News/Cattle for Sale
Newsletter July 2010
2009/10 has been an exciting time for the Gascon breed with demand exceeding production. There has been good interest in bulls and breeding females (both for pure-breeding and crossing) and also AI.
Fleuron Gascon
This major event is to take place in Toulouse from 10-12th December this year and will consist of a show of around 100 cattle and various symposiums. In previous years there have been farm visits too. The full programme will be announced in early autumn. The Fleuron Gascon only happens every five years or so and is well worth a visit. The Gascon Society will be organizing a trip from the UK and you would be very welcome to visit the show with us. I will be in contact in the autumn again about this trip but check your diary now as the last Fleuron is still well-remembered by those who attended!
April Sale of Gascon Bulls in France
This annual sale consists of bulls which have been picked out and then assessed at the testing station in France. These bulls go through a rigorous selection
procedure and are excellent Gascon bulls. This year 33 bulls were selected from the 54 bulls which entered the station last year.
The full details can be seen on www.gasconne.com on the event page. It is worth noting that a top Gascon bull of 14 months of age could have been purchased
for 2,500 Euros. Even with the costs of import and the new bluetongue restrictions, importing a top-class bull is still a reasonable option.
Bull/Cow Warranties from the NBA
The NBA offers a warranty for pedigree animals. This is a legal document which is signed by both seller and the purchaser setting out the terms and conditions
of the sale and the liabilities and obligations of both parties. It can be backed up by insurance.
The full text can be seen on the NBA website and non-members can buy these warranties as long as they are a member of a breed society which is a member of the NBA.
It is worth thinking about, especially for bulls in the event of infertility, as it sets out exactly what can be claimed for and gives time limits for claims.
Please contact me or the NBA if you would like any more information on this.
MH Gene management
After a long period of analysis and consideration, the French Gascon Society (Groupe Gascon), has decided that the way forward for the Gascon is to try to reduce
the prevalence of the MH gene within the breed without compromising muscular development. This programme is continuing to show progress and the excellent conformation
of many of the non-carrier bulls (+/+) is very encouraging.
The Gascon Cattle Society in the UK is following this lead, with breeders using +/+ bulls with good conformation and gaining excellent results.
No obviously double-muscled Gascon or their progeny will be accepted for registration in the UK herdbook.
The MH (myostatin) gene is still not fully understood. It is a mainly recessive gene with only the MH/MH animals showing extreme muscular development; to complicate
matters not all of them do have this muscular development. The gene also has many variants3 with some causing more muscular development than others.
1 The Belgian
Blue owes its conformation to this gene.1
The MH/+ animal may show some signs of extra muscular development.1
Many of you will have seen the advertising of the profit gene; this is a variant of the myostatin gene. It is easy to see the advantages of this gene,
but there are significant disadvantages also.
It can bring a marked increase in calving difficulty1,2, an increase in perinatal mortality, reduced liveweight gain
2 (slightly offset by a higher killing out %)
and an increased susceptibility to pneumonia amongst other things.
The increase in labour involved with difficult calvings, calves that do not get up and suck (in some cases, the tongue can be enlarged due to muscular hypertrophy)
and the loss of production in cows with bad calvings are important in the current financial climate.
It is also thought that the MH gene can reduce the palatability of the beef.2 I would certainly query the effect of reduced intramuscular fat (marbling).
I have listed the references below. A search on Google for the myostatin gene in cattle will provide more information also.
References:
1. http://jas.fass.org/cgi/content/short/87/6/18652. http://www.hccmpw.org.uk/medialibrary/publications/
TheEffectoftheDoubleMusclingGeneonProductionEfficiencyandMeatQuality.pdf
3. http://www.ucm.es/info/genetvet/Myostatin_cattle_breeds.pdf
Sales
Breeding cattle available privately.
Roddy Watt (Tel: 01854 666316) has Gascon and GasconX heifers for sale (Sutherland).
Allan Wyatt (Tel: 01549 441356) has some heifers for sale (Sutherland).
For more details, please contact either the breeders directly or the breed secretary.
Semen from top French Gascon bulls is also available. The French AI Catalogue can be viewed online; please contact the breed secretary for help with translation and with obtaining straws.
If you would like to be informed of available breeding stock or mart sales, please contact us.
