Northern Focus You have just got to look at their calves is what I tell people, because the bulls are going to do it tough, that’s a given in those first couple of years and is just natural coming up here. But you just look at their progeny, and the bulls pick up after a couple of years and are just like any other bull. Julie: When the bulls first arrive here, they will just stay in the yards or a feedlot pen. Normally they are up here before the end of September so they’re not coming up into ridiculous heat, which is probably a good thing. They stay on hay in the feedlot for a few weeks and then then they might just go out into a little paddock, not into the general population. When did you start using Angus and why did you start using Angus? Jeremy: We started cross-breeding originally, but about 20 years ago when we had our feedlot going and found the Angus ate well, didn’t get sick and were good fertile cows. We gradually just went straight Angus and haven’t looked back and haven’t wanted to change.
I think the society does such a great job of promoting them and are a very progressive society. We are happy and although I wouldn’t like to go a lot further north with a straight black, they are good foragers and do well in this country for us. Can you think of any challenges or limitations that you’ve had with using Angus? Like you said, you wouldn’t like to use straight Angus much further north, but other things like buffalo fly etc? Jeremy: No, I don’t think there’s anything in what we do that is a limitation because of the Angus. Obviously, things like buffalo fly and what not is a drama, but that’s just a management thing that you have to manage accordingly. I don’t think there’s any limitations to having Angus cattle here that I can see and there are quite a few herds getting straight Angus animals around here. Julie: The heat is the only limitation I can think of however like Jeremy said, those things you just manage; you wouldn’t go out in the middle of the day or lunchtime and start mustering a mob of cows and expect to get the calves to the yards. Every breed has their limitations. Moving back to the feedlot I was concerned about the heat. But the shade you see when you’re driving up the road, that was non-negotiable for me with the country that we have here, feeding black cattle through the hottest months of the year purely because of when the weaners come off. So that consideration will just be part of feedlot management and we’ll do everything that we can to make sure that that doesn’t cause too many problems for us.
www.saraparkangus.com.au
ON PROPERTY SALE “Rutherglen”, 347 Wellingrove Rd GLEN INNES
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