At the heart of the Menalpyn beef production regime is the concept of selective crossbreeding. Selective crossbreeding takes advantage of a genetic phenomenon called 'heterosis' or 'hybrid vigor'. This is where two parents of different breeds are mated, with the resulting offspring inheriting qualities above the mean of the parents. That is, the offspring of a given crossbred will probably out perform purebred offspring of both breeds. (Bourdon, Richard M, ‘Understanding Animal Breeding’ Prentice-Hall inc, 1997, New Jersey, USA)

There are a large number of traits important to the production of premium beef, and as a result it is difficult to find any one breed that will excel in all of them. By crossing breeds that excel in different traits, we can obtain offspring that will be superior overall - and more valuable at market than either of the parent breeds. Choosing breeds that display desirable genetic traits for beef production has enabled Menalpyn to develop a successful breeding stock and supply premium crossbred steers for sale.

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However, it is not enough simply to crossbreed. Menalpyn takes great care selecting optimal genetics from the chosen breeds to insert into the herd, as well as removing under performing animals from the breeding stock, to maintain and improve product integrity. Menalpyn is currently using three breeds to implement the breeding strategy: Angus, Shorthorn and Simmental.

Some important factors in crossbreeding:

• Mating systems that maximize hybrid vigor will achieve the fastest genetic progress
• Hybrid vigor can increase the kilograms of calf weaned per cow joined by up to 20% over the average of similar straight bred cows
• Retaining crossbred females can increase returns in excess of 60%
• When you cross two different breeds, you will end up with the average of the two breeds plus heterosis

Replacement females are crossbreds selected from the same group of calves that are marketed. These crossbred females are mated to sires of the breed of which they have the smallest proportion; thus maximising the hybrid vigor effect.

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Trait Total Heterosis (above breed(s) mean)

The hybrid vigor exploits the advantages of the economically important traits such as fertility, milk, weaning weight, survival rate and longevity. All of these qualities have low heritability and respond very slowly within herd breed selection, but can be improved quickly using heterosis. The specific qualities of the individual breeds allow Menalpyn to fine-tune its selection criteria to produce high performing carcasses for its selected target markets.

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