Controlling inbreeding, a major challenge for continued progress
20 February 2024
Meat, milk and genetics: the winning combination at GAEC BARAUDERIE
19 March 2024As this article went to press, we learned of the death of Jean-Marc TRENTHOMAS, a fervent defender and enthusiast of the Blonde d’Aquitaine and the Basque region. AURIVA joins the entire Blonde d’Aquitaine team in expressing its deepest sympathy to her family and friends.
EARL GURE ARTEAN, located in Labets Biscay in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques region, is the fruit of the hard work of the TRENTHOMAS family. The farm, created in 1992 as GAEC MAITRENIA, was joined in 2000 by two brothers, Jean-Marc and Patrick. The arrival of nephew Pierre in December 2022 adds a new dimension to this agricultural heritage.
Alongside the beef business, a SCEA dedicated to the production of Bayonne Ham completes the farm’s activities. Attached to tradition and to their roots but also resolutely focused on progress it’s only natural that farmers perpetuate Blonde d’Aquitaine breeding. At the EARL GURE ARTEAN we’re committed to the region “The Blonde d’Aquitaine is the breed of the Basque Country, it must be defended and maintained”. and thishis commitment includes involvement in the selection process: breeding early or hornless meat bulls, testing… Find out in this article how these breeders have developed their business through meticulous work on reproduction and selection.
- EARL GURE ARTEAN
- 72 ha (56ha permanent grassland, seed corn, triticale, sorghum, grain corn for livestock)
- 81 Blonde d’Aquitaine calvings
- 120 sows for Bayonne Ham production
- OS membership and VA4 performance check
- 100% AI
- Age on
st
calving: 32 months - Average VIF: 380d
- Male: males sent to a breeding station each year (± 3) and sold for breeding (± 5-6) and grazer production.
- Female: herd renewal (25%)
- Direct sales: cull cows (12-13/year) and 4-month-old females (4/year)
Nutrition, reproduction and performance
The farm stands out for its meticulous approach to reproduction, which they have sought to improve in recent years, with an average LPI of 380 days and an age at 1st calving of 32 months, with 100% of calvings from AI. Their calf performance is also very good, with PAT 210j above the breed average at 334 kg for males and 321 kg for females.
GURE ARTEAN breeding has evolved over the years, both in terms of facilities and practices. Recent investments have improved working conditions and enhanced the overall health of the herd by reducing health problems.
Genetic selection: Early meat and hornless meat
For breeders, the first three areas of herd selection are fertility, milk and breed qualities, which are already fairly well established in the herd: “Color is very important, we’re looking for cows with beautiful headlights and to improve the finesse and nuance of our animals. It’s important not to slacken off on these criteria..
Muscular development, growth and power are very marked in the herd. For a long time, the breeders have been working on a line of precocious beef cows, a line that has developed with several outstanding cows in the herd, such as CHANTILLY (NICODEME/VAILLANT), which has produced two precocious beef bulls, AURIVA:
GLACON
and
HAPPY
. The breeders also bred the early-breeding bull AURIVA :
VASCO
.
VASCO 2004
GLACON 2011
HAPPY 2012
To diversify their herd, the breeders then moved away from this early meat line and entrusted AURIVA with 4 of the herd’s flagship cows. This scheme is now being implemented in embryo transplantation at Denguin.
Breeders have turned to introducing a small hornless core into their herds to replace the early meat core. The sire of the RELAX PP bull (MACAO/BRAVOUR), MACAO is the son of the GURE ARTEAN bred ITXASOA cow. On the farm, all the females are dehorned, so it was natural for the breeders to turn to hornless with their AURIVA technician:
“It’s a genetic choice we’ve made to evolve and, above all, innovate.
.
ITXASOA has produced several daughters and granddaughters in the breeding program.
"The Blond program is evolving well, with quality bulls being offered to us every year. In fact, that's why we carry out testing: the benefit is twofold, it allows us to evolve and to participate in our own way to help the program evolve!
Other cow lines have also contributed to the success of the kennel, such as the PELOTE line, which has left its mark on the breed’s qualities. This cow also had a daughter with LEO, VANILLE, who gave birth to the bull DESSERT (RUBIO/LEO), a MN bull who has left his mark on several farms in the Basque Country. A dozen of his daughters and granddaughterss-daughters were bred for the AURIVA scheme, in which breeders are heavily involved, in particular by producing
directional couplings
and
test AIs every year:
Download our BLONDE D'AQUITAINE catalog
