Lakeland College students study genetic diversity

“On the purebred unit, there are 16 of us working together to run our purebred operation,” Van Sickle said. “As a collective, we make all decisions impacting the herd together, working together with common goals. We rely on each other’s experience and what has or hasn’t worked on our home operations to advance the herd here.”

The students handle anything involving the purebred herd, including doing herd checks, calving checks, and vaccinations.

Students involved in the genetics and breeding side of the SMF look at breed books and animal pedigrees, bringing in frozen genetics from sires across Canada and the USA to diversify the herd’s genetics through artificial insemination. Zbudovski said most of the work revolves around the bulls.

“That’s where most of our commercial producers come in, because they’re looking for purebred sires. We are providing the commercial industry with bulls that have whatever traits they’re looking for. We have red and black Angus here, so we’re breeding Angus for producers looking to incorporate those genetics into their herds,” Zbudovski said. “For our females, we want to keep putting out the genetics that we’re producing here into other people’s herds, though this year, we’re keeping a lot of our heifers back to try to grow our herd.”

Each year, the unit’s work is on display at the Round Up Sale, where they collaborate with the other SMF units to host industry representatives and producers on Vermilion campus and online for an annual livestock sale.

This year, the purebred unit hopes to have 12 purebred bulls on offer at the sale on March 28, while other units will have commercial heifers and equine geldings for auction as well.

“Success for the year is measured by how much our bull sales are at the end of the year at the Round Up,” Zbudovski said. “It’s also measured by what kind of calves our cows are putting out on the ground, how much improvement we’re making in the industry and how we’re keeping up with trends throughout the black Angus industry.”

Genetics is all about diversification. This year, the purebred SMF is diversifying its approach to sales as well, after a member of the SMF brought up the idea of entering a heifer into a consignment sale. It’s something Lakeland hasn’t done before.

“It was a way for us to put our genetics out there and our college name as well,” Zbudovski explained. “It was the first every consignment sale that’s ever been done at the college, so we were making a name for ourselves, making a little bit of history.”

Zbudovski said a consignment sale differs from what happens at the Round Up Sale because it involves a variety of producers.

“When it’s just one farm, like at our Round Up, it’s just our genetics and what we’re bringing to the table. At a consignment sale, there are a bunch of other producers, and we come together as an industry.”

The SMF unit reached out to the Northern Angus Select Sale, and a representative from the sale helped them choose a heifer that would do well.

Zbudovski said after considering the options in the replacement heifer pen, one was chosen – OAV First Class 2N, or 2N for short.

“2N is one of our best heifers,” she said. “She’s got power, dimension, a great temperament, and a really nice pedigree behind her. We would have been happy to keep her but we’re very proud to be able to put her out into the industry to continue our legacy.”

Van Sickle said it was a great experience to try something new.

“We learned how to be involved in a consignment sale and all the different things that go into it. We bonded as a team because we all had to work together to make it a success,” Van Sickle said. “Having a successful year is not only about the money we make at the Round Up; it’s having customers that come back and love our products. It’s meeting our goals as a team. And it’s just everybody learning something new throughout the year.”

–

alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

by Alice McFarlane

Lakeland College students study genetic diversity

What's Trending