|
 Katuna Courageous (Corey)
Scores "Double-Double"
Four Stars for Tenderness and
Marbling Genes
Coolville, OH, USA, and Goulburn,
NSW, Australia -
Genetic DNA marker testing has identified the
purebred Murray Grey bull, Katuna Courageous (U8),
nicknamed "Corey," as one very special bovine. In
cattle producer terms, this young sire is a "Double-
Double." In scientific terms, Katuna Courageous
is a
"double homozygous" bull for the favorable genes of
meat marbling and tenderness.
This finding means that Corey carries two
copies of the favorable form of the GeneSTARÒ bovine
marbling gene PLUS two copies of the favorable form of the GeneSTARÒ
bovine tenderness gene.
Because the genes reside on totally separate and different chromosomes, they
are not highly linked. Fewer
than 5 % of all cattle on earth are double-double for these traits, making
Corey highly prized, not only
among Murray Grey sires, but also throughout the cattle world. Since Corey is
a double-double, each of his
sons or daughters is guaranteed to inherit one copy of the marbling gene and
one copy of the tenderness
gene, with the companion copy of each respective gene coming from the mother
of the calf. Hence, all of
Corey's offspring will be at least single-single, or heterozygous, for
marbling and tenderness, as a minimum.
The testing company, Genetic Solutions Pty.
Ltd., uses its high-tech GeneSTARÒ diagnostic DNA tests
to
determine the presence of these traits on bovine chromosomes. It posts the
results on its global public
access GeneSTARÒ
web site page at http://www.geneticsolutions.com.au.
On September 23, 2003,
Genetic Solutions posted the results for Corey - "a double-double."
He is the only Murray Grey bull
residing in North America reported to date, to carry the unique double-double
genetics.
The highly coveted, but seldom realized,
double-double genetics are important traits to beef cattle
producers, and to meat producers and consumers as well. Numerous
surveys of consumers by the beef
industry in North America have shown that meat eaters want a consistent
product that is flavorful and
tender. Marbling imparts the desired flavor characteristic. Identification of
beef sires carrying these traits,
to pass on to their offspring, allows producers to select the best sires to
use in improving their herds.
Ultimately, the consumer of meat from those improved herds will be obtaining
the beef he wants, every
time he buys meat at his supplier or grocery.
This DNA marker technology is already
revolutionizing the beef industry. Major cattle operations such as
the King Ranch in Texas and three DroughtmasterÔ breed studs in
Australia are screening their sire
batteries (several hundred bulls per battery) for those bulls that have the
most copies of the favorable
genes. Only those bulls that score high will be maintained as stud sires.
Katuna
Courageous was calved at Katuna Murray Grey stud on
October 4, 1999. Breeder David
Llewellyn of Katuna decided to mate one of his best
cows, Kaltara Nora 388, to Orcadia
Park Knight
Rider. The result, some nine months later, was the arrival of Corey. At his
only show appearance, when
he was 11 months old, Corey won the 9-12 month bull class at the Royal
Melbourne Show in September,
2000. Then an impressive 1197 pounds (544 kgs) and with a rib eye muscle area (EMA) of 14.3
square
inches (92 square cm), he was described by the judge Jodie Harvey Foster, as
"An outstanding stud sire
prospect.....able to meet any market."
When Corey was 13 months old John and Mary
Ellen Wozny of Spectrum Farm, Coolville, OH
purchased
him. He then entered quarantine to begin the long journey to the USA, and
arrived in Ohio in May, 2001.
Spectrum Farm brought Corey to the USA as a live-animal import, making him
the first Murray Grey bull in
about 20 years to enter the USA from Australia. Corey was destined, right
from the start of his new life at
Spectrum, to be a stud sire for the Spectrum brood cowherd. He is now the
junior herd sire in residence.
One of the key goals of Spectrum Farm in bringing him to the USA was to
increase the size and scale of
their Murray Grey purebreds, without adversely affecting efficiency in production
or ease of management,
traits for which the Murray Grey breed is renowned. Now a maturing sire
approaching four years of age,
Corey stands 60 inches (152 cm) at the hip and weighs 2700 pounds (1227 kgs).
Corey's semen was collected in Australia prior
to his departure, and then again, after he arrived in the
USA. Large quantities have been shipped to South America, where Brazilian
cattle producers are using his
genetics to improve the quality of their beef animals. Small supplies of
semen have been kept in Australia,
for sale within that country, and in North America, for sale to beef
producers here. Spectrum Farm
genetics, in the form of embryos sired by Corey, out of the Spectrum cow
named Daylily, were purchased
by Quebracho ranch, headquartered in Asuncion, Paraguay. These embryo
transfer calves are now about
four months old, and are the first purebred Murray Grey beef cattle in
Paraguay; see
http://www.quebracho.net/
- end -
Contacts:
Australia - David Llewellyn,
Katuna Murray Grey Stud, Goulborn,
NSW 2580, 011-61-24-848-1240,
E-mail: davidllewellyn@ozemail.com.au
Website: www.ozemail.com.au/~davidllewellyn/
USA - John and Mary
Ellen Wozny, Spectrum Farm, PO Box 112, Coolville,
OH 45723, 740-667-6191,
E-mail:
wozny@frognet.net
Website:
www.spectrumfarm.com
|
)