The Belmont Red

The Belmont Red evolved as a result of crossbreeding experiments conducted from 1954 at the Belmont Research Station, Rockhampton, to evaluate the role of the Africander and Brahman breeds for beef production in Northern Australia.  Imported Africander (A) and Brahman (B) bulls and Australian Hereford (H) and Polled Shorthorn (S) bulls were mated at random to Herefordand Polled Shorthorn cows. These matings produced essentially three distinct genetic lines of cattle based on the genetic differences between the sire breeds: 1/2 Africander: 1/4 Hereford: 1/4 Shorthorn (Africander cross), 1/2 Brahman: 1/4 Hereford: 1/4 Shorthorn (Brahman cross) and 1/2 Hereford: 1/2Shorthorn (British cross). Results from the first (F1) and second (F2) generations showed that the fertility of the Africander crosses were superior to that of the Brahman and the British crosses.

Selection in all lines, on performance viz. weight gains, tick resistance and fertility under pasture conditions, only commenced in 1965 in the third (F3) and subsequent generations. This was more than a decade after the commencement of the Belmont Crossbreeding Programme.

Improving fertility through selection is very difficult and slow. Therefore exploiting the high fertility of the Africander cross in the predominantly Brahman and its derived breeds and crosses in the Northern herds was considered to be very important and of significant benefit to the Industry. Only the Africander cross was therefore released in 1968 to the Industry as the Belmont Red.

At its inception the objective for the Belmont was to blend an average of ½ the genes from tropical genotypes and ½ from temperate genotypes. Tropical genotypes contribute largely to the adaptive traits such as easy calving, parasite resistance, disease resistance, heat tolerance and hardiness, while temperate genotypes contribute mainly towards carcase and productive traits. Both the Africander and the British contribute towards fertility and meat quality. The Africander component, and therefore the higher fertility of the Belmont, distinguishes it from other tropical composites based entirely on the Brahman. Therefore the Belmont regulations require that the African contribution must not fall below ¼ and the Indicus genotype must not exceed ¼.  The regulations therefore allow for the following gene content: (1) African Sanga genotype  (Africander or similar) - max.1/2, min 1/4: (2) Temperate genotypes (British or European) - max. 1/2, min. 1/2. Indicus genotype (Brahman or similar) - max 1/4:

Although fundamentally the Belmont remains an Africander cross, it allows for and incorporates a very wide genetic base. The herd book remains open and grading up to pure Belmont can simply be accomplished in three back crosses to a pure Belmont. This allows the Belmont Breeders to tap into a broad genetic base and retain desirable gene combinations from the parent breeds. With the correct selection programmes, the productive and desirable gene combinations can be accumulated and fixed. As a requirement for registration, animals must be performance tested for at least weight gains in a valid and recognized performance test such as Breedplan.

The Belmont Society was the first to adopt rigid rules on objective selection for only quantitative productive and adaptive traits, and reject subjective assessments based on traditional show ring standards. It pioneered standards based on objectively measured economically important performance traits for the showing of the breed. Emphasis is placed on objectively measured traits;  (a) performance (growth, fertility, carcase yield, meat quality), (b) adaptive (parasite resistance), (c) managerial (temperament, polled), and (d) structural soundness.

The Belmont was first evaluated in co-operative trials on commercial properties in the early 1970’s. It was later extensively evaluated in a large number of trials across Queensland, other States and Overseas.

Economic analyses of data collected at the Brigalow Research Station demonstrated that the Belmont herd produced 20% more income than the Hereford herd and 11% more than the Siemental herd. In 2003 the Co-operative Research Centre (CRC) for cattle and meat quality analyzed a very large volume of data collected over northern Australia. The economic analysis proved that using Belmonts on high grade Brahman herds would increase gross margins by up to $24 per adult equivalent when grass fed, and up to $76/adult equivalent when grain finished.

Long-term trials comparing the Belmont with the Bonsmara in the Republic of South Africa commenced in the early 1980’s. Recent analyses of this very large volume of data showed that the only significant difference between these two breeds is that the Belmonth as a shorter inter-calving interval (a fertility trait) than the Bonsmara.  There were no significant differences between the breeds for a number of objectively measured economically important traits such as weight gains, carcase measurements and meat quality. 

Crossbreeding research, using high grade and pure Brahman cows, has shown that the Belmont bulls produce weaners equal to those by the British (Hereford, Angus) and Limousine sires and better than those by the Brahman derived composite breeds (Santa Gertrudis etc), or Tuli and Boran sires.

The Belmont has been the most consistent winner of the National Ausmeat Trials. Following comprehensive evaluation by the CRC, the Belmont is the only tropical breed that is accepted for Meat Standards Australia (MSA) carcase grading on equal footing with the temperate breeds, such as the Angus, Shorthorn and Hereford.

All the results, including comprehensive economic analyses demonstrate that, because of the adaptability of the Belmont to harsh environments, Belmont sires should be used in crossbreeding with the Brahman in the northern regions of Australia, in preference to the un-adapted temperate breed sires. Furthermore, in comparison to Brahman derived composite breeds, the Belmonts superior growth, fertility, high meat quality and docility make it an outstanding sire breed to exploit Hybrid vigour and improve production in predominantly Brahman herds in the subtropical and tropical regions of Australia.

The Belmontis about a philosophy of breeding highly productive, easy care cattle, adapted to their environment, rather than the traditional notion of a breed. It has undergone extensive scientific and commercial objective evaluations against many breeds in a wide range of environments, both domestically and overseas. The results have been extensively documented.

They prove conclusively and beyond doubt that the breed is;

in feedlots and on pasture in the northern and temperate environments.

By:  Dr. G W Seifert  Ph.D. (Anim.Genetics & Statistics). I.S.U; M.Agric.Sci.(Parasitology). Qld; B.Sc.Agric.(Anim.Husb.). Pret.: