Territory Stories

Top paddock newsletter

Details:

Title

Top paddock newsletter

Creator

Northern Territory. Department of Resources

Collection

Top Paddock Newsletter; Top Paddock Newsletter; E-Journals; PublicationNT

Date

2010-10-01

Location

Berrimah

Notes

Made available via the Publications (Legal Deposit) Act 2004 (NT).; This publication contains many links to external sites. These external sites may no longer be active.

Language

English

Subject

Agriculture; Northern Territory; Periodicals

Publisher name

Northern Territory Government

Place of publication

Berrimah

Volume

Issue 44

File type

application/pdf

ISSN

1320-727X

Use

Attribution International 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)

Copyright owner

Northern Territory Government

License

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Parent handle

https://hdl.handle.net/10070/227444

Citation address

https://hdl.handle.net/10070/675604

Page content

11 Senepol Crossbreeding Project by Tim Schatz, Principal Pastoral Production Research Officer, Pastoral Productions Division Background In late 2008 the Department of Resources (DoR) commenced a research project to investigate whether crossbreeding Brahman cows with Senepol bulls will produce offspring that perform well under NT conditions and have better meat quality compared to pure Brahmans. If this proves to be the case then this strategy would allow Territory cattle stations to produce cattle that are suitable for live export, and would also be in demand in Australian domestic markets. Producing animals with better meat quality increases the marketing options for Territory cattle producers and gives them more flexibility when market conditions change. This project has become even more relevant with recent developments in the live export market to Indonesia which have meant that Territory producers now have to find alternative markets for cull cows and heavier steers. Also recently there has been renewed interest in re-opening an abattoir in the Territory, if this were to happen then it would be good for Territory cattle producers to supply it with cattle that have improved meat quality. There is considerable scientific research showing that meat from Bos taurus cattle is more tender than meat from Bos indicus cattle. Therefore an obvious solution for Bos indicus herds where meat tenderness is perceived to be a problem is to incorporate Bos taurus genes. However this is not a simple process in tropical areas of the NT, where pure British breed (Bos taurus) bulls often struggle just to survive in the harsh environment and their introduction in the past has largely been unsuccessful. To overcome these difficulties it has been suggested that the use of a tropically adapted Bos taurus breed such as Senepol (which has been found to have good meat tenderness [Olson 1999 and Butts 1999]) could be an effective strategy in reducing tenderness problems in cattle in tropical areas. Another benefit of crossbreeding with Senepols is that all of the F1 offspring are polled or scurred which removes the need for de-horning. Senopol Crossbred Claves