Tombstone is the result of an elite embryo purchased from the heart of the McKenzie family's Maungahina Stud in New Zealand. He packs a punch on pedigree and performance, being in the top 5% of the breed for 200-day, 400-day and 600-day weight EBVs (estimated breeding values), top 1% for Scrotal Size, top 5% for Carcase Weight, and top 10% of the breed for Retail Beef Yield (RBY). He is in the top 10% of the breed for the Domestic Terminal Index, and top 5% for the Export Termindal Index.
Tombstone achieved the third highest selection index value (out of 25 bulls) in our meat research through the University of Newcastle in 2023. This measured intra muscular fat (IMF), fat melting point (FMP), Oleic acid, ALA, DPA, EPA+DHA+DPA and Ʃ Omega-3. Recent research with beef (1Otto et al. 2022) and lamb (2Otto et al. 2023) indicate that meat consumers demand healthier, safer, and more consistent beef of high eating quality. Intramuscular fat content (IMF), fat melting point (FMP), and omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (≥C20 n-3 LC-PUFA) composition are associated with consumer satisfaction and key eating quality attributes because of their associations with taste, smell, texture, tenderness, flavour, and juiciness (3Garmyn 2020; 4Mwangi et al., 2022).
Currently, the Australian and global beef industry, supported by research bodies, has shifted its attention to finding ways of producing meat of consistent eating quality and health-promoting ≥C20 n-3 LC-PUFA that play essential roles in human disease prevention (5Patel et al., 2022; 6Malau-Aduli et al., 2022). The essential omega-3 fatty acids of interest include alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) which are generally low in beef and lamb compared to fish (7Calder 2014; 8Pewan et al., 2021). However, meat also contains saturated fatty acids (SFA) such as palmitic, myristic, and lauric acids, which are the main contributors to blood plasma cholesterol and low-density lipoproteins (LDL); two key concerns for beef consumers (9Wood et al., 2008).
The aim of genetic selection is to give preference to high-performing individuals in the herd to be parents of the next generation so that heritable gains in improvement can be passed on. Early selection decisions based on actual laboratory tested meat quality traits while the animals are young provides better precision and accuracy than values estimated from herd averages after slaughter.
