THE diversity of breeds that make up the Australian beef cattle population is considerable.

There can be a tendency to make some broad assumptions on the nation’s cattle population, based largely on indicators such as breed registrations and bull sale results.

While the Angus and Brahman breeds maintain the top two positions for breed registrations* (36.65 percent and 13.19pc respectively), the makeup of the top ten breeds by registration numbers may surprise many producers.

Registrations for 2022 released by the Australian Registered Cattle Breeders Association has seen Wagyu registrations continue to surge, as the third most registered breed with 9.56pc of national registrations. The Wagyu breed overtook Herefords in 2021 and while total registrations for 2022 were slightly lower than the previous year, the growth of the breed within the seedstock portion of national herd is significant.

Since 2016 it is interesting to note that several breeds such as Droughtmaster, Charolais and Santa Gertrudis have largely had similar numbers registered from year to year. While rankings within the top ten breeds move slightly between these breeds each year, they have consistently maintained registrations and significant numbers nationally.

Aside from growth in Wagyu registrations, the number of Speckle Park registrations is also notable. Moving from registering 0.5pc of the national seedstock herd (and sixteenth place) in 2016, the Speckle Park breed now accounts for 2.58pc of registrations and is placed tenth in the list of 37 breeds published by ARCBA.

Set out below in bar-chart form is registration numbers for the ten largest breeds, since 2016:

Click on image for a larger view

These registration figures offer a useful insight into the growth of breeds and their relevance to producers who are seeking the genetic traits and phenotypes offered by various breeds.

However seedstock registrations may not always reflect the use of those breeds or breed types across the wider industry. It is worth noting in the ARCBA data, total registrations for the year 2022 was 257,471 head.

More broadly a picture of breed makeup across the industry can be taken from the results of the Beef Producers Intentions Survey (ABIS) published by MLA. The ABIS data published an estimate of 26.13 million grassfed adult animals.

Source:  ABIS April 2022 – MLA

The ABIS considered the southern and northern industries and presented a breakdown of both breed makeup within these sectors and the percentage of producers with those types of cattle.

Across southern Australia, Angus cattle accounted for both the largest percentage of the population and also have the greatest percentage of producers with those animals. The second most dominant breed in southern production in numbers and producers are Herefords with European (Simmental & Limousin) in the third ranking.

The northern industry trends are also quite interesting to consider. While Brahman remain as the breed with the largest share of the overall population, 41pc of producers had Droughtmaster cattle, compared to 28pc with Brahman animals.

Reflecting the trend of increased Wagyu registrations in the seedstock sector, on farm adult grassfed numbers for Wagyu account for 6pc of the northern population. At the same time the percentage of producers in northern Australia with Wagyu came to 3pc. This reflects the importance of Wagyu genetics in a number of the larger corporate herds compared to individually owned businesses.

* Editor’s comment: It should be noted that the Beef Producer Intentions Survey conducted in November covered breeding cattle (breeding cows, heifers and bulls) only. F1 progeny, such as F1 Wagyu destined as terminal crosses, were not included. Additionally, caution should be noted when comparing breed popularity simply by seedstock registration numbers. Tropical breeds like Brahman and Droughtmaster include large numbers of home-bred or paddock-bought unregistered herd bulls, not included in breed registration data.

Alastair Rayner is the General Manager of Extension & Operations with Cibo Labs and Principal of RaynerAg.  Alastair has over 28 years’ experience advising beef producers & graziers across Australia.   He can be contacted here or through his website www.raynerag.com.au