Black Box Co

🌱 Event Recap: Fertility and Genomics in Focus 🌱 Last Thursday, our Genomics Client Manager, Elsie Dodd, had the honour of presenting alongside Dr. Bill Roughan from South East Country Vets, and Vanessa Smolders from Healthy Land and Water, to a full house of Brisbane Valley producers at the Toogoolawah Golf Club. The event was funded by McDonald's Australia, as a part of their T2T initiative, which aims to support Australian beef producers in measuring their farm's emissions baseline and developing strategies to reduce emissions moving forward. 🐄🌍 The session offered invaluable insights into herd fertility and genomics strategies that can directly impact the bottom line. Here are some key takeaways: 🔺Improved Fertility = Efficient Production = Reduced Carbon Emissions🔺 🔹 Be proactive by identifying 'free loaders' through pregnancy testing: Early detection of non-productive animals helps reduce waste and increase herd efficiency, reducing your carbon footprint by default. 🔹 Take a multifaceted approach to boost production: From genomics to herd management, increasing farm efficiency is about adopting diverse strategies for maximum impact. If they're not contributing to your herds genetic value, or producing you a calf a year, are they worth keeping? 🔹 Maintaining Body Condition is KEY: Keeping your cattle in optimal body condition is essential and should not be underestimated. Some herds have witnessed greater than 40% variation in pregnancy rates due to poor body condition at calving, impacting the cow's ability to wet re-breed. 🔹 Bull Genetics vs. Bull Structure: A bull might be genetically superior, but is he structurally sound? Structural health, such as feet and ability to serve, is just as crucial for field performance as genetic potential. A big thank you to event sponsors, organisers, and attendees for making this event a huge success. Together, we’re working toward a more sustainable and efficient future for the Australian beef industry! 🌾

Lucy McGilvray and Elsie Dodd were in Roma last week for the 20th anniversary of the Young Beef Producers’ (YBP) Forum, along with 350 other enthusiastic participants from across the beef supply chain. Wearing many hats, Lucy was attending for her own professional development, as a YBP committee member, and as a Black Box employee. She also shared her insights on a panel as a current participant in the Advancing Beef Leaders (ABL) program. As an alumni of ABL, Elsie also shared her experiences in the program, with both talking about how it has helped equip their career at Black Box and within the broader industry. The event was a family affair for Lucy, with her parents, Angus and Sally McGilvray, presenting to attendees on the importance of benchmarking and data collection, and the usage of data to drive decisions and improve performance. The McGilvrays were speaking from experience – they operate Womblebank Cattle Co, comprised of a 24,000-hectare beef breeding enterprise near Injune and beef growing properties at Hannaford and Moonie. They are big believers in crossbreeding and use Black Box to compare the breed’s performance in growth, fertility and carcase to understand what works best for not only them, but the feedlots and markets they are supplying into. Another highlight of YBPF was the announcement of a new bursary in honour of Tim Emery, that will allow young beef industry stakeholders to travel to the event free of charge from anywhere in Australia “Tim is such a great ambassador for the event, and a huge supporter of Black Box, so it was fabulous to see his dedication to the industry recognised,” Lucy said.

We were proud to sponsor this year’s Lardner Park Steer Trial in Victoria – the only grass-fed steer trial in Australia, which is also compliant with Coles QA Grass Fed Program. Producers from across Australia are encouraged to participate, with data collected crush-side throughout the trial uploaded onto Black Box dashboards, providing insights and information in easy-to-use charts. Account Manager, Jess Sampson, was at Lardner Park today for the final weighing before the steers are sent to JBS on Monday as part of the Coles Grass Fed Program. Jess spoke to Anthony from Lardner Park and Trevor from Gallagher, who both shared some insights from the trial. Quick snapshot! 🐮90 steers 🟩Six months on the same feed ⚖️ADG 1.26kg

🎉It’s National Ag Day and a perfect day to celebrate the people and businesses across the entire supply chain – from seedstock producers to small beef operators and commercial enterprises, lot feeders and processors – who play such a critical role in contributing to Australia’s beef industry. 👏🥩Thank you for all the work you do each day to produce the world-class beef enjoyed both here in Australia and around the world. #AgDayAU

👩💻WEBINAR RECORDING NOW AVAILABLE We had a great turn-out for our webinar earlier this week, which was tailored for beef producers from the southern states. If you were unable to attend on the day, you can watch the recording here 👇 https://lnkd.in/gvrQDvKt Edwina and Jess were excited to share more information about our new Southern Data Pack, as well as how Black Box can help producers and feedlots use saleyard data easily! Thanks to those who joined us on the day and for your great questions!

Our Client Manager, Lucy McGilvray, is making strides in the Advancing Beef Leaders program—a unique initiative for emerging leaders in the beef industry! After a recent supply chain tour through Toowoomba and Brisbane, Lucy shared her insights on the power of strong leadership, open communication, and team culture. Read more about it here - https://lnkd.in/gAbiHH3H

With 11 bull sales in just a few months, this season has been a whirlwind of incredible results! From record-breaking bids to the debut of RePRO BI-GBVs (Genomic Breeding Values), each sale showcased the power of data-driven genetics for northern productivity and profitability. Meg gives her take on sales in our 2024 Northern Bull Sale Wrap Up Read it here - https://lnkd.in/g2xXhAAp

📢LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER – WEBINAR THIS WEDNESDAY! Are you a southern beef producer wanting to learn more about how Black Box can help your operation? It’s not too late to register for a quick half-hour webinar covering: 🐮Our new Southern Grass-fed Beef Data Pack 📈Saleyard data 💲Preparing for weaner sales 📅 Wednesday, 6 November ⏰12:30pm (AEDT) 👉🏼 Register here https://lnkd.in/gsVWqGci

Are you a Southern producer and wondering how you can utilise your historical data to make decisions for the upcoming Weaner Sales? Jump onto our Webinar with Edwina & Jess next Wednesday the 6th at 12:30pm Hear about the launch of our new Southern Beef producer pack & drill into some data insights. Wether you're a breeder or a trader we have a tool to help you make the best decisions for your business. We will be covering: - Southern Beef Pack - Utilising Saleyard Data, Agrinous & Outcross - Using this data to prepare for the weaner sales So grab a cuppa and dial in! If you are unable to make it but would like the info, please still register & we will email you a recording of the Webinar. https://lnkd.in/gDCib5KN

Last week, our Client Account Manager, Jess Sampson, bravely shared her breast cancer story with Cargill employees as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Jess was one of four ladies, representing Australia’s only young women’s breast cancer charity, So Brave, to help raise awareness of breast cancer and the work the charity does to empower and educate young women and fundraise for research. We are extremely proud of Jess’s willingness to openly share her journey to help educate other people. Cargill is raising money for So Brave for the remainder of October. To donate, click below 👇 https://lnkd.in/gfi_yntr