LJBA State Show Results - Sulphur, LA

The 2012 LJBA State Show was held June 21-24 in Sulphur, Louisiana. Judge Dean Fuchs sorted the bulls and hefiers. Results are as follows:

Grand Champion Grey Bull - Bar L Rex Didor 213 owned by Erin Carriere of Port Barre, La.

Reserve Grand Champion Grey Bull - Mr. CC 014/1 owned by Briley Richard of Grand Chenier, La.

Grand Champion Red Bull - Mr. JS Rouge Peterbuilt owned by Jessica Smith of Maringouin, La.

Reserve Grand Champion Red Bull - Bar L Red Solo 70 owned by Allie Carriere of Port Barre, La.

Grand Champion Grey Female - Lady H Tasha Manso 257/1 owned by Tyler Trahan of Roanoke, La.

Reserve Grand Champion Grey Female - JDH Miss April Rayne owned by Alyson Fontenot of Ville Platte, La. 

Grand Champion Red Female - Ferg's Elizabeth owned by Amie Ferguson of Roanoke, La.

Reserve Grand Champion Red Female - KR Miss Im Irresistable owned by Joseph Carriere of Church Point, La.

Congratulations to the champions! We'll see you at the All American!

TJBA State Show Results - Kerrville, TX

THE ABBA WOULD LIKE TO CONGRATULATE THE 2012 CHAMPIONS! Look for LJBA results at the end of the week!

Grand Champion Bull - Mr. H Reno Manso 200/0 owned by Kristen Cullers of Hungerford, Texas

Reserve Grand Champion Bull - Mr. Double A 707/0 owned by Evan Acevedo of Mission, Texas

Grand Champion Bred and Owned Bull - Mr. JMV Leroy Manso 52/1 owned by Jacob Vallenta of Alleyton, Texas

 Reserve Grand Champion Bred and Owned Bull - Mr. Ghost Rhyder owned by Desire' Boyd of Winnie, Texas

Grand Champion Grey Female - BNA Miss Nel Manso 596/1 owned by Mary Kate Walters of Brenham, Texas

Reserve Grand Champion Grey Female - Miss BER Classy 293 owned by Rhealee Spies of Burton, Texas

Grand Champion Bred and Owned Grey Female - Miss SCC Calamity Jane 37/2 owned by McKenna Schulte of Brenham, Texas

Reserve Grand Champion Bred and Owned Grey Female - Miss CBR Viva 491/0 owned by Haley Herzog of Robinson, Texas

Grand Champion Red Female - Lady H Hootie's Rose 205/1 owned by Emilie Green of Rosharon, Texas

Reserve Grand Champion Red Female - HK Ms America 980 owned by Evan Acevedo of Mission, Texas

Grand Champion Bred and Owned Red Female - SRS Miss Sassie 973 owned by Laci Leathers of Gilmer, Texas

Reserve Grand Champion Bred and Owned Red Female - Miss Infinity Gold Lotto owned by McKenzie Brightwell of Henderson, Texas

ABBA Provides Opportunities for Herd, Breed Improvement

As beef producers, you are no stranger to today’s industry challenges. Two of these that are probably at the top of your list are production efficiency and beef quality. Looking for solutions to these potential issues? Try incorporating new technologies and tools that will both improve carcass merit in your seedstock and enhance your bottom line. Not sure where to find and utilize these technologies? Look no further. The American Brahman Breeders Association (ABBA) Research and Breed Improvement Committee is committed to providing such opportunities for members. The ABBA’s National Carcass Evaluation Program, initiated in 2000, is a testament to the committee’s efforts.

Since its inception, the ABBA National Carcass Evaluation Program has facilitated the feeding, finishing and harvesting of over 900 purebred Brahman steers, providing Brahman breeders the opportunity to cooperatively market their steers while gaining meaningful information on their herds feedyard and rail performance. Not only has the program been beneficial on a whole herd basis, but it has also helped to identify and segregate outliers in the Brahman gene pool and has aided in producing “ammunition” for the ABBA to use in dispelling some of the vicious misconceptions that the breed has faced within the beef industry. This program has allowed the ABBA to prove that Brahman cattle can successfully achieve industry demands.

The program is both extremely useful and very user friendly. It provides copious data on animals that can be reflected in breeding decisions for your individual operation. The next round of the National Carcass Evaluation Program will begin the first week of December when spring born calves will be shipped to the feed yard to be fed, finished, harvested and evaluated.
But the ABBA understands this option may not be the right fit for you and your operation, and your choice really depends on your operation’s size. In an effort to provide opportunities for every Brahman breeder to improve the production efficiency and beef quality in their individual herds, the ABBA Research and Breed Improvement Committee has provided two additional options that will turn results and produce data.

Option No. 1 is utilizing DNA markers for tenderness, marbling and efficiency. The ABBA has entered into agreements with Pfizer Animal Genetics and Igenity, the primary marketers of DNA markers, and accepts data from either group. Utilizing DNA markers, especially for tenderness and marbling, is an extremely important aspect of breed improvement due to the fact that Brahman cattle take big hits for misconceptions of carcass quality. The main misconceptions are that Brahman cattle will not marble, indicating that they will not reach the Choice Quality Grade, and that their carcasses are not tender. As a whole, the Brahman breed, just like any other breed, will produce animals whose carcasses will marble and be tender. DNA markers identify the animals within the breed that will meet these industry requirements, and do so at an early age. This allows producers to identify both positive and negative representatives and make management decisions accordingly.

Before DNA markers became an option, the Warner-Bratzler shear force test was the only way to measure tenderness. This required actually harvesting animals and testing individual steaks. With DNA technology, breeders are able to get a broader sampling and are able to use feedback data to influence the progress of their herd through breeding stock testing. This program is relatively inexpensive, is an easy collection process and could put your program at the forefront in the race for improved tenderness, marbling ability and feed efficiency.

If the first two options still aren’t the right match, consider real-time ultrasounding. This procedure is widely used by cattle producers to gather carcass data that can enhance genetic predictions without requiring animals to be harvested. Over the past 20 years, studies conducted by different universities and research facilities have shown that the relationship between ultrasound measurements and actual carcass data are highly correlated. The ABBA has adopted a set of ultrasound guidelines, and accepts ultrasound data for calculations of Carcass EPDs. The ABBA has scanned control groups of cattle to derive adjustments on age and ideal scan times. The ideal scan time for Brahman cattle is between 12 and 16 months of age.

Over the past year, Brahman breeders have more than tripled the number of animals previously ultrasounded, which has identified both individual animals and genetic lines that are superior or inferior for certain carcass traits. This is just another way breeders can utilize technology to better position their programs in the industry. If this is something that you’d like to consider, the ABBA website, Brahman.org, contains a list of requirements, barn sheets and approved ultrasound technicians.

Due to its members’ participation in the carcass evaluation program and its early adoption and use of DNA technology, the ABBA was the first breed association in the U.S. to launch a Genomically-Enhanced EPD for tenderness in conjunction with Pfizer Animal Health. The continual collection of data through each of the programs listed above will allow the ABBA to combine data into a multi-trait model that will produce a high accuracy EPD for important carcass traits.

Improvements through the use of available tools and techniques combined with the built-in efficiency that the Brahman breed was founded on leaves no question that Brahmans will continue to have a viable roll in the U.S. beef industry. And with cost of production playing a large roll, taking advantage of economically relevant Brahman attributes is as critical as ever. The ABBA encourages you to utilize these advancements in technology and these programs that are at your disposal as we work together to better position our breed in the global beef industry.

Carolinas Brahman Association hosts 32nd Annual Sale

On the second Saturday of every June, Brahmans take over in Carolina Country at the Carolinas Brahman Association (CBA) annual sale, the oldest and longest running sale in the Brahman breed that was started 32 years ago by J. Lewis Patterson of Concord N.C. This year was no exception. Perfect weather welcomed consignors and buyers to Clemson University’s T. Ed Garrison Ag Center. A steak dinner welcomed attendees on Friday night, which hosted more than 100 guests.

Philip Gilstrap, the CBA president, served as the event’s auctioneer on Saturday. He reported more than 150 buyers in attendance from six states: Virginia, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and Georgia.

The sale’s high selling lot was a JDH Liberty daughter and heifer calf that fetched $5,600 and was consigned by B & P Brahmans of Alabama. This pair went home to Sunset, Louisiana’s Choctaw Cattle Co. The second high seller was a show heifer from Moreno Ranches and was purchased by Candler Cattle Co of Okeechobee, Fla. The high selling bull was consigned by IS Ranch of Florida and was sold to York, S.C. for $3,000.

The overall sale reports were very positive confirming a sale average of $2,800. Haltered heifers averaged $4,000, cow calf pairs returned an average of $3,800, bulls averaged $2,800 and F-1 cattle returned an average of $1,800. More than 150 people attended this annual event. The CBA would like to send thanks to all who attended, all who bid and all who bought theses magnificent animals.

Hunt County Fair Open Brahman Show Results

Steve Hudgins was the ABBA show committee's choice to sort the open Brahman show at the Hunt County Fair in Greenville, Texas on June 9. Results are as follows:

Grand Champion Grey Bull - Mr. DF Snowman 91/9 owned by Dyess Farms of Carson, Miss.

Reserve Grand Champion Grey Bull - Mr. H Barrett Manso 221/1 owned by Heritage Cattle Company of Hungerford, Texas

Grand Champion Red Bull - Mr HVR 0/865 owned by Happy Valley Ranch of Hallsville, Texas

Reserve Grand Champion Red Bull - KR Mr. Rojo Grande 300 owned by Ken Ramsey Brahmans of Cat Spring, Texas

Grand Champion Grey Female- BDL Ms Lindley Manso 870 owned by Savannah Allen of Sulphur Springs, Texas

Reserve Grand Champion Grey Female - +S Hermos Manso owned by Schenider Brahmans of Boerne, Texas

Grand Champion Red Female - CT Lady Rhineaux Ray 8/9 owned by Wesley Thibodeaux of Church Point, La.

Reserve Grand Champion Red Female - DB Southern Style 846/1 owned by Detering Red Brahmans of Hempstead, Texas

Congratulations to the winners!

All American Entry FAQ

Tomorrow, June 8, 2012 is the entry deadline for the All American! As a last minute update, here are the answers to some Frequently Asked Questions we’ve been receiving at the office:

Q: It is the last minute and I’m trying to send entries in via email. How do I know if the forms went through when I clicked “submit form?”

A: When you click “submit form,” a box comes up that asks your email address and name. Enter this information and click SEND (this WILL NOT automatically send the document). A new box will open that asks if you use a desktop email application like Outlook, Edora or Mail, or if you use an internet email application like yahoo, hotmail or gmail. Choose the option you use for email. If you use a desktop email, after you click ok, the form will automatically be forwarded to lwilliams@brahman.org. If you use an internet application, you MUST SAVE the form to your computer and attach the entry form document to an email and then manually send it to lwilliams@brahman.org.  If you need more help, feel free to call Libby at 713-349-0854.

Q: What should I do if I need extra stalls?

A: Extra stalls will cost you $30 each. If you would like extra stalls, send payment in with your entry form and make a note on the entry form so that we can correlate it with a stalling chart.

Q: Will Queen and Princess contestants have an extra stall?

A: Yes. In years past, Queen and Princess contestants have an extra stall for the herdsman portion of the Queen and Princess contest.  

Q: I need to be stalled with another family. How do I make this request?

A: You can make a note on your entry card, or email lwilliams@brahman.org with your request and it will be added to the stalling chart.

Q: Do I need to bring my own shavings or can I buy them once I get to the expo center?

A: Shavings will be available for purchase at the All American but you can also bring your own. Prices for shavings are set by the host state and will be announced at the All American.

Q: How early can I arrive on the grounds to set up stalls and move cattle in?

A: The facilities will be available for cattle on Monday, July 23. Cattle must be in place by 10:00 am on Tuesday, July 24.

Q: Which hotel is the host hotel?

A: We will not have a host hotel this year; all events are taking place on the grounds of the Heart of Oklahoma Expo Center. All of the hotels that are listed are in the same general area which is across town from the grounds.

Q: Can my family bring a camper to stay in?

A: Yes, camper spaces cost $20 per day. There is plenty of camper space, so no reservations are necessary. Grounds staff will be available at your time of arrival to help you move your camper in.

Q: Is there a rule about cooking or bringing food onto the grounds?

A: There is no cooking allowed INSIDE the barn, but you can bring food in and cook on the grounds.

Q: When do I buy banquet tickets? Do I send payment for them in with my entry money?

A: Some state shows require pre-purchase of banquet tickets, but at the All American, you’ll purchase your banquet tickets upon registration. The entry form only asks for a number of attendees. The cost of tickets will be announced by the host state at the All American.  

Q: Where can I find weight and measure parameters for the All American?

A: The weight and measure parameters, along with as set of associated rules, are listed on page 11 of the All American entry packet.

Q: What should I wear on show day?

A: You should plan on wearing a collared, button down, long sleeve shirt and jeans. Please don’t enter the show ring wearing white shoes (like tennis shoes). Leather boots are your best bet. Also, be careful about hats. Caps are never acceptable in the show ring, but depending on the judge, you may be able to wear a cowboy hat. Some say that if the judge wears a cowboy hat, you can wear one too but be aware that different judges have different preferences. There is an AJBA dress code listed under general rules and regulations in the All American entry packet.

Q: What should I wear for leadership contests?

A: It depends on the contest.  If you are participating in the public speaking contest, girls should wear dressy or business professional attire and boys are encouraged to wear a coat and tie. If you are a queen or princess contestant, dressy or business professional attire should be worn at the interview, welcome supper, public speaking contest, awards presentation and any other All American events you may attend. Other contests, like the herdsman quiz and quiz bowl, are casual events, but you should still try to look nice.  

Q: I’m an AJBA member coming to the All American to compete in the leadership contests but don’t have any animals entered. Can I show someone else’s animal in the showmanship contest?

A: No. To compete in the showmanship contest, the animal you show in that contest must be registered under YOUR (the showman’s) name and entered at the All American.

Q:Which leadership contests require entries to be sent in by the June 8 deadline?

A: If you want to compete in the public speaking contest and the queen and princess contest, we need to receive your entry cards for those events by June 8, as well as your cattle show and showmanship entries. If you know you will be entering a photo and/or poster, you can send the entry card in for those contest, but you won’t be penalized if you would like to enter them at the time of registration at the All American.

Q: The Queen and Princess public speaking contest rules state a different speech length requirement than the regular public speaking contest. How do we handle this?

A: Both the regular public speaking contest speech length requirements and the Queen and Princess contest public speaking speech length requirements are considered the same. Junior: 3-6 minutes, Intermediate, Senior and College: 5 to 10 minutes.

Q: What is the best way to study for the herdsman quiz?

A: Questions will be written based on information from The American Brahman history book, the American Brahman Review magazine, The Brahman Journal magazine and from Brahman.org. Use these tools to your advantage. If you would like to purchase a history book, you can request it from the ABBA office for $10.

Q: Why does the AJBA require photo contest entries be submitted in an electronic form (CD or DVD) as well as a hard copy?  

A: The AJBA and the ABBA are working to grow their photo bank for use on promotional pieces like advertising and brochures. We realize that in the past, our youth have submitted some amazing photos, and would like the opportunity to use these photos to promote our breed to the public!

Q: What contests must I enter to be eligible for the All-Around Contest?

A: You must enter cattle show classes, showmanship, the herdsman quiz, the public speaking contest and the photography and poster contests to be eligible for the All-Around.

If you think of any more questions, feel free to contact Libby at the ABBA office. Remember, tomorrow, June 8 is the entry deadline! Make sure to get your entries sent in to the office. If you send entries after this deadline, you are subject to a late fee of $20 per animal. The final deadline is June 22.

Enjoy your summer shows! We look forward to seeing you at the All American in Shawnee, Okla!

Okie Extravaganza Results • June 2 • Idabel, Oklahoma

The 2012 Okie Extravaganza in Idabel, Okla. was judged by Marcus Shackelford of Florida and took place on June 2. The results are as follows:

Grand Champion Grey Bull - Mr. DF Snowman 91/9 owned by Dyess Farms of Carson, Mississippi

Reserve Grand Champion Grey Bull - JDH Gene Manso 177/8 owned by J.D. Hudgins, Inc. of Hungerford, Texas

Grand Champion Grey Female - Lady H Bailey Manso 87/9 owned by Jenna Campbell of Alvin, Texas

Reserve Grand Champion Grey Female - Miss B-F 175/0 owned by Lanna Thibodeaux of Church Point, Louisiana

Grand Champion Red Bull - 5M King Tut 697/0 owned by 5M Farms of Ruston, Louisiana

Reserve Grand Champion Red Bull - JDH Sir Stratton Manso 824/4 owned by J.D. Hudgins, Inc. of Hungerford, Texas and Dyess Farms of Carson, Mississippi
Grand Champion Red Female - KF Millionairess Success 9/9 owned by K Bar Farms of Amite, Louisiana

Reserve Grand Champion Red Female - 5M Miss Rojo Barb 307/0 owned by L2 Ranch of Branford, Florida and 5M Farms of Ruston, Louisiana

Congratulations to our winners!