Emeritus Professor Rex Butterfield was the former professor of Veterinary Anatomy at Sydney University. He was 92 years of age.

Dr Butterfield published extensively in relation to the beef cattle industry. His early work showed that muscles in beef carcases occur in proportion, and this is the basis for current beef carcase and live cattle appraisal systems.

As well as working on cattle growth and carcase patterns, Dr Butterfield had a keen interest in how modern cattle were selected.

He showed concern that some seed-stock producers were getting their selection priorities mixed up. His often heard quote that dead calves have distressingly poor growth rates reflected this concern.

What was he referring to?

Seed-stock producers who breed bulls to go into commercial clients’ herds have informal quality levels that they ascribe to.

They are the belief that the cattle they breed will perform to a standard they believe acceptable.

Standards vary, and a visiting different seed-stock herds shows this.

Seed-stock breeders must consider the traits that affect function and performance in their cattle.

The soundness of the cattle, their temperament, their ease of calving, and their ability to raise a calf every year are paramount.

When Dr Butterfield made that statement many years ago, he was referring to the selection of heavy carcases and high growth rates at the expense of other important traits.

What he meant was we shouldn’t loose track of the need for cattle that can calve unassisted.

If we excuse cattle their inability to calve by themselves, just so we can get a so-called higher performing animal, we have got things quite wrong.

Mother Nature would have a fit!

Dr Butterfield also said if seedstock (or stud) producers excuse a fault in their cattle, then their clients must be prepared to do the same in their own commercial herds.

If a seedstock producer is prepared to pull calves under the excuse that the calves are worth so much money, he shouldn’t be surprised when his clients say behind his back how many calves they pull by that bloodline.

Occasionally motor vehicles are recalled because a fault is found that may cause them to break down.

They’re always unexpected, because the level of quality assurance in most car manufacturers is high.

A run of shock absorbers that aren’t quite as straight as they should be, would be picked up early, cost someone a lot of money, and rectified before being fitted to the vehicle.

I doubt Toyota would say: fit them anyway, and we’ll see what happens!

Seed-stock breeders need the same high level of quality. The survival traits that affect longevity and basic fertility need low tolerance levels to faults.

These are traits that are inherent in high levels in species in the wild, because they are the ones that are selected for first.

The rules of natural selection need to be revisited every now and then by producers selecting and culling cattle on what they think is a good thing.

Dr Butterfield was a pioneer in veterinary anatomy. Like many greats in the beef industry, he started his illustrious career studying agriculture.