About – Gilbert Aberdeen Angus

Overview of Gilbert Aberdeen Angus Efficiency Classification Bigger Checks

Overview of Gilbert Aberdeen Angus

When Gary and Terry Gilbert of Hermantown, Minn., first started to pur sue lowline cattle more than 15 years ago, they contacted Peter and Jeanette Stebbins of the Australian Lowline Cattle Association. They were merely looking for embryos or semen after reading an article about the Stebbins’ line of Austra lian Lowlines, never suspecting that would initiate a 10-year partnership and allow the Gilberts to import top genetics into their already-established Angus seedstock operation.

“I was really interested in the pure ness of the breed,” Gary Gilbert says. “The American Angus are large, and we know that they’re not pure any more – they’re not the original Angus – and it intrigued me to have some thing that was pure.”

The breed’s purity came from the Australian Lowlines being involved in an extensive research project, starting in 1929 when top Aberdeen bulls were imported to Australia from Canada. From there, the herd pro gressed, became a closed herd and was eventually divided into three groups based on yearling growth rate – highlines, which had higher growth rates; lowlines, which had lower growth rates; and control lines, which years, the lowlines were about 30 per cent smaller than the highlines, but efficiency was same for both groups. In 1993, the lowline herd was sold on the open market to seven purchasers, one of whom was Jeanette Stebbins.

Jeanette was known for promot ing the breed overseas and, in 2006, she and her husband made a trip to the United States to visit 13 different states and 18 different cattle opera tions in an attempt to find someone like-minded to partner with so that their genetics could further the breed in the United States.

The Australians left Minnesota feel ing confident that the Gilberts were who they were looking for and the Ausmerica partnership was created, with cattle imported to the United States from Australia in 2006, 2009 and 2013.

“Ardrossan Jamberoo was a bull that we imported; Genevieve was a bred heifer that we imported; and then there were four cows that came over,” Gilbert says. “We were very, very fortunate to have the partnership we had with Jeanette and Peter Steb bins, and the quality of cattle that they have in that Ardrossan line.”

The partnership dissolved in 2016, as the Stebbins were nearing retire ment. In the dispersion, the Gilberts purchased a number of fullblood Terry, Gary and daughter, Jillayne, have been raising American Aberdeen cattle since 2006 when they created the Ausmerica partnership with Peter and Jeanette Stebbins. American Aberdeen. Today, they raise and sell fullblood American Aber deen, percentage American Aberdeen as well as registered Angus cattle, last year marketing a combination of around 30 bulls and 75 bred females.

“We’ve done very extensive embryo transfer and flushing of our cows, along with AI breeding,” Gilbert says. “We’ve tried to stay on the very top of that end of technology. The cattle we imported for the most part were 5, 6, 7, 8 years of age and, be fore you know it, they get old on you.”

Plus®, Moderator® and Moderator Plus® programs – are very beneficial for the breeder and for what we’re interested in.”

The Gilberts did their best to maintain the pure genetics, utilizing a flushing facility and some recipient herds in Montana. The results have proven themselves time and time again, one of which is a bull called Gilberts Excellence E135.

“He is a son out of a bull that we imported semen on from Australia,” Gilbert says. “Gilberts Excellence is 50 inches at the hip and weighs
1,830 pounds, so there is more than just calving ease there, there is per formance too. He is a real up-headed, real extended-front-end kind of pretty bull as well as being powerful. He’s as good of bull as we’ve ever raised.”

Gilbert is also excited about Blackstone, a bull he purchased from Idaho, that’s the result of years of targeted breeding. His calves will be hitting the ground this year.

The benefit of the Aberdeen cattle, both fullblood and percentage, has been very noticeable to Gilbert over the years, from their gentle disposi tion to their bar-none efficiency, and of course, the calving ease aspect as well.

“I think too much of anything isn’t good, but my point is, we try to pay attention to that with what we’re breeding,” he says.

Gilbert tries to keep the females as pure as possible, looking back at cow families, finding genetic lines and matriarchs, then discovering how to thread that cow’s qualities back through to produce the perfect calf, a quality female or possible future herd sire. And just like the Stebbins worked to bring the lowline cattle to the United States, Gilbert hopes to be a part in bringing the American Ab erdeen breed further forward as they continually become more commer cially viable in the cattle industry.

“We have utilized particular seed stock in the American Angus Asso ciation and flushed to our fullblood cows, and we’ve gotten along really well that way with really top-notch fe males and bulls,” Gilbert says. “Those programs – American Aberdeen Plus®, Moderator® and Moderator Plus® programs – are very beneficial for the breeder and for what we’re interested in, which is becoming a more com mercially viable breed.

“These cattle just flat work when it comes to performing so that you can get that 1,100- maybe 1,200-pound cow that raises a 600-pound calf, and that’s what we’re looking for,” Gilbert explains. “Not for that momma cow to be 1,700 or 1,800 pounds and raise a 500-pound calf; that just doesn’t work. I’ve got a few commercial bull customers, and they’re really good customers. Last year they bought a dozen bulls from me, and they realize that the American Aberdeen influence is going to make a difference in their program.”

Bull selection is a serious affair for the Gilberts. They’ve been doing it since 1999 when they first started raising Angus bulls. Bulls developed and offered through private treaty go through a strict culling process, starting at birth through weaning and beyond.

“If that calf doesn’t come off of his mama and show that he’s a bit spe cial, he’s going to get banded,” Gil bert says. “We look at feet and legs, and there, that’s paramount, you’ve got to have good feet and legs.” Gilbert credits the Australian cattle with having “built-in” good feet and legs as well as udders, thanks to work that Jeanette had already done before the cattle even came to the states. He jokes that the only problem with the fullblood American Aberdeen bulls is that they can last until they are 8 to
10 years old.

“You better be constantly add ing customers to your base because they’ve got the longevity, are pretty hardy and good breeders,” he says. “But really, we’ve been really fortu nate to have an inside track with Jea nette and her program from Australia to get us started.”

Efficiency

What does efficiency look like?

At the ranch level, efficiency is the value of beef produced per acre, less operating costs. Efficiency should be evaluated per acre, not per calf. Your annual income is improved by increasing the net income from the ranch, not the gross value of individual animal performance.

Efficiency looks like more money in the bank.

Do the math… More cows on the same forage means more profit.

What are your biggest costs? Feed and labor?

Taking into account all of the variables Mother Nature throws at you, the key factor you can control is cow size. Getting cow size and stocking rate right has a huge impact on the bottom line. Smaller cows mean more cattle on the same forage base. Spreading your fixed costs over greater numbers and reducing variable costs per head improves net profit.

The average Angus cow weighs 1,400 lb If you want to make replacement heifers that will mature as 1,100 lb cows—without sacrificing muscle and shape—there’s only one way to get there.

The American Aberdeen crossbreeding advantage:

Fix cow size in one generation
Reduce calving problems
Produce more ribeye per hundredweight
Increase marbling
Produce more gain per acre
Increase percentage of cow weight weaned

When evaluated on a per-acre unit of production, smaller cattle have a 10 percent advantage over larger cattle.

Classification

As the American Aberdeen Association increases its reach into the commercial cattle sector, there is an ongoing need to communicate the full value of American Aberdeen seedstock in land-based production systems. Additional resources, including videos, are available at AmericanAberdeen.com.

Size

Full Blood Aberdeen bulls are big enough to cover commercial cows.
Mature American Aberdeen bulls will generally fall into a range of 45-48 inches measured at the hip and weigh from 1,300 to 1,600 pounds.
Mature cows generally measure from 42-46 inches at the hip and weigh between 900 and 1,100 pounds.
The American Aberdeen Moderator® and Aberdeen Plus cow, with an average weight of 1,100 pounds, requires 27 percent less feed than a 1,500 pound cow and will wean more pounds of calf per acre.
A 1,500 pound cow eats 3 percent of her body weight = 45 pounds. An 1100 pound cow eats 3 percent of her body weight = 33 pounds.
For years, U.S. registered and commercial cattle have been bred bigger, less efficient and with less muscle. The result has been higher input costs per cow and reduced stocking rates, while national average weaning weights have stayed the same or gone down for the last 24 years.
In a commercial environment, larger cows wean fewer pounds as a percentage of their body weight (Urick et al., 1971; Gadberry, 2006; Mourer et al., 2010; Dobbs, 201).
For every 100 pounds of additional cow weight, cow maintenance costs go up $42 (Doy and Lalman, 2011)
Cows that produce more milk have higher year-long maintenance costs (Ferrell and Jenkins, 1984; Montano-Bermudez et al.)
American Aberdeen cattle are smaller than most commercial cattleman are accustomed to, but when crossed with most breeds the resulting offspring hit an efficient, commercially-desirable size without sacrificing muscling.
NDSU Dickinson Research data show that American Aberdeen cross cows increased weaning weight per acre by 37 percent.
The Aberdeen Plus, Moderator and Moderator Plus® programs provide American Aberdeen breeders options for breeding cattle to fit their buyers’ needs.

Calving

Commercial heifers bred to Full Blood American Aberdeen bulls calve easily and breed back quickly, reducing the calving interval.

Finishing and Carcass

Aberdeen carcasses possess excellent beef characteristics of taste, texture and tenderness as well as exceptional ribeye area per hundred pounds of body weight, which translates to very high-yielding, high-quality, high-value beef carcasses.
Muscle fibers are smaller, making the beef more tender than other breeds.
American Aberdeen Moderator and Aberdeen Plus are well suited to grass-fed production as they are easy fleshing and will finish on native and improved pastures, producing high value carcasses with minimum input costs.
The NDSU Dickinson Research Center has 15 years of data showing that F1 Moderator cattle hit commercial specification for carcass, including CAB. F1 steers finished in the feedlot at 1250 to 1350 pounds.

Pedigree and Genetic Defects

The original herd was developed at the Trangie Research Center in New South Wales, Australia. Animal Scientists began with a herd of registered Aberdeen Angus cattle, purchased in 1929 from Canada, that were carefully selected for efficiency and smaller frames. The end result was a breed of small, black, polled cattle of pure Aberdeen Angus descent.
The American Aberdeen focus is back to the basics…efficiency, quality, phenotype, longevity, and carcass. EPDs fail to take into account many of the breed’s benefits.
All cattle registered with the American Aberdeen Association trace their ancestry back to the Trangie Research Center and to the original Angus purchased from Canada.
American Aberdeen Cattle are free of known genetic defects, including the dwarf gene.

Heat Tolerance and Adaptability

The American Aberdeen are the original Angus. They adapt to hot and extremely cold climates much like any of the British breeds.

Business Model

The commercial cattle industry is taking note of American Aberdeen genetics. Cattleman are looking for Angus-type, ‘easy-keeping’ cows that mature at 1,100 pounds—and they can’t find them in ‘load-lot’ numbers. Aberdeen genetics create value by moderating the size of commercial cattle.
There is nothing wrong with being a small operation, but the breed also needs larger-scale breeding herds to help mature the market for American Aberdeen genetics.
Growing the market will not lower prices for small operations—demand will grow with breed acceptance and supply.
To better understand the commercial market, operators of smaller herds selling into the commercial market should be sure to study the work being done on efficiency and value at the Dickinson Beef Cattle Research Station by Dr. Kris Ringwall and his staff.

Bigger Checks

Change is hard…

Cashing bigger checks isn’t.

Now is the time to add American Aberdeen genetics to your cow herd to increase efficiency and profitability.

Reduce mature cow size to a more profitable level
Reduce calving problems
Produce more ribeye per hundredweight
Increase marbling
Produce more gain per acre
Increase percentage of cow weight weaned
Increase pounds and value of beef raised per acre