What a great sale Minnamurra Speckle Park had recently. We were fortunate enough to secure, on behalf of our syndicate, Minnamurra Questacon Q39. A son of Bigstar Maverick and Minnaurra 300X Janette J23, Questacon is a structurally sound, low birth weight bull who shone in his contemporary group.
When data was collected in June 2021 Questacon Q39 was ranked 1st out of 24 for Scrotal size and IMF%, 2nd for weight, and 3rd for EMA. Interestingly, he was 15th for P8 fat and 11th for rib fat. MLA report that,
“Maximising Retail Beef Yield requires the animal to have a good degree of muscling or thickness and an adequate amount of fat coverage for the target market. Light muscled or overfat cattle have a low Retail Beef Yield.”
Retail Beef Yield is a key driver of profitability, and our program is all about profitability.
Questacon Q39 is by Bigstar Maverick a sire I saw soon after his arrival at Minnamurra, and I was immediately impressed with his combination of power, softness and mobility. He has since done a wonderful job for Minnamurra’s stud and commercial program, and we all know the quality of Minnamurra’s commercial program.
Maverick combines two of the finest female families in the breed. Notta Pho-Finish 54P and Rob ‘N Sons Farms 10N, as well as adding the renown sires Traffic Jam and A&W 15R, but they are several generations back which enables line breeding to these influencers. We are very pleased to have the bull we regard as Maverick’s best son in our sire line-up.
Questacon Q39 lacks for nothing on the dam side either. Minnamurra 300X Janette J23 is one of only 23 females retained and selected by Minnamurra as a donor. That’s 23 out of 480 females produced. That is selection pressure. She is a daughter of the one and only Stands Alone and the Blue Hen, Janette of P.A.R. 44H. The Janette family consistently produces sound structure with tremendous maternal traits and quality carcase. Stands Alone brings eye appeal and exceptional yield to the table. All in all, it’s a very balanced pedigree.
Some stud sires can fail to get exposure to the commercial beef industry. This is not the fate of Questacon Q39. He will be working this spring with a group of Hazeldene blood Angus cows, and the resultant calves will make their way to the Coles Graze and Coles Finest programs. All the data collected from these animals will be assessed to guide our breeding program into the future. Yield, marbling, feed efficiency and MSA grading rates will all be monitored and recorded. This is the case for all our bull purchases. We test them in the real world, and they have to perform to retain their position. You can’t improve profitability if you don’t monitor, measure and manage the profit-driving traits.