Aussies . . . Anyone heard of Supergene evaluation system

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Did Graeme Edgerton contact you guys to send you some information. Said:

I have something to send ,you have you a Fax Number so I can send it
If you need more you can EMAIL [email protected] with what you require
or send me a reply I will try and answer all your questions
Thank you for your time Graeme Edgerton

As if "I" would "REQUIRE" something from them!! :shock: :banana:

 

[redpoll52]

Na, I won't be emailing him. He will poabably give me a virus as well as his abuse. :stop: :devil2:

 

[HFX]

I do not wish to refuel this topic. It is very clear what most posters think of the system; however I have seen a number of females evaluated using this system. Some cattle were good and some weren't. I've seen a number of bulls bred from the top graded cows which have gone on to produce well. I am not familiar enough with the concepts of the selection process to be an authority on the topic. To be clear, I do not actively seek to buy these cows and I do not use the grading system in my herds. Although I have used sires with supergene backgrounds (not selected because of this). However, there was a post asking for a supergene animal to be posted so I thought (my real purpose of bringing this topic up again) I would share a photo of cow that was purchased a number of years ago (blue tag). The photo was taken earlier this year prior to good rain. The calf is just short of 3 months old from memory. I have a number of other supergene photos taken 2 years ago but these are not from my herd and as such I do not feel it would be appropriate to post without the breeders consent.

 

[redpoll52]

The reason for keeping this page going is so that people stay informed of the dangers of Supergene. People must remember that this system has destroyed damn good productive beef herds !! And it is very damaging for minor breeds

 

[Malter]

Thats right Red Poll 52. Even if one person is stopped from taking up the ludicruous "Supergene" ideas then it will have all been worthwhile. It must be reinvigorated from time to time for just that purpose

 

[redpoll52]

Good to see you are still active on here Malter. What you say is very true !!

 

[Australian]

Don't know of anyone that uses the system here these days. Seen some good herds ruined or close to it. Thankfully some of the herds were large enough to withstand the assessment.

 

[redpoll52]

Some of his followers are still active here in NZ !! Sorry to say

 

[NQBreeder]

My parents (substantial breeders, growers and finishers) have been using Peter and his principles for around 12 years now. They have seen their fertility improve a lot in this time, which is why they became involved in the first place. Their feed conversion has improved and they have been winning paddock-to-plate style competitions. In the beginning I too was skeptical of the principles, they went against most things that I believed beforehand. However, fortunately they persevered with it and have a much more productive herd now.
Peter is one of the most opinionated, arrogant people that I have ever met and that certainly doesn't help him sell his product. The fact that he is VERY ill is another reason that he isn't as active as he used to be and you don't hear his name much. The man has a lot of faults but he sure knows what he is doing. Sure it is strange that he can't tell you exactly what he is looking for and that you're not an expert after attending the bloody expensive course but do you expect to win an NCHA event after attending an Ian Francis clinic?
We have many friends and family that have done the course and use the grading systems themselves as well, it is very expensive to have him do it. There are plenty of people that believe in Supergene but since it is seen as "cultish", nobody is going to come straight out and admit it for fear of being attacked (like you did with rebeef). Unfortunately, it is the same with any forward thinking programs, strangely enough some people see GFP and LSS in the same light! Anyway, it seems that you have all made your minds up but I just wanted to put in my 2 cents worth and give you a bit of food for thought.
I also found it very interesting that none of you haters have actually really been involved with Supergene, just sayin'...

 

[jilleroo]

Hi NQ - good on you for getting on here and saying what you think. I see there's a Supergene Clinic at Narada at Tambo in late September. I would love to do it out of interest, but its $3000 inc GST. The Supergene-using property which is highlighted in the clinic brochure boasts "up to 90% first cycle pregnancy in some paddocks @ 1.25% bulls per cow on 50,000acres".
We were drafting off keeper-heifers yesterday and I said to hubby that we're probably culling what Chilcott would be keeping! I have had the system explained to me in some detail by a devotee (have forgotten a lot of it) Like most people, we, rightly or wrongly, breed and select with the quality of the resultant calf in mind, not for herd fertility. Anyway, just thought I'd let you know its still bubbling along, out this way anyway.

 

[ANAZAZI]

No need for a program like supergene.If one wants to improve fertility, one cull the non bred and the late bred.
There is no reason to assume that fertile cattle look like this or like that, when all the facts about them can be had from your own records.

 

[Massey135]

Form follows function

 

[Keren]

Good grief - this is the thread that never dies!

NQ ... ReBeef did not get 'attacked' - he was challenged to support his statements and he never did, simply waffled on about the fact that he was a security guard and going on holidays. Neither of those two things has anything to do with whether the Supergene assessment system produces better beef cattle.

I would be interested to see some of your cattle after you have benefited so greatly from the Supergene assessment. I am guessing you are working on the fact that greater fertility = greater number of calves to sell. But I guess from where I stand, I want those calves to be HEAVY and quick growing as well - and the type that PC selects are not going to produce quick growing, heavy calves, simply because they arent of good beef phenotype. I dont think good beef phenotype (ie. muscularity, thickness, depth of body etc) and fertility are mutually exclusive. I think we require both.

Perhaps I have never seen the need for PC's system because I have never had a fertility problem. As Anazazi said, it is simply to get rid of your fertility problems by getting rid of your problem females - the ones that have shown you from production records that they are not as fertile - not the ones with shorter tails or lower set ears.

 

[NQBreeder]

Keren, unless you have 100% pregnancy rate then of course you have a fertility problem! There is always room for improvement; the moment you stop trying to improve or learn then you may as well be dead. By pregnancy testing and culling for 15 years previously they were not getting the results that they were happy with. Sure the heifers would get in calf but a few years down the track they would come in empty or dry, the resulting calves would do the same and the problem was being perpetuated.
Jillaroo, I would love to attend Peter's school out there unfortunately we have family commitments on the weekends either side and can't afford that much time away (damn work always gets in the way of things!). Anyone who is interested though, I would recommend it. I haven't heard anyone come away from the school saying that it was a waste of time. Of course, people commit to it differently but it certainly is interesting, gets you out of your comfort zone and look at things in a new light.

 

[Mick]

Hi
We currently run a heard of 16k head of mixed cattle, including a sizeable mob of Wagyu's. All our Bulls and breeders are evaluated and have been for 20 years now. Our Wagyu's even though we do not chase genetics, rather go for high ranked supergene bulls, still achieve marbling scores as an entire mob, high or higher than most wagyu breeders that have an intensive breeding program. We also have taken out a few Ekka lot feed competitions with the Wagyu, Brahman and Xbreds. (Including the taste tests)

 

[Beef101]

Just for the record on here. Peter Chilcott passed away in July 2016.