{"id":2977,"date":"2021-02-09T03:03:47","date_gmt":"2021-02-09T03:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/?p=2977"},"modified":"2021-05-14T00:59:19","modified_gmt":"2021-05-14T00:59:19","slug":"james-whale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/2021\/02\/09\/james-whale\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Perspective Drives Dairy-Beef Confidence"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Specialised dairy-beef might be a new concept in Australia, but this does not faze James Whale. Purchasing ABS Beef InFocus\u2122 dairy beef animals isn\u2019t a risk for the grazier from Branxholme near Hamilton in Western Victoria. He even disputed the suggestion that backgrounding these steers and heifers for feedlots was innovative, despite being one of the first in the country to specifically buy these animals to target that market. \u201cThat\u2019s where we are perhaps a little ill-informed in Australia,\u201d he said. \u201cGlobally dairy-beef is a huge product and a lot of it goes through feedlots in the United States. There\u2019s tens of thousands of dairy-beef cattle fed in feedlots, so I think it\u2019s been a bit of a wasted opportunity here in Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-2978\" src=\"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2021\/02\/IMG_3658.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"420\" height=\"280\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2021\/02\/IMG_3658.jpg 5184w, https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2021\/02\/IMG_3658.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2021\/02\/IMG_3658.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2021\/02\/IMG_3658.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2021\/02\/IMG_3658.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2021\/02\/IMG_3658.jpg?resize=2048,1365 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 420px) 100vw, 420px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>James and his wife Fiona run a dairy heifer backgrounding business and recently began purchasing the ABS Beef InFocus animals to diversify their operation. They are now in discussions to begin the first InFocus feedlot trial. The results will supply Australia\u2019s first individual carcass data for InFocus animals. This trial comes as more dairy farmers throughout Australia chose to breed their lower genetic merit cows and heifers as well as later calving animals to InFocus semen this year. Demand for InFocus has doubled in the past\u00a0 year, with many dairy farmers using the semen as an opportunity to add value to their bobby calves and diversify their income.<\/p>\n<p>Back at Branxholme, ABS Beef InFocus semen over dairy cows offers plenty of opportunities for James and Fiona. \u201cOur business is all about weight gain and genetics is a really big part of that,\u201d James said. \u201cWe are also looking to establish relationships with feedlots because that\u2019s essentially what we are backgrounding for and it is all about supplying a consistent product.\u201d \u201cDairy can (offer consistency) if they are using beef genetics where we know what sort of product we are going to get out the other end because it is such an established genetic line, both in the States and the UK. That\u2019s why we can source these genetics with a lot of confidence because they have been doing it for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At the other end of the supply chain, there\u2019s interest in the animals because of this global reputation. The current Australian domestic beef market has also forced feedlots to think outside the square. \u201cWe are certainly coming into a time where beef supply is a bit of an issue so there are some feedlots that are looking for how they are going to fill the gap,\u201d James said. \u201cThere\u2019s certainly interest in trialling some other genetic lines and some of these businesses are global players and understand what the ABS Beef InFocus product is in other countries.\u201d InFocus is proven in more than 300 herds globally. It\u2019s the only dairy-beef product with validated dairy calving ease data and it has a lower incidence of stillbirth and calving difficulty compared to the average dairy-beef product used throughout the world.<\/p>\n<p>James and Fiona want to buy more ABS Beef InFocus animals. \u201cWith InFocus genetics we are getting animals with a lot of carcass that are designed to go over a dairy animal and put a lot more carcass back into that progeny,\u201d James said. \u201cGenerally, we are looking to buy calves direct from a rearer, calves that have been weaned for at least a couple of weeks \u2013 off milk and had a pellet ration for most of their life. They are ready to transition onto grass with some grain feeding when they arrive.\u201d Most of these freshly weaned animals come to Branxholme at 110-150kg, but James and Fiona also purchase heavier InFocus cattle. They grow all animals out to 400-500kg before selling them to a feedlot.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s only early days for James and Fiona, but James said ABS Beef InFocus could \u201cpotentially deliver a better margin\u201d than straight-bred beef cattle into feedlots. Pasture has been the primary feed for the cattle with grain fed during summer and early autumn when grass isn\u2019t available. Weight gain has varied depending on each animal\u2019s stage of development, but at peak \u2013 during spring and while the cattle were fed pasture \u2013 James measured daily growth rates of 2kg-plus. This daily gain\u2019s comparable to straight beef bred animals and challenges some people\u2019s perceptions of dairy cattle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe thing I find a little bit amusing is the myth that dairy cattle don\u2019t put on a lot of weight,\u201d James said. \u201cWith these animals, if the nutrition is right, it is amazing how fast they grow. The other exciting thing is the hybrid vigour you get out of these sorts of crosses. From what we\u2019ve seen, the weight gain potential of these animals will be hard to beat.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/realexperienceforms.wufoo.com\/forms\/beef-infocus-information-pack\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2989\" src=\"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2021\/02\/BIFMockUp.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"401\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2021\/02\/BIFMockUp.jpg 4000w, https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2021\/02\/BIFMockUp.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2021\/02\/BIFMockUp.jpg?resize=768,513 768w, https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2021\/02\/BIFMockUp.jpg?resize=1024,684 1024w, https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2021\/02\/BIFMockUp.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2021\/02\/BIFMockUp.jpg?resize=2048,1367 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>For more information about the Beef InFocus program and to find out how Beef InFocus could generate a second income stream for your dairy operation, download our Beef InFocus information pack at the link below.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/realexperienceforms.wufoo.com\/forms\/beef-infocus-information-pack\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2987 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2021\/02\/InfoPackButtons-01.png?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"85\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2021\/02\/InfoPackButtons-01.png 1000w, https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2021\/02\/InfoPackButtons-01.png?resize=300,85 300w, https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2021\/02\/InfoPackButtons-01.png?resize=768,218 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Specialised dairy-beef might be a new concept in Australia, but this does not faze James Whale. Purchasing ABS Beef InFocus\u2122 dairy beef animals isn\u2019t a risk for the grazier from Branxholme near Hamilton in Western Victoria. He even disputed the suggestion that backgrounding these steers and heifers for feedlots was innovative, despite being one of&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":337,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-abs-australia-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.1 (Yoast SEO v25.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Global Perspective Drives Dairy-Beef Confidence - ABS Global Australia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/2021\/02\/09\/james-whale\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Global Perspective Drives Dairy-Beef Confidence\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Specialised dairy-beef might be a new concept in Australia, but this does not faze James Whale. Purchasing ABS Beef InFocus\u2122 dairy beef animals isn\u2019t a risk for the grazier from Branxholme near Hamilton in Western Victoria. He even disputed the suggestion that backgrounding these steers and heifers for feedlots was innovative, despite being one of&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/2021\/02\/09\/james-whale\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ABS Global Australia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-09T03:03:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-05-14T00:59:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2021\/02\/IMG_3658.jpg?w=300\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/2021\/02\/09\/james-whale\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/2021\/02\/09\/james-whale\/\",\"name\":\"Global Perspective Drives Dairy-Beef Confidence - ABS Global Australia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/2021\/02\/09\/james-whale\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/2021\/02\/09\/james-whale\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2021\/02\/IMG_3658.jpg?w=300\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-09T03:03:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-05-14T00:59:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/2021\/02\/09\/james-whale\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/2021\/02\/09\/james-whale\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/2021\/02\/09\/james-whale\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2021\/02\/IMG_3658.jpg?w=300\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2021\/02\/IMG_3658.jpg?w=300\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/2021\/02\/09\/james-whale\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Global Perspective Drives Dairy-Beef Confidence\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/\",\"name\":\"ABS Global Australia\",\"description\":\"Profit From Genetic Progress\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/author\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Global Perspective Drives Dairy-Beef Confidence - ABS Global Australia","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/2021\/02\/09\/james-whale\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Global Perspective Drives Dairy-Beef Confidence","og_description":"Specialised dairy-beef might be a new concept in Australia, but this does not faze James Whale. Purchasing ABS Beef InFocus\u2122 dairy beef animals isn\u2019t a risk for the grazier from Branxholme near Hamilton in Western Victoria. He even disputed the suggestion that backgrounding these steers and heifers for feedlots was innovative, despite being one of&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/2021\/02\/09\/james-whale\/","og_site_name":"ABS Global Australia","article_published_time":"2021-02-09T03:03:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-05-14T00:59:19+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2021\/02\/IMG_3658.jpg?w=300","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/2021\/02\/09\/james-whale\/","url":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/2021\/02\/09\/james-whale\/","name":"Global Perspective Drives Dairy-Beef Confidence - ABS Global Australia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/2021\/02\/09\/james-whale\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/2021\/02\/09\/james-whale\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2021\/02\/IMG_3658.jpg?w=300","datePublished":"2021-02-09T03:03:47+00:00","dateModified":"2021-05-14T00:59:19+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/2021\/02\/09\/james-whale\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/2021\/02\/09\/james-whale\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/2021\/02\/09\/james-whale\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2021\/02\/IMG_3658.jpg?w=300","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2021\/02\/IMG_3658.jpg?w=300"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/2021\/02\/09\/james-whale\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Global Perspective Drives Dairy-Beef Confidence"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/","name":"ABS Global Australia","description":"Profit From Genetic Progress","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/author\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2977"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/337"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2977"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2977\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3190,"href":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2977\/revisions\/3190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www-dev.absglobal.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}