, are easy to manage andproduce quality calves which areproduced cheaply.The growing demand from

major retailers for Hereford beef

also encouraged them to set-uptheir own pedigree herd.After visiting Hereford breed-

er John Douglas’ Ervie herd nearStranraer, the Kellys were impressed with his cattle and became interested in Line 1Herefords.

They bought 16 in-calf cowsand 30 yearling heifers fromErvie, and made contact withJack Holden, Montana, USA, topurchase some embryos.After being impressed by pic-

tures of a cow sold from theSolpoll Hereford herd, the Kellystravelled to Northern Ireland tomeet with the owners.Mr Kelly says: “We saw a fan-

tastic cow called Stella, which webought with its heifer calf at footand which was in-calf, subse-quently giving us another heifer.We are now planning to flush it.”While building up their polled

and horned Hereford herds,there are two factors which areabsolutely paramount for all cat-tle at Nether Hall – high healthstatus and good temperament.Mr Kelly explains: “Johne’s is a

particular concern. We simplydo not bring in any cattle unlessthey have come direct from oth-er high health herds. Doublefencing is also erected along anyof our boundaries where ourstock could come into contactwith neighbours’ animals.

The Hereford bull Clipston 1 President P6 with commercial limousin cow and spring calves at foot.

Providing allgoes to plan,we will beusing Limfordsin our owncommercialsuckler herd,as well ashaving somefor saleDAVID KELLY

BEEF | 25FRIDAY AUGUST 29 2014WWW.FARMERSGUARDIAN.COM

An Ervie cow, one of those bought from John Douglas, Stranraer.

A five-week-old Limford calf suckling its Limousin dam.

� 283 hectares (700 acres)permanent pasture withheavy to light gravelly soils� Before coming to NetherHall, Mr Kelly was a civilengineer with no farmingbackground. Mrs Kelly wasbrought up on a local dairyfarm� One full-time employee,Patrick Booth� The farm is movingtowards all spring calving tomake the best use of grass� 120 pedigree Limousinbreeding females, 30pedigree Hereford breedingfemales, 350 commercialbeef suckler herd� Most of the calves are soldas stores at 18 months old� Bulls include the Line 1sire, Ervie L1 Achiever91149H (DH), Clipston 1President P6 (P), Solpol bullSolpol 1 Kyle (P) and ErvieAchiever 1462 (H)� In the SAC premium healthscheme and are accreditedfree of Johne’s disease,testing every calf as it is bornwith tags. Have not had apositive in two years� Vaccinate for BVD,leptospirosis and IBR, androutinely fluke and worm� In four-year TB testingzone

Nether Hall

As far as possible Nether Hallruns a closed herd – with a strictpolicy that no animal leaving thefarm ever returns.

“We have shown cattle in thepast but have no plans to do soagain as the risks of bringing backdiseases are just too high, so allcattle leaving the farm now go forsale or slaughter.”

Mr and Mrs Kelly are part of anorth Lancashire farmer groupwhich believes there should be aone-year TB testing regimethroughout the country and allcattle should be pre-movementtested. 

They say: “We want to put astop to the exemption of bullocksfrom TB testing and end the 28-day rule, whereby cattle can bemoved from a holding for 28 daysafter confirmation of an outbreak.

“It is time we stopped bangingon about badgers bringing in TB –

it is the farmers who are bringingTB in their wagons and trailersand the sooner we wake up tothat fact and do something aboutit the better.”

TemperamentSafety and ease of handling cat-tle is also considered vitally important. Any animal, of what-ever breed or cross, which hastricky temperament, howevergood in other ways, goes forslaughter.

Welfare is also a priority, withcows in-wintered in cubicles withmattresses making them as com-fortable as possible and fed asilage and straw-based diet.

Looking forward, Mr Kellysays they will always run a com-mercial farm with both cross-bred and pedigree stock.

The mix will be about 100Hereford breeding cows run on a

low cost grass-based system,about 100 Limousin breedingcows on a rather more intensivesystem, plus about 200 cross-bred sucklers, including Limfords.

He says: “Most calves out ofthe Limousins and cross-breds,apart from those required asbreeding stock and stock bulls,will continue to be sold as stores,but we will be looking to finish aproportion of the Hereford calvesoff grass.

“We also consider dairy farm-ers as an important market forour Hereford bulls, for use ontheir heifers and cows, as we areaiming to breed short gestation,easy-calving bulls.”

In addition to selling theirpedigree Hereford and Limousinbreeding stock, the Kellys willalso sell Limford commercialsuckler dams.

One of the 120 pedigree Limousins at Nether Hall farm which will be put to a Hereford bull.

BEEF26 | FRIDAY AUGUST 29 2014

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Farming in west Wales, Brian and Eiryth Thomas have adapted their beef system to cope with land type, lifestyle and TB. Farmers Guardian reports.

Adapting to change through breed choice

The couple were committed to choosing a native breed and introduced Beef Shorthorns to Llwyncelyn-Lan farm five years ago.Brian and Eiryth Thomas run a pedigree Beef Shorthorn herd.

Five years on from intro-ducing Beef Shorthorncattle on to their farm,Brian and EirythThomas, Pembrokeshire,

believe the breed has a strong future in their business, providinga functional low cost suckler

cow which is relatively low output.Since Mr Thomas is vice-presi-

dent of the Farmers Union ofWales and spends time away fromthe farm, low input is a priority atLlwyncelyn-Lan. The couple alsoadmit they are not getting anyyounger and therefore managing

cattle which are easy to work withfeatures at the top of their list.They say: “We have found the

breed is very quiet and, apart fromone malpresentation, none of ourfemales have required calving as-sistance in the last couple of years.“The calves are lively, are up

and sucking within 60 minutesand the herd is achieving 96 percent calves reared.”Breeding their own replace-

ments, the Thomas’ are able to operate a closed herd, somethingwhich is very important to themfrom a health perspective.

Breeding femalesMr Thomas says: “Our medium-sized breeding females, growingto a mature 550-600kg, are thriv-ing on a total forage diet, which in-cludes strip-grazing both grass atspring turnout and roots in theearly winter months.“Last year our 11- to 13-month-

old steers, averaging 420-450kg,not only matched trade for theircontinental cross counterparts,but achieved a 5 per cent premi-um, a trend driven by Morrisonstraditional beef scheme.”Establishing a pedigree herd

was a longstanding ambition forMr Thomas. They secured Ll-wyncelyn-Lan, a former dairy

farm, in 1988 when milk quotaheld real value and its sale helpedto finance the unit and develop a200-head commercial beef finish-ing enterprise and 600-ewe flock.BSE followed by TB and no

guaranteed succession led themto take another path. The couplesold all their stock, rented out theland and invested in a local MOTgarage and bookshop.They agreed to return to Ll-

wyncelyn-Lan in 2009 after anine-year break from farming.Mrs Thomas says: “We enjoyed

running two very different suc-cessful businesses. However,farming is our life, we are stockpeople, and after the Welsh As-sembly announced a badger cullpolicy, we decided to come homeand restock with pedigree cattle.“We were committed to choos-

ing a native breed and were mostfamiliar with the Shorthorn, hav-ing previously farmed next doorto the breed.”The Thomas’ purchased their

first four bulling heifers at Carlisle,followed by cattle from the well-known Llanarth and Carreg herdsin west Wales to establish theirown Frenni herd.Length, depth of body, tidy ud-

ders and ‘not too much leg’ areamong the Thomas’ key selectioncriteria, together with accompa-nying Breedplan data.Investing in a bull which is

backed by good figures is criticalfor the farming couple and onesuch bull, Dunsyre Cavalier, whichis now within the breed’s top 5 percent, has made its mark.Mr Thomas says: “He is consis-

tently leaving progeny with depth,conformation and growth. Hisheifers are reaching target bullingweight at 14 months, enabling usto trial calving at two years.”While they live in a TB hot spot,

they are never going to be top pedi-gree breeders, says Mr Thomas.“Any surplus heifers and the

odd top bull will be sold locally, butwe have learned to farm with TB.The economics of the Shorthornbreed play a part, as does the herdfitting into our four-year rotation.“While the cattle graze the

roughest areas and are fed secondcut silage, the other half of ourfarm is in a cash crop system tosupply local dairy farmers first cutgrass silage and wholecrop cere-als, and for the first time this yearwe have grown 40 acres of wintertriticale.”He adds: “Every farm is indi-

vidual, no one size fits all, however,to the future we believe in max-imising efficiency wherever possi-ble, and the right breed selectionand farming is enabling us toachieve that sustainable goal.”

� 113 hectares (280 acres) ofLess Favoured Area, owneroccupied, grassland andcereal mix� 24 pedigree Beef Shorthorncows and followers� 250 breeding ewes

Llwyncelyn-Lan

| 27FRIDAY AUGUST 29 2014WWW.FARMERSGUARDIAN.COM

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The Eblex improved herd awards are presented to the recorded beef herd which shows the greatest increase in geneticmerit for commercial characteristics over a 12-month period. Farmers Guardian reports on the 10 breed winners.

Improving genetics yields progressSouth Devon

Hawkley herd, HampshireOWNED by Robert and SophieWhitcombe, the Hawkley SouthDevon herd of 25 females is runon a 120-hectare (300-acre)farm alongside a Red Anguspedigree herd of 30 females anda pedigree Border Leicesterpedigree sheep flock.The Whitcombes manage the

farm to produce livestock on amainly forage diet which they cansell with confidence for breeding.They are very selective when

retaining females and focus onspecific breed type

characteristics, combined withfigures for easy birth, highperformance, fertility and strongmaternal traits.

RecordsSelection for breeding dependson good records forperformance and fertility, familyhistory, visual appraisal andtemperament. Unassistedcalving, a sound udder and goodfeet are also important.Being very wet land, cattle are

housed in winter with arestricted amount of forage. No

creep feed is offered, althoughsome concentrate will beprovided to youngstock afterweaning in their first winter.All steers and surplus heifers

are finished between 18 and 22months, before their secondwinter, achieving weights about400kg at the desired fat class.Finding the right bulls to match

their criteria is a challenge,according to Robert.He says: “Our objective is to

breed polled cattle, but we arenot exclusive yet. We are alsocareful to avoid the gene

mutation linked to myostatinexpression, which causesextreme double muscling and isthought to be detrimental to easeof calving.”

MarketingBreeding stock is marketedthrough society sales and soldoff farm.“We are part of the style and

statistics breeding croup,comprising of seven SouthDevon breeders who regularlyexchange breeding stock withsuperior EBVs,” adds Robert.

British Blue

NewPole herd, SomersetFARMING together, Phil Whiteand Jools Turner purchased animported Belgian in-calf cow in2004, which became one of theNewPole herd’s foundationcows. To build up numbersthey have kept home-bred

heifer replacements andbought-in embryos and severalgood females to flush.The herd focuses on traits

for calving ease and milk,combined with good 200- and400-day weight EBVs or adesirable muscle area EBV.

Left to right: Pip and Reg White, Jools Turner and PhilWhite with NewPole Feisty, part of the NewPole herd.

Simmental

Bosahan herd, CornwallJOHN and Bridget Oldsestablished the BosahanSimmental herd in 2005.Seven foundation cows and

a stock bull produced 17 heifercalves in three years and theherd has 33 active females.The Olds put their success

down to the recent influx ofnew genetics from seven first-time calving heifers.Attention to EBVs for retail

beef yield and eye muscle areais helping to improve theirfinished beef and they are alsostarting to monitor and selecton milk figures.

Stabiliser

Penhalveor herd, CornwallINITIALLY a store cattlefinishing system, Ashley andHilary Wood’s business is nowfocused on their suckler herd.Deciding the Stabiliser

breed suited their breedingobjectives, the first semenstraws arrived on the farm in2002 and the Woods haveused their genetics eversince.

Top 10 per centThe Penhalveor herd hasbeen performance recordedsince 2008 and is now withinthe top 10 per cent of the

breed for beef value. Whenselecting replacementfemales, they pay attention to

cow families, as well asmaternal and growth traitEBVs.

The herd is in the top 10 per cent of the breed for beef value.

Lowesmoor herd,GloucestershireRUN by Mike Clark, who farmswith his brother Adrian, theLowesmoor herd wasestablished in 1960 with hornedfemales sourced from thecountry’s top herds.After importing a polled bull

from Australia, the herd nowtotals 70 breeding females.

Mike has always recorded toidentify better animals and feelsit is important to keep a focus onthe Hereford’s natural ability tofinish calves and to avoidjeopardising this by focusingpurely on muscling traits.He puts his win down to the

three stock bulls which he usedlast year, all of which were in thetop 5 per cent for the breed.

Hereford

Jerusalem herd, CumbriaFOUNDED in 2001, the Jerusalemherd was started with BryanRonan selecting the Aberdeen-Angus breed for its quiettemperament and easy calvingattributes. He purchased 10females from five of the breed’sleading herds to create theherd’s foundation.

Bryan, who manages the herdwith his partner Carole Stephens,has always been involved inperformance recording.However, as they have learnedto trust the capabilities of theBreedplan system they havechanged their approach andmoved the objectives for theherd on hugely.

Aberdeen-Angus

BEEF | 29FRIDAY AUGUST 29 2014WWW.FARMERSGUARDIAN.COM

Limousin

Greensons herd,CambridgeshireTHE Greensons herd is asecond-time winner of thisaward, having won for the firsttime in 2011.John Green, alongside his sons

William and Guy, farm more than800 hectares (1,970 acres),including an arable enterprise.The pedigree herd was

established in the 1980s whenthree full-blood French heifers

were introduced to the farm’scommercial suckler herd. Thanksto their attributes, Limousinsquickly replaced all of the cattle.

InformWhile in America and Canada,John saw how performancerecording could inform breedingmanagement decisions andmade the bold decision to importthe first black Limousins into thecountry.

Guy Green with Greensons Impel, a Greensons herd heifer calfwhich has the joint highest beef value for a Limousin of BV73.

Charolais

Tweeddale herd,NorthumberlandBASED in Northumberland, theTweeddale Charolais herdoperates on a 242-hectare (600-acre) livestock farm, run byJonathan Watson and his uncleBrian Redhead.As well as a herd of pedigree

Limousins and British Blue cows,Jonathan and Brian establishedTweeddale Charolais six yearsago and built the herd up to 25foundations cows.Already believers in

performance recording, a keenfocus on EBV figures for calvingease and milk, combined withgood 200- and 400-day weightwas essential when buying bulls,says Jonathan.They purchased Blelack Black

Beret, a proven six-year-oldstock bull, which has directcalving ease EBVs in the top 1per cent of the breed, and is inthe top 10 per cent of the breedfor 200-, 400- and 600-dayweight EBVs. To date they havehad two crops of calves fromBlackberet on the ground.The farm has three main

calving blocks, providing a year-round supply of pedigree bulls

from their herds. Jonathan says:“After being weaned at sixmonths, calves are selected forretaining as replacements or tosell for breeding.“Female replacements are

selected by using EBVsconcentrating on growth traits,milk and calving figures, as wellas overall index to ensure theherd is progressive. They musthave a large frame with goodlocomotion and breed type, aswell as a steady temperament.”

Male calvesMale calves remain entire, andanything not making the gradewill be housed on an intensiveration to finish at 13 months, withthe aim to provide a 400kg, U- orE-grade carcase.Jonathan aims to sell 20

Charolais bulls per year inOctober or February, increasingthe number of calves from theirbest cows through a flushingprogramme, with most sold tothe commercial market.The Tweeddale herd

frequently attends the RoyalHighland, Great Yorkshire andRoyal Welsh agricultural showsand the Livestock Event.

Grafton herd,NorthamptonshireTHE Grafton herd, HootensFarm, was established in 2002when Trevor Browne purchasedhis first two foundation cowswith calves at foot.Within two-and-a-half years,

the herd has grown to 20 cows,with all bar one of the femalesbeing home-bred.

Trevor likes the breed fortheir low managementintensity, docile nature andnatural ability to finish offgrass.The Grafton herd has been

performance recorded since2008. Trevor is keen to ensurethe overall index is alwaysimproving and his femalesprovide strong maternal traits.

Beef Shorthorn

Black Ven herd, East SussexTHE Black Ven herd is managedby 91-year-old Libby Buchananand her daughter Elizabeth.Libby has a lifetime’s

experience in agriculture andwas the first woman to readagriculture at Oxford Universitybefore becoming an adviser tothe Secretary of State forAgriculture.

In 1977, Libby decided toestablish a pedigree herd ofnative breed cattle and boughtfour Sussex cows with heifercalves at foot. Today the herd’s76 pedigree Sussex cattle arepart of a 121-hectare (300-acre)organic farm.The herd has been

performance recorded since2000.

Sussex

ALL genetic change can bedirectly attributed to either theselection of superior sires ordams to produce the next calfcrop, says Eblex breedingservice manager Sam Boon.He says: “In the case of cows,

this is usually through theretention of high-EBV heiferreplacements, the sale of oldercows of low genetic merit andoccasionally the flushing of highgenetic merit cows using embryotransfer.“In beef breeding the relatively

long interval arising between

generations and the slowturnover of genes within thefemale breeding herd meansmuch of the genetic gain has tobe achieved through careful sireselection.”

Leading animalsSam says in most breeds thewide availability of high-EBV bullsand semen makes it possible forbreeders to identify and useleading animals from right acrossthe breed – often with EBVs in thetop 1 per cent – and this leads tovery fast genetic gain.

Improved herd award tips