ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Host Al launches Digging Deeper Ag Chats with Al for 2026 after a first full year of podcasts, outlining plans for more practical guests and more local producers, plus monthly segments from Chelsea (Herd Solutions) with veterinary/animal health updates and Morgs (Elders) with livestock market updates. At the Red Meat Conference in Gippsland, Al interviews Frank Archer, co-principal of Landfall Angus in Tasmania, a fifth-generation business celebrating 150 years, selling Angus seedstock nationally. Archer discusses Angus influence in southern herds, selecting genetics to match production objectives, and the importance of pasture utilization, noting fertility (especially days-to-calving EBVs) as the top profit driver and growth as second. He shares Landfall’s herd scale (about 3,500 calvings across Tasmania and NSW), use of genomics and embryo transfer to increase selection pressure, and the challenges of measuring bull longevity. Archer also describes two years using Halter virtual fencing to support rotational grazing, improve labor efficiency and lifestyle, explains the vibration/beep/pulse cues, and emphasizes management and fertility practices such as early calving and multi-sire joining.
00:00 Welcome Back 2026
01:05 Meet Frank Archer
01:33 Landfall Angus Story
02:54 What Counts As Angus
04:59 Breeding For Different Markets
06:13 Objectives And Management
08:10 Fertility EBVs Matter
09:46 Growth EBVs And Discounts
11:12 Stud Scale And Genomics
13:02 Selection Paper To Phenotype
14:25 Docility And New EBVs
16:04 Bull Longevity Challenge
21:03 Bull And Cow Lifespan Targets
23:57 Maintenance vs Production
25:06 Fat Cows and Profit
25:59 Emissions and Efficiency
26:24 Why Virtual Fencing
28:26 How Halter Works
31:13 Effectiveness and Issues
34:18 Costs and Lifestyle Gains
36:28 Pasture and Fertility Wins
40:28 Bull Mistakes Lesson
41:25 Advice to Younger Self
42:45 Final Thanks and Credits
