Early adoption of Neogen testing delivers consistent quality for Booragul Angus
Booragul Angus stud principal, Tim Vincent, has always been an early adopter. At the age of 12 he started his stud in prime beef country in northern NSW, and 37 years later, has built it into a family business running 250 breeders and selling 80 to 100 bulls annually.
Tim was also an early adopter of genomics, taking the first samples from his cattle around 10 years ago with the support of his local Neogen representative, and he’s very clear about the long-term benefits it has delivered for Booragul Angus and their bull-buying clients.
“Consistency is probably the biggest improvement that genetic testing has delivered. With more accurate, early data, we’re getting a lot more consistency through our cows,” Tim said.
“You can see it in our bull sales. These days, there’s hardly any difference in quality between the second pen and the second last pen.
“Without focusing on any single trait, consistency is probably the biggest advantage that I see coming from this improved accuracy. It’s got to the stage now that I won’t buy a bull unless it’s been tested – that’s how much faith we put in it.”
Tim, his wife Margaret, and children Amy and Hayden, run the stud on a mixed farming operation based at Piallaway, between Tamworth and Gunnedah. They also grow 400 hectares of cereals and oilseeds across five properties, and run a small feedlot operation supplying Coles supermarkets.
Customising Angus bulls to suit a range of beef operations from their near vicinity to as far away as the Northern Territory, has made accurate and early genetic data an essential requirement.
“We’re in a really unique area where we have some very high-quality feedlots doing a long-fed Angus job, we have crossbred operators doing a domestic job, and then we have a quite a few weaner backgrounders as well, just in our northern NSW area,” Tim explained.
“So we have to set our criteria around breeding bulls to suit a lot of different markets, and I think you owe it to your customers to have as much proof in data as possible.”
All Booragul calves are genetically tested in their birth year, and by the end of 2026, the entire herd will be genomics tested.
Tim combines the data from Neogen with pedigrees and standard recording, such as structural EBVs, to fine tune the development of new bloodlines.
“You’ve got to accept the fact that you might think some cattle are better than what they are, and genomics might realign them a little bit. And then sometimes it’s a pleasant surprise to think, ‘I’ve been selecting for that for years, and this data is just helping me prove it’.”
Tim also appreciates the simplicity of the testing process using tissue sampling units (TSUs), devices that collect ear tissue samples for DNA analysis in genomic testing.
“The process is easy. I can hand a heap of TSUs to staff to check bulls and they can go off and do it with no trouble whatsoever,” he said.
The Vincents use Neogen’s genomic profile test for data on the full range of available traits, as well as for parentage identification which is critical for determining pedigree in their multi-sire joining system.
“I’m relying on the Neogen process to tell me who’s the father. Getting as many calves on the ground as possible means putting more than one bull in the paddock. We’ve found that’s really improved our operation as well.”
Getting the data early in the animal’s life, rather than waiting for the return of traditional herd records of 200-, 400- and 600-day weights and ultrasound scanning, influences sire selection.
“We use a number of our own sires in the herd so we can get good data on these bulls at a young age and select the ones we want to use as backups.
And it also lets me get into our female herd and select our heifers at a younger age.
“For our cattle, I generally try to keep breed average for birth, above average for growth. I think we have to have plenty of intramuscular fat (IMF) and carcass weight these days – they’re probably the three or four fundamentals that we back ourselves on.
“And then of course, you want to think that you can breed cattle that can go out and perform under pretty harsh conditions. We’ve been very fortunate with clients a fair way north into Queensland and into the Northern Territory who have purchased our bulls and come back with pretty good feedback.
“They’re obviously taking softer, easier-doing types with a bit more fat cover, versus the local guys here who will take a bit more carcass weight and a bit more growth and end up in a feedlot. We’ve just got to be conscious of both types.”
He’s looking forward to five years’ time, in the hope that genetic selection criteria and processes could be even more advanced.
“Then maybe we could just do that ear snip and it will tell us everything. Just think, if you don’t have to process all the raw data collection like we are at the moment, you know, for some of the bigger operations it would save them a staff member.
We’d always have to cross-check it but gee, that’d be a good day.
“The days of ‘Angus cattle will sell well because they’re black’ are gone now. We’ve got to keep ourselves in front purely because there are so many Angus on the market, and you want the feedlots to be buying yours.”
In the short term though, all Tim’s attention is on the Neogen World Angus Forum, which includes live cattle displays in nearby Tamworth on May 3-4, followed by a conference in Brisbane on May 7-8, 2025.
“I’ve been involved with organising the AngusEXPO so we’re right in the thick of it, and it’s going to be a tremendous event, a showcase of Angus Australia,” he said.
“You don’t get this type of world forum every year – it’s probably 25 or 30 years since the last one, so we may not be around for the next!”
