Keeping records has been a key part of improving their operation. “It gives us the history of each animal and allows us to make better, more informed decisions to ultimately produce the best cattle,” she said. EID tags have been an essential part of helping to track and record the animals. “It is something we didn’t have in the beginning and they have been a very good tool,” she said. This year the cattle were weaned straight off of their mothers and sold through the Muchea Livestock Centre. The market they sell to varies depending on the season as they generally try to chase the best market prices. Mr Rathjen said the prices for cattle have probably been the strongest they have ever been with one of their lines selling earlier this year for a sale top of 611-616 cents a kilogram (liveweight). The buoyant market has also meant they have been able to reinvest in the heifers and the cattle on the farm rather than putting it into fattening up the weaners.
The enterprise mainly relies on underground water pumped into troughs but there are also a few dams on the property. One major future improvement they are looking to make is pasture renovation. Ms Broadbent said she was hoping to seed more perennials along with the annual species to maintain a more constant source of feed on the ground year-round and reduce the need for supplement feeding. “I am trialling various species to find the best ones for the different soil types on the property,” she said. Various multi-species pasture crops are sown into most of the paddocks that have been assigned to grazing the cattle, so that high volumes of feed are produced to enable running the cattle at high stocking rates. In January they are also having new Clipex air-operated cattle yards installed to improve efficiency. Ms Broadbent said they have come a long way and they are proud of the advances that have been made in developing the cattle herd.
“It allowed us to focus on the heifers instead of the steers,” Ms Broadbent said. As for seasonal conditions, this year there has been plenty of rainfall, which has meant they have had green feed for the cattle since March. “We have just been rotating them around onto different paddocks,” she said. After a couple of drier years, the strong 2021 season was unexpected and in preparation for another tough year, they purchased a mixer wagon, which they planned on using to supplement feed a grain ration. “Luckily, I haven’t had to use it this year, but have it for future years should they need it,’’ she said. Velyere Farm livestock manager Portia Broadbent
The Angus Bulletin - Summer 2022
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