Angus Judging: Fantastic Result!

The Angus show was held on Sat 7^th May.  Around 80 head were exhibited across the Red and Black Angus with Carlos Ojea from Argentina the judge.  Had a very successful day – came away with 8 champion ribbons from 7 head including Grand Champion Red Angus female with a 9 mth old heifer (who was also the top priced heifer in the sale the night before), & Res Grand Champion Red Angus bull who weighed over 1130kg.  Congratulations Mezquite Genetics!  Once again Tera (a girl who helps Renato) and I were the only females in the shed!  I lead all the cattle for judging as well as helping prepare & fit them, which was fantastic.  

After the cattle judging they had a young handlers competition which was interesting to watch.  Angus is one of only a 2 or 3 breeds in Mexico with a youth program but is still only very small – had 9 competitors.  Really makes you appreciate the youth programs back in Australia!  After judging there was an Angus lunch although it felt almost like dinner – didn’t eat till 5.30 – still getting used to this!  Had the opportunity to meet lots of breeders – luckily most spoke a little English (would have struggled otherwise!)

Top Priced Female at Sale

For the first time at the Expo they held an Angus auction, since it was the national show & also run in conjunction with the national meeting.  Fourteen head were entered for the sale – both bulls and females - & all selling.  Very different to our auctions -  under coloured lights, finger food & drinks (lots of Tequila) were all provided at no cost!  Still getting use to Mexican timing – meant to start at 7 but didn’t get underway till after 9!  Mezquite Genetics sold two females – a black Angus heifer who brought $22000 peso, and a 9 mth old red angus heifer who topped the sale at $33000 pesos.  As an incentive, the purchaser who bought the animal that did the best in the judging ring the following day won prize money as well.  So not only did the Red Angus heifer top the sale, but she went on to be Grand Champion in the ring – great result for Mezquite Genetics and the new purchaser.  I even got a mention during the auction!  I lead both females and when the second heifer (the red angus) was being auctioned they commented on me being from Australia and for everyone to put their hands together for two beautiful females (had no idea what they were saying till after)...  Think I turned the same colour as the heifer when they told me!

Mexican Dancing Horses

I have seen many of the most beautiful horses during my stay in Mexico but this tops it off!!  The ‘dancing horses’ are the most stunning & incredibly powerful horses I have seen. I  not only got to watch 'the dancing horses' perform both in competition and display, but actually got to ride on two of them!  They were completely fitted for competition with magnificent saddles made with silver thread.  One of the ones I got to ride was Grand Champion Freisian as well as overall Grand Champion! The competition was great to see – they all danced to Banda music (Mexican music).    

Expo Ganadera Judging Competitions

This last week at Expo there were a number of cattle breeds being judged that I have never seen before.  These included Sardo Negro (above left) and Guzerat (above right),  both Cebu (Bos Indicus breed) cattle.  Interesting cattle – loved the skin colour on the Sardo Negro (Black speckles) & the horns on the Guzerat - & that was the best part of both.  They suit the tropical climate esp. on the coast. Also on display were Simmental, Limousin, Suizo Europeo (Braunveih), Brangus, Beef Master (on left) & Brahman. 

Also had the opportunity to go and inspect the carcases of the carcase competition bulls and heifers at the slaughter house in Tepa - great thing to see. The type of carcases they want are very different to ours - some dressed well over 70%; no IMF to be seen and very little fat, but a huge quanity of meat.  The grand champion carcase went to a black Limousin bull.  After the inspection they auctioned  the carcases - didn’t stay for all the sale but the first heifers were bringing around the $38 peso mark per kilo ($3.16 approx Aust) for carcase around 400-450kg dressed.  

Ranch Visits

 

Commercial brahman at Ovigenetics

During the week I visited three ranches. Rancho Los Fresnos, about 50 mins from Tepa, has a very different landscape - more arid, but beautiful with lots of hills and cactus everywhere.  The owner, Enrique Candiani & his daughter Marisa, showed me around their ranch where they breed registered Angus, commercial Angus and Simmentals as well as Quarterhorses.  Then, Alejandro Alvarez Gonzalez from Ovigenetics toured me around his ranch and gave me lots of information about livestock industries in Mexico.  He breeds registered Angus, Brangus, Brahman & crossbred cattle; registered sheep (dorper, katahdin and peliways); plus commercial ewes & feed lotted lambs. I also visited “Gena Agropecuaria”  who run 1200 registered Charolais – one of the biggest registered Charolais herds in Mexico – as well as Angus and Braunvieh (very popular in crossbreeding programs) www.gena.com.mx/. Many of these large ranches are involved not just with one type of livestock but run multiple operations – beef cattle, sheep, pigs, broilers & eggs, & agave (for tequila).
  
Touring around I’ve had the opportunity to see how varied agriculture is in this area of Jalisco. Dairying, broilers and egg production are HUGE industries here. Mexicans are the biggest consumers of eggs per capita in the world (the minimum salary is so low that eggs are the cheapest form of protein they can afford). They use the poultry manure from young chickens (which is very high in protein because young chickens are unable to process it properly) to feed to cattle, & manure from older poultry is used as fertiliser. 


Feeding on chicken manure



Livestock production in Mexico occupies 110 million ha and has more than a million permanent employees.  The majority of the livestock operations are intensive.  There is vast difference in production in terms of size, technology levels & organisation, with equally great variability in terms of the sharing of wealth generated. 3 companies provide 54% of chicken production; 10 companies provide 44% of egg production; and 7 companies or individual producers provide more than 35% of pork production. Annually Mexico produces: 2.8 million tonnes of chicken, 2.4 million tonnes of eggs; 1.78 million tonnes of beef; 1.18 million tonnes pork; 57 000t sheep, 44 000t goat; 21 000t turkey; 11 million litres milk; 51 000t honey. Livestock production contributes 44% of protein consumed (more than the world average).  In the last 10 years, chicken production has risen 48%, egg production 34% and beef 25%, while lamb and pork haven’t changed much. Beef production is estimated to rise in 2011 due to increase in price and number of producers along with increased demand for meat. Livestock industries use more than 20 million tonnes of feed grain (mainly sorghum and corn) and more than 4 million tonnes of oilseeds per year.

Viva la Fiesta!

The best part about being in Mexico this time of year is there’s so much going on with the Livestock Expo and the Fiesta in Tepa, ‘Feria Tepabril 2011’.  Every night there are things to see and do!  This week one of the major events of the fiesta was held – ‘Senor de la Misericordia’ - a massive parade through the city for three days, with floats, bands, lots of charros (Mexican cowboys), native music and dance. Soooo many people packing the streets & centre square - crazy for three days straight!!!  People sell things everywhere, from toys to chairs for people to sit on & all different kinds of food. The colours, sounds & vibe are amazing! There is 'Banda' music playing everywhere - on the street, in the open bars at Expo, on the back of utes (pickup trucks)!  Banda is a style of music very popular in Mexico but particularly during fiestas, with lots of drums, trumpets, cymbals, singing etc - the beat is crazy, so loud!!  People dance in the streets - on weekends during fiesta they dance all night in the centre square!  I got to watch a magnificent display of fireworks from the balcony of the presidential building in Tepa. The main catholic church where the fireworks took place around was all lit up in all different changing colours - stunning!!!!! 

Have also had the opportunity to see some sports that I’ve never seen before: Mexican rodeo - very popular, very competitive and great to watch with beautiful horses & sombrero wearing 'cowboys' ; Corridas de Toros (bullfighting)  - not for the faint hearted ; and Peleas de Gallos (cockfighting)!  Really enjoying immersing myself in the culture and seeing things I would never see otherwise in Aust!

Charolais Judging & Hoof & Hook Competition

The Charolais judging took place on 28 April with about 60 head competing. I got to help prepare and show Mezquite’s two females in the show & placed 2nd in both classes.  I was the only female parading. Also, within the 'shed' they are all men working - except myself and one other girl who helps Mezquite. Very different to Australia! On Monday, we took the Charolais home and brought the Angus team in (red & black).  

I also watched the judging of bulls for a hoof and hook competition - very interesting!  In this area they don't castrate the bulls for meat production - they’re left as bulls and sold at mature age, 2-4 years!  The Mexican beef industry (esp here in southern Mexico) is very different to Aust: they use thin cuts & prefer lean beef from the hindquarters. Really just want QUANTITY of meat. They aim for carcases with high dressing %, as little fat as possible, good meat colour and tenderness - and not at all concerned about IMF! They like bulls because they lay down less fat than steers & also have more muscle.  Euro crosses like Limo & Belgian Blue are very popular because of their heavy muscling. There were some impressive bulls on display!

Coming up this week: The Expo continues till 8 May & this week will be a great opportunity to see more cattle with angus, brangus, limousin, simmental, beef master, santa gertrudis judging.  For anyone who is interested, the judging is livescreened on www.livestream.com/virbactv (Limo/Simm/Beefmaster/Suizo/Santas at approx 2am Aust time 7thMay; & Angus judging will be on at approx. 2am Aust time on 8 May) - sorry about the time!