The proof of a sire’s value is always in his progeny. Quietly confident that Picasso’s calves would provide what our customers are looking for – polled Brahmans showing good breed character – we are now delighted to report that both females and males surpassed our expectations at their first visual assessment.
Our goal is to always supply the genetics required for our commercial customers to enjoy business success. Going forward, recording Picasso’s calves’ information with BREEDPLAN will enable us to match genotype data with ongoing visual appraisal so we can get the best out of our matings.
Picasso has proved himself to be a powerful addition to our stud. Easily covering his cows in the last two seasons, he held up extremely well in the challenging hot and dry conditions of 2019 and has matured into an extremely impressive sire. Here are early shots of his first progeny…
Picasso progeny phenotype
Picasso’s calves are strongly aligning with our 7 Elite Breeding Attributes. They have quiet temperaments, are long and show an abundance of natural thickness, express tidy underlines and showed tremendous do-ability through the tough conditions in 2019. All these features demonstrate strong breed character, which we know is a high priority for our customers.
The females are displaying plenty of femininity with their long, clean necks and clean, angular shoulders. The males are showing strong masculinity and the promise of top quality, with good muscle definition and large humps.
We are particularly impressed with how Picasso is stamping his offspring with nice short, broad heads, hooded eyes and strong, wide muzzles. They all look well balanced and structurally correct, with incredible loose skin and a good combination of muscle and softness.
At this stage, we plan to retain all Picasso’s female progeny. Most of the bulls will be sold but we’ve noted a few potential sires that we’ll monitor with a view to keeping.
More about Elmo Picasso 1023/7 (P)
I first wrote about Elmo Picasso 1023/7 (P) in mid-2018, highlighting the reasons for our high expectations of him as part of Rockley’s breeding program. Most impressive was his ‘built-in’ fertility as evidenced in his bloodlines and large scrotal circumference as a youngster. We also knew that Picasso was homozygous polled – meaning a very high percentage of his progeny will be polled, making him even more valuable in meeting our customers’ needs.
To discuss any aspect of our – or your own – breeding practices, please contact me (Ashley) on 0408 780 810.
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