BEEFALO SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA
NEWSLETTER NO. 1
Hello, to all members of the Beefalo Society of Australia. My name is Su Moore
and I have offered to put together a newsletter to let everyone know what is
going on in the Society. This seems a good idea, as we were not able to get
together for a meeting last year. At Lyons Creek we had 6 embryo calves born in
2003, four bulls and two heifers. They are doing well but we desperately need
rain, and lots of it!!
The Society is in the process of setting up a registration system. Calf recording
forms, embryo transfer (ET) calf recording forms, adult registration forms and
transfer (of ownership) forms are ready for use. There will inevitably be some
minor changes over the next few years as our system improves.
Still to be decided is how to record stock which will be sold for meat, so that they
can be verified as Beefalo, and how to deal with the recording and verifying of
breeding stock, which have been bred prior to the forming of the society. John
will discuss the options in his report.

Registration papers have been designed and are ready to use. These can
be obtained from the secretary by email or by post.
 All calves born since 2002 which may be used for breeding will need to be
calf recorded. At the moment adult registration can wait until the breeder
has decided if the animal is worth breeding from. [NB: only a first cross
can be out of an unregistered dam; 2nd cross, 3rd cross etc will need a
registered dam.]
President’s Report:
Hopefully those in Northern NSW and in Qld have had drought breaking
rains. Down here in the cold country near Cooma we are still waiting.
The good news from America is that the two remaining Beefalo societies are
moving closer to a merger. The divisions that have occurred over there and
the resulting competing societies have had an extremely damaging effect on
the Beefalo industry.
With this in mind, it is most important that we reach an agreement about our
own future. This is made easier by the fact there are at present few breeders.
It is a difficult stage for us;
1. As far as I know we aren’t getting a premium for Beefalo beef.
2. Any recording that we do has a cost in time and money.
3. Parent Verification has a considerable cost ( about $55/head).
4. If we don’t start recording now we will most likely regret it in the
future.
It is important that we begin our animal recording as soon as possible as it
will become increasingly difficult and expensive to get every thing up to
date.
The ideal situation would be to have some sort of record of every Beefalo in
the country, otherwise we will have people down the track who want to
register animals that have been out of the system for one or more
generations.
There are two aspects to animal recording that we need to consider;
1. Stud animals
2. Meat animals
Stud Animals: As with any breed the need for a stud registry is self evident.
This includes those animals from first cross and up that are in line to
produce a purebred (35.15625% bison minimum) that can be used to
produce first cross meat animals. We have already accepted a requirement
for DNA parent verification for the registration of these animals, as are an
increasing number of other breed societies.
We’re faced with the situation where several breeders have been breeding
beefalo for quite a number of years prior to the society being formed. This
poses a problem. Under society rules these animals need to be DNA parent
verified. However in many cases where cows have been sold or died there is
no longer any DNA (usually tail hairs) available. Also the cost of parent
verification is high where there are a considerable number of animals over
several generations involved.
One idea is to register these cows retrospectively without the DNA test as
long as the owner’s records are in order. If tail hairs have been collected they
should be kept safely in case they are needed. This would mean deciding on
a cut off date and age (for example, any female that is over 12 months old at
31/12/03 or, any female who is alive and breeding now), accepting those
animals into the Stud Registry with the breeding that the owner supplies. In
the case of uncertain breeding that uncertainty could be recorded. From this
date on we would have to make the effort to register our breeders and accept
the costs.
Some breeders would, however, do DNA testing and parent verification for
all their past breeders for their own satisfaction.
The alternative to this is to require DNA parent verification for all breeders.
Meat animals: It is generally accepted that we need some cost effective way
to ensure (as far as practicable) that a beast is in fact Beefalo (above 17%
bison) if it is sold as such for meat.
I firmly believe that there is a potential for us to market our beefalo at a
premium. If I didn’t believe this then I would not see the point in a recording
system for meat animals.
One idea is simply to record with the society, at minimal cost, all calves of
first cross and above. This way, there is a record (not registration) of animals
and their sires. Since sires will be registered and DNA tested, it is possible to
do DNA parent verification if substitution is suspected.
It is most important that we get your views on these issues. These decisions
have to be made soon and there is no point just a few of us deciding on such
important issues that will affect us all.
John Moore
I was going to put together a table showing the ‘for’ and ‘against’ arguments for
the retrospective registration of breeding cows however, I have decided to wait
until everyone has had a chance have a say and then put something together
and send it out. So could you all think about the issues John has discussed and
send your thoughts to us. All for now, Su.
President: John Moore
Lyons Creek RMB 327
Leach’s Rd
Via BUNGENDORE NSW 2621
Ph 02 62308216
Fax 02 62308230
beefalo@iprimus.com.au
Sectretary: Christina della Valle
Beefalo Society of Australia
PO Box 916
PROSERPINE QLD 4800
Ph 07 49453400
christina@beefaloaustralia.com