The magnificent Veldmaster bull pictured above and bred by Cas Breedt of South Africa is not the result of complicated “modern scientific” breeding. Nowhere did magical blood combinations (3/8 of this and 5/8 of that), EPDs, Genomics and blood cleansing rituals (F1 to F4 / SP) feature.
Science in the true sense of the word (“organised common sense”) was applied:
- An acceptance that environment dictates genotype. Every environment requires a specific genotype.
- Depending on environment, specific breed combinations will result in the most productive genotype.
- There is so much variation within a breed that it is imperative to identify the the best individuals.
- Once the desired combination (breeds; individuals) is attained (possibly the first cross) the herd is “closed” and natural selection accelerated. This entails “reading” Nature correctly (genetically discerning selection criteria) and accelerating the process (AI; Two-year calving).
- The genetically discerning selection criteria emphasised were Corrected ICP (cow fertility) and Full Package / 12 Month Maturity (Bulls). This results in a positive genetic correlation with ALL other important traits.
What Cas achieved so simply is something too difficult for conventional “science”.