ONE in 20 Angus bulls sold this spring will be carriers of fawn calf syndrome unless tested and withdrawn from sale.
But Angus Australia has described the incidence of the syndrome - a recessive genetic defect that can result in deformed calves - in the Australian Angus herd as "low and easily manageable".
Angus Australia chief executive Peter Parnell said Angus breeders had been aware of the condition for many years and had been actively selecting against the bloodlines known to carry the recessive genetic condition, formally known as contractural arachnodactyly, or CA.
"Consequently, the frequency of carrier animals in the current Australian Angus population is quite low and easily manageable," Dr Parnell said.
Based on the pedigree links between current animals and the known origins of CA in the Angus population, Angus Australia has been able to accurately estimate the expected number of carriers of the CA allele in the current population, he said.
"For example, among the 2008-born animals, representing the majority of bulls for sale in the 2010 bull selling season, AA anticipates 4.8 per cent are carriers of the CA allele," he said.
Breeders can protect themselves by using bulls tested and proven free of known genetic defects.
Coolana Angus principal Mark Gubbins has tested his bulls ahead of Coolana's sale on Thursday and believes it's the stud industry's responsibility to prevent the spread of genetic defects.
"I've taken the view I won't knowingly sell an AM (arthrogryposis multiplex) or NH (neuropathic hydrocephalus) carrier bull and I have taken the same approach to CA," he said.
