In this episode of The Angus Table, host Scott Wright sits down with Myles Immerker, CEO of the Canadian Angus Association, for a fascinating conversation about leading innovation in one of the world's most challenging cattle breeding environments.

Myles shares insights from managing 3,000 primary members across Canada's vast geography (70% black, 30% red), the remarkable spring bull market up over 50% from last year, pioneering AI camera technology being developed with Holstein Canada to objectively score structural traits, the evolution of their green tag commercial program, and adapting to extreme temperatures from -40°C to +30°C.

They discuss digital transformation and shifting to weekly genetic evaluations (replacing monthly runs), China market reopening after five years, and why phenotype and structural soundness remain paramount in Canadian breeding programs.

So pull up a chair at the Angus Table for insights from one of Australia's closest international breeding partners.

In this episode of The Angus Table, we are sharing a recording of a special member webinar where we introduced Angus GenetiQ. Angus GenetiQ is the society’s new in-house genetic evaluation system. In this episode, President Sinclair Clark Monro begins by emphasising Angus Australia's commitment to member-focused genetic improvement tools, and CEO Scott Wright explains the strategic reasoning behind developing in-house capability.

Next, COO Carel Teseling delivers a comprehensive technical presentation comparing Angus GenetiQ with TACE, covering important differences in methodology, genetic trend comparisons across all traits, and EBV correlations. The webinar clarifies that Angus Australia has not decided to move away from Breedplan—both evaluations will be publicly displayed as the society takes members on this journey.

Pull up a chair at the Angus Table, this is essential listening for any Angus breeder wanting to understand the technical foundations and strategic direction of genetic evaluation at Angus Australia.

Key topics covered:

1. Why Angus Australia developed Angus GenetiQ: risk mitigation, efficiency, innovation speed, and controlling destiny
2. How in-house capability enables quicker response to member needs and industry priorities
3. The strategic decision to display both TACE and Angus GenetiQ results during consultation period
4. Important technical differences between TACE and Angus GenetiQ evaluations
5. Why Angus GenetiQ uses only Australian registered animals (excludes New Zealand data from TACE)
6. Genetic trend comparisons showing strong alignment between TACE and Angus GenetiQ for most traits
7. EBV correlation analysis demonstrating 70-96% correlation across traits for top 1,500 bulls
8. The decision to combine rib and rump fat into single carcass fat EBV (reducing trait complexity)
9. Why IMF is being replaced by MSA Marble Score (easier to collect, more phenotypes available)
10. The plan to develop yield EBV using primal cuts rather than retail beef yield
11. How maternal value in Angus GenetiQ includes both milk and maternal care (not split like TACE)
12. Future trait releases including calving ease EBVs and structural trait evaluation
13. The exploration of desired gains indexes versus traditional economic value indexes
14. How Angus GenetiQ will support commercial programs like HeiferSELECT and SteerSELECT
15. The role of scanning data in informing correlated carcass traits through genetic correlations

Pull quotes:

"Angus GenetiQ has been over four years of development across three different presidents, two CEOs, and many boardroom discussions and lots of strategic thinking…Genetic evaluation is very core to what we do. [It's] been controlled by entities outside Angus Australia. The thinking behind Angus...

Summary of the episode:

In this episode of The Angus Table, host Scott Wright sits down with Tim Brittain from New Zealand for a wide-ranging conversation about global Angus leadership, brand building, and consumer focus.

Tim shares his remarkable journey from growing up in Auckland with no farming background to establishing Storth Oaks Angus, serving as Secretary General of the World Angus Secretariat for eight years, founding and chairing Angus Pure (New Zealand's first large-scale Angus beef brand), instigating Angus Pro and navigating the transition to Angus Australia registration, and becoming Reserve Grand Champion in BBQ competition.

They discuss why Angus is a brand that must be protected, the importance of never losing sight of the consumer, managing the World Angus Secretariat through COVID, and Sir Keith Holyoake's wisdom: "Live as though you'll die tomorrow, but farm as though you'll live forever."

So pull up a chair at the Angus Table for insights from one of the breed's most accomplished international leaders.

Key topics covered:

1. How Tim's journey began from Auckland city to agricultural university
2. The evolution of Storth Oaks Angus from 37 stud cows at a 1991 sale to the seed stock operation they run today
3. Why Tim's breeding philosophy emphasises maternal attributes, performance recording, genomics, and carcass quality
4. Tim’s agripolitical career progression from the deer industry to New Zealand Meat Board and ultimately Angus leadership
5. About the World Angus Secretariat and Tim’s experience serving as Secretary General
6. Tim’s role in building the Angus brand, including the origins of Angus Pure, New Zealand's first large-scale Angus beef brand
7. How the McDonald's Angus program created a paradigm shift in consumer awareness
8. The impact of Angus Pure, such as tangible premium for producers and catalyst for major meat companies
9. How Angus Pro formed and why the group chose to register with Angus Australia
10. The challenges facing the World Angus Secretariat with rapid European expansion
11. Why measuring business outcomes at events like Beef Australia matters for the industry
12. The importance of protecting Angus as a brand, not just a breed
13. How Tim became Reserve Grand Champion BBQ competitor with Storth Oaks Smokers
14. The power of customer focus in agriculture and why Tim believes more farmers need to remember this
15. What Sir Keith Holyoake taught about sustainability: "Farm as though you'll live forever"

Pull quotes:

"We are looking for strong maternal attributes, we have always put a lot of emphasis on performance… And to put a lot of emphasis on carcass quality because at the end of the day, without the consumer, there's no industry. That's a real driver for...