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WINDHOEK – Namibia's extended calendar of agricultural exhibitions for 2019 could suffer from the threatening drought and, therefore, opportunities for ranchers raising and marketing their animals.
Namibian breeders have a long tradition of animal exposure or exposure to determine the "best" phenotypic animal. In addition to the enormous financial implications of transporting animals for exposures and their maintenance, genetic values are increasingly important for improving herd performance, and the question arises as to whether there is room for livestock shows.
Llewellyn Angus, a zootechnic expert and South African reviewer, says that Brahman breeders' societies in Namibia and South Africa provide a good example of how livestock companies can effectively combine breeding presentation. Animals with equally important interest for genetics and scientific selection. He says that the traditional exhibition has its place in the industry, provided that the participating breeding companies and the commercial beef industry are aware that what is being presented on the show's shelf Exhibition represents only part of the story.
"Breed societies should consider limiting exposure in a conventional manner and look for new ways to promote their breeds, such as open inspection days, bulls days, or halter-free shows. If a company chooses to continue exhibiting, participating breeders should try to select breeding animals only after one year, so that all traits and weights so far are directly comparable in large management groups. "When a company or breeders make their priority, they forget to balance the breed and its goals. No breed should be reproduced for the contest, but for the farm, "he observes.
The animals must earn money for their breeders. Breeders and buyers place an economic value on animals for two main reasons: their genetic or genetic value (what they can earn financially in terms of production), as well as their appearance. "The visual appeal of an animal is determined by its structural correctness and functional effectiveness, as well as by characteristics such as color and shine of the fur, masculinity and muscle development, or femininity in females," Angus explains.
"Estimated reproduction values (EBVs), on the other hand, provide information on the genetic value of an animal for certain measurable genetic traits such as birth weight, ease of calving, or weaning weight," Angus observes.
The tradition of showing livestock is a long-standing question: are the most beautiful animals, winners in competitions, also economically the best to breed? Phenotype, or what an animal looks like, is a combination of genotype and environmental factors to which the animal has been subjected. "However, economically speaking, the" prettier "cow is not necessarily the one that looks the most correct phenotypically, but the one that takes a good calf every year under the conditions of Normal breeding, "says Angus, adding that there is no harm in participating in exhibitions as hobbies, but if the exhibition is part of the work of any farmer who is raising productive and efficient livestock, then he / she could confuse his goals. The breeder should use all the tools at his disposal to evaluate the animals. "Visual assessment of structural correction and other attributes will always be important, but stallion breeders need to keep in mind that their daily bread is that of commercial breeders to whom they provide 90% or more of their breeding stock and that a bull must move. commercial herds in terms of performance, "he concludes.
Journalist
2019-02-19 10:57:53 1 hour ago
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