Northern Case Studies May 20024

ANGUS FOR EVERY SYSTEM

Tieyon Station Angus Proves Resilient in Desert Environments

LOCATION NT/SA BORDER

AVG RAINFALL 215mm /ANNUM AREA MANAGED 6,562km2

“Tieyon”, owned and managed by Paul and Jo Smith and their children, is located in the Finke region on the Northern Territory – South Australian border and has been in the Smith family for over 100 years. Encompassing 6,562km2 (roughly 1.6 million acres), “Tieyon” consists of a variety of land types; mulga country, breakaway country (flat topped hills), low tablelands, sand ridges arising from the Pedirka Desert and some channel country. There are 180 recorded edible plant species in the landscape at “Tieyon”, ranging from herbages and grasses such as Kerosene grass, Woolly Oats grass and Barley Mitchell grass, to browse such as mulga.

Angus were introduced to “Tieyon” in 1925, where Paul’s great-grandfather took delivery of a cattle-wagon load of Angus bulls freighted in on the old Ghan railway line to the nearest siding to “Tieyon”, Abminga.

In the present day, the Smith family operate a breeding and fattening enterprise on “Tieyon”, running approximately 6,000 head. Ideally running 2,000 self-replacing pure-bred Angus breeders on the lighter half of the property, the steer progeny are weaned to the heavier, more productive portion of the property during two rounds of mustering a year, and fattened to 550600kg lwt at 4 years of age. The steers are then sold direct-to-works in South Australia or Victoria, some 1,600km and 1,900km away, respectively.

Efficiency and Fertility

Due to the challenging conditions, Paul and Jo put considerable emphasis on the fertility of their breeder herd, aiming to breed an efficient female that calves every year from two-years old.

“We set out to try and breed an Angus cow to match our tough, arid environment. Our parameters are an early maturing, medium frame cow with the ability to lay down fat as soon as there is excess energy available,” explains Paul. “This is combined with management strategies to consistently early wean and give the cow three to four months to regain condition and store energy ready for the next calf,” he says.

“We would much rather a smaller cow that gives you a calf every year rather than a bigger cow that fails to calve every third year,” says Paul. “We live, thrive and survive on our females”.

Making progress through genetic gain is a priority for the Smiths, who aim to keep generation intervals low by joining as yearlings, culling any animals that are preg-tested empty or fail to raise a calf and culling females for age between 8 and 10 years-old. As a result, approximately 50% of weaner heifers are selected via visual assessment as replacements each year.

Joining weight and body condition score is critical for yearling heifer mating success on “Tieyon” and has been well established via a research project conducted in conjunction with the Northern Territory Department of Primary Industries. A minimum of 288kg lwt is vital for acceptable PTIC rates in heifers, which in a typical year at “Tieyon” is between 83-85% PTIC. However, Paul identifies rebreeding as the issues, with just 15-20% of the lighter heifers coming back in calf the following year.

“If we can raise initial conception weight to 300kg and maintain a body condition score of 3, approximately 50% will get in calf the second time. If that weight is 350kg as a yearling, rebreed rates are comparable to initial PTIC rates of approximately 80%,” explains Paul.

Consequently, Paul and Jo take a conservative approach to stocking rates, running approximately 60-100 cows plus followers per watering point in contrast to the 200 cows that is relatively standard in the area. To bolster preg-testing rates and garner a greater likelihood of better rebreed rates, the weaner heifers are run in the heavier fattening country for six months post weaning until they are joined as yearlings.

Those females that aren’t selected as replacements are sold into the southern weaner market and perform well, with Paul receiving feedback that heifers purchased by a producer near Dubbo, New South Wales, achieved 100% PTIC rates from the “Tieyon” heifers.

The bulls are run year-round with the breeding herd at a ratio of 2% and, although not deliberate, the majority of the cows follow a late spring calving that is influenced by rainfall patterns.

Bulls are sourced mostly from South Australian seedstock operations from a

convenience point of view, purchased in February and relocated in March. The Smiths feel that this gives any introduced bulls the opportunity to acclimatise.

“They have the capacity to handle the heat, but they need the time to change and adapt,” says Paul. “We tend to rotate our bulls through our land types. We run the new bulls in our established breeder country and older bulls get taken into the harder land types before they are culled for age at 7 years old,” he explains.

“We make concerted effort not to get our animals hot as they can’t cover as much country as Brahmans,” he adds.

Paul reports that he sees very few breakdowns in his bull team.

“One of the first things people complain about is breakdowns, but I just don’t see the breakdowns that others do, I don’t know if that is due to our selection or our management. We do get occasional injuries from fighting and occasionally during transit,” Paul says.

Strict Selection

Bull selection at “Tieyon” adheres to a strict Estimated Breeding Values (EBV) criteria that was established in 2003 as a product of a benchmarking program the Smiths participated in. The criteria aims to service the clear breeding objective they have set.

This EBV criteria ideally includes a breed average birth weight and up to a maximum of +6.5kg. Growth is also closely considered, with selection for

a growth curve that achieves early maturity and aims to avoid overly large framed cows that require more maintenance. As such, breed average for 400 and 600 day weights and Mature Cow Weight are considered and up to a maximum of +20kg, +15kg and +10kg above bred average, for each trait respectively.

Paul and Jo approach Milk EBVs with caution, only selecting breed average or below.

“Angus are a dual purpose breed that provide plenty of milk. Trying to fuel high milk genetics just with native grasses comes at a big cost,” says Paul.

The ability to store and conserve energy is also a crucial attribute at “Tieyon”. The Smiths consider the selection for positive Rib and Rump fat as well as good temperament as the key.

“Due to the high variability in both feed quality and quantity every year, fat is stored energy that can be drawn on later in the season. The bulls we select must have positive EBVs for both rib and rump fat, the more positive the better,” says Paul. “Also naturally quiet cattle conserve energy and gain more condition which they are then able to maintain when handled during the musters,” he says.

Other traits such as Gestation Length, Calving Ease Daughters, Scrotal Size and Carcase Weight are still desirable but are considered secondary to the priority traits outlined.

A bull’s structure plays a vital role in selection and due to the relatively harsh environment, foot structure and an animal’s ability to walk are crucial. Also, a short smooth coat is preferred as summer temperatures can easily reach 40-45 degrees and sometimes higher.

Docility is also not negotiable.

“A poor tempered cow can give you one calf a year, whereas the bull is giving you 50,” says Paul. “From a workplace health and safety standpoint, we are running large numbers with only a small workforce and there is also production factors to consider. A quiet cow will retain energy and therefore more weight when being handled,” he adds.

Paul believes that by selecting on this criteria that their cattle are more consistent, fatter and healthier.

The Smiths use trap yards around watering points to conduct mustering and drafting and although very effective, a clean muster isn’t always possible. As a result Paul estimates that 10% of calves are sired by “Tieyon” bred mickey bulls. Paul says that there isn’t much more he can do to address this occurrence and choses to breed the best animals possible to mitigate any negative impact.

Paul plans to pursue a contract breeding program for bulls to suit their selection criteria, environment and program in the future.

The “Tieyon” Experience

Paul has experienced some limitations and changes within his production system that he feels are worth mentioning.

“If you are going to use Angus; enjoy the fertility, enjoy the market acceptance, enjoy the carcase quality, but it is easy to find yourself overstocked as you reduce breeder mortality and non-productive passengers as fertility improves. You also have to become accustomed to a greater percentage of your sales being female,” he explains. He also has some seasonal issues with pink-eye which he estimates can affect 10% of the herd in an average year and up to 60% of their weaners in a bad year. He has found that the instances of pink-eye is reduced when using mineral supplements.

Overall, Paul is relatively pleased with the progress of the “Tieyon” herd’s fertility performance, but views the next priority as putting more focus on weight gain.

“The way our herd has bounced back from the 2019 drought destocking is hugely telling. We will continue to focus on number of calves on the ground and the number of kilograms on a truck,” he says.

For more information on the heifer fertility trial conducted at “Tieyon” in conjunction with the Northern Territory DPI, please access the report entitled ‘Central Australian Heifer Research and Demonstration Project: Tieyon Station’ via the Northern Territory DPI website.

Lyndavale Pty Ltd

Lyndavale provide heavy bullocks for the export market at 600kg liveweight and dressing out at between 320kg – 340kg HSCW at 2.5 years of age. Lyndavale is characterised by a mix of scattered mulga, sandhill, claypans and a chain of salt lakes originating from the direction of the Simpson desert to the west.

Background

Ross and Jo Stanes, the managers of ‘Lyndavale Station’, his parents Anne and John Stanes and brother Bennett Stanes with partner Lily Culbertson have long had a connection with ‘Lyndavale Station’ since Ross’ great grandfather took up ownership of ‘Erldunda Station’ in the 1920s, of which ‘Lyndavale’ was originally part of.

Since then, the family operation expanded to now include;

• ‘Mt Ebenezer’, some 1600km2 adjoining ‘Lyndavale Station’ to the north, with an annual average rainfall of circa 8” (200mm) and is a mix of range country, mulga and sandhill and carrying capacity of 1.5 AE/km2

• ‘De Rose Hill’ in South Australia of approximately 1780km2 with an average annual rainfall of 9” p.a. (225 mm), largely consisting of deeper granite country with oatgrass plains and average carrying capacity of over 2 / km2, and;

• Several smaller properties near Adelaide.

Together, all properties and family help to achieve a largely self-sufficient operation, whereby breeding operations are conducted on both ‘Lyndavale

Station’ and ‘Mt Ebenezer Station’, after which steers, and cull females are trucked to ‘De Rose Hill’ where they are finished for slaughter. The smaller properties closer to Adelaide are used for hay and fodder production for use on the larger stations.

The operation has accredited organic status (USDA), as well as EU, PCAS and MSA.

The Stanes family have Angus at the core of their breeding program as it is the ideal package for moderate framed, early maturing type, with excellent fertility combined with meat quality and market flexibility.

Breeding and Operations

With the herd originally consisting of Brahman and Charbray, the Stanes family introduced Angus cattle into the operation in 2002, slowly increasing the percentage of Angus to current levels whereby the majority of the herd is predominantly high-grade Angus or Charolais cross Angus.

There are two breeding herds run concurrently across ‘Lyndavale Station’ and ‘Mt Ebenezer Station’. The first is the high content Angus females joined to Charolais bulls and the second breeding herd is a creamy coloured herd of Charolais cross Angus females joined to Angus bulls.

The total breeding numbers approximate 3,500 females joined p.a. plus 1000 station bred heifers, of which around 600 are selected as replacement heifers each year. Heifers are grown out to a minimum of 350kg liveweight at 18 – 20 months of age to set them up as strong, well-conditioned cows. They are joined at a rate of 1:35, as are the mature breeding herd. The bulls are placed with the females all year round, where approximately 70% of the maiden heifers are joined in May of each year, corresponding with similar levels of total maiden heifer calving in March to coincide with cooler weather, whilst the remainder are usually joined around November of each year, translating

into calving around September. This calving pattern largely remains the same throughout the females breeding life. Ross states, “Generally we have found that if the cows are kept in good condition, they will continue to calve in line with their first joining, and if they miss a calf they are removed from the herd”. The exception to this being severe drought.

There are usually two weaning rounds per year, the first around March/April and the second around September/ October of each year at around 6 – 7 months of age. Weaning entails all weaners being bought back to the main processing yards for about a week. During this time, all weaners are fed hay, whilst being worked with dogs. After this, all weaners are processed with steers taken to ‘Mt Ebenezer Station’ where they are grown out for 6 months before being trucked to ‘De Rose Station’, whilst the weaner heifers are taken to specific heifer paddocks at ‘Mt Ebenezer Station’ whilst the tops are

kept at ‘Lyndavale Station’. Any heifers exhibiting an undesirable temperament are culled.

Weaners and breeders are provided with an organic Ridleys phosphorus and calcium supplement. Cull females are targeted foremost for poor temperament, type and age with most breeding females leaving the Northern Territory stations at approximately 8 years of age, taken to ‘De Rose Hill’ to calve out and raise their last weaner before exiting the system at approximately 10 years of age. Around 45% of the heifers are culled at weaning and the remainder after pregnancy testing. These weaner cull heifers, which are kept away from bulls, are fattened and turned off at around 2-2.5 years of age. These practices have the dual benefits of maintaining a fertile and efficient herd in the desert country whilst providing the aged breeders with improved access to nutrition whilst on their last calf.

Bulls

Bulls are selected for functionality, temperament and other traits including fertility such as scrotal circumference and days to calving, traits resulting in the operations high weaning rates of high 80% level. Positive fats estimated breeding values (EBVs) also rank highly is Ross’s view to help maintain body condition in the desert conditions as well as their ability to finish for market specifications.

Also important is the requirement for bulls to have a short coat. This is to better cope with the extreme heat experienced over the summer months within the central Australian desert area. Just as important is for bulls to have lower milk and mature cow weight EBVs which translate into female progeny growing into breeders that are better adapted to reduced feed availability and energy requirements. The other main trait that is highly sought after in bulls is high eye muscle areas (EMA) to assist in progeny achieving good muscle pattern.

As bulls are often bought into the desert country from more temperate environments, they are largely introduced as 12 – 18 months of age and extended anywhere between 1 month (if excellent seasonal conditions) to 6 months acclimatisation period to optimise their ability to adapt to the harsher environment.

All purchased bulls have usually received their vaccinations, however the Stanes family always treat the new bulls with botulism vaccine.

The Results - Fertility

The fertility of the Angus females is a positive in Ross’s view, reflecting on the female’s ability to cycle very soon after, saying that “After a drought breaks, we generally experience a bit of a spike in calving 11 – 12 months later, after allowing for feed growth and weight gain”. The weaning rate over the last 3 years have been well in excess of 80%. Ross Stanes attributes this to the careful selection and management of bulls and

desired traits as well as careful breeder management including culling for age, nutrition (assisted through organic biofos) and particular care for weaner and maiden heifers. As Ross states, “A bit of extra effort in looking after the heifers from weaning to first calf pays for itself, as it sets them up for a long and productive life”.

The Results – Meeting Market Specs

The Stanes family target premium markets through processors in both South Australia and Victoria. Bullocks are usually finished on pasture at ‘De Rose Hill’ until the target liveweight of ~ 600kg is reached at between 22.5years of age. Dentition is usually between 2 – 4 teeth, HSCW at 320 – 340kg.

Aileron Pastoral Holdings

LOCATION NT

AVG RAINFALL 215mm /ANNUM

AREA MANAGED 6,562km2

Aileron Station, some 4,082 km2 in area and located approximately 130km north of Alice Springs continues to face severe drought conditions after a failed wet season. With an average precipitation of 380mm p.a., rainfall last year was well below average with the station only receiving between 70mm – 150mm for the year. Despite this adversity, weaning rates remained high at 87% in 2018 through the strong influence of Angus genetics within the herd and management practices

Craig and Sarah Cook who manage Aileron Pastoral Holdings on behalf of the CAASON Group, run a mixed Hereford, Angus and Brangus X Angus female herd and join approximately 3,000 females to a mix of Angus, Droughtmaster and Brangus bulls. Approximately 2/3 of the maiden heifers are Angus or Angus influenced. The operation is run over a mix of country including open spinifex and buffel grass, mulga, open flood-out country and some range country.

Part of the success of the high weaning rate is due to early weaning practices which safeguard breeding females against dropping too far in body

condition as well as feeding out loose lick, with mixes specific for heifers (high urea for bone development) and mature cows (high phosphorus for milk production).

However, it is the high level of Angus influence within the overall herd which has seen tangible results. Craig has attributed the high weaning rate with the fertility of the Angus bulls in conjunction with careful management of the female herd. In addition to the high level of fertility, the strength of the Angus gene base has allowed Craig and Sarah to make significant inroads into changing the herd composition in a timelier manner with the added benefit of increasing weight for age on Angus influenced progeny.

Progression and innovation are the corner stones for the CAASON Group and they have invested in increasing paddock numbers, watering points, technology for remote monitoring and soil health to name a few. Angus genetics continue to play a pivotal role in this journey of progression.

The Campbell Family EBVs and Post Drought Expansion

LOCATION QLD

AVG RAINFALL 600mm /ANNUM AREA MANAGED 26,750 ac

Guy Campbell, in partnership with his wife Nichole and parents John and Barbara run a multi-generational, mixed farming and grazing enterprise in the Condamine district. Their vision is to stock a pure Angus herd of 1,000 to 1,200 head and breed progeny with high marbling and weight gain for the feeder market.

Managing 26,750 acres over six properties, the Campbell family currently run 1,000 breeders and farm 4,500 acres, producing both grain and fodder crops.

Originally running a Bos taurus cow herd joined to European breed bulls, the transition to Angus started nine years ago. Although the hybrid vigour from their crossbred calves is something that John and Guy felt that they really benefited from, calving difficulty and the growing premium for Angus saw John purchase a couple of hundred of straight bred Angus heifers. From there, the marketability, premiums and level of data underpinning accurate breeding values drove the decision to progress to a 100% pure bred Angus herd.

The recent drought hastened the process, with the last of the original Bos taurus cross breeders sold during that period. The Campbell’s made the decision to feed their Angus breeders at the onset of the drought and have now recovered breeder numbers.

“We had 1,200 breeders before the drought and we are aiming to get back to that number and potentially a few more now we’ve taken on a bit more country.

The Campbell’s opt to join year-round, replacing the bulls in each mob with fresh bulls every three to four months and are achieving calving rates of 89% and higher more recently in their younger heifer mobs. The birth of

progeny year-round gives the business consistent cash flow and the continuity of supply to market cattle during periods of the year when cattle supply is generally tight.

“The saleability of Angus year-round suits our production cycle. We have turn off all the time and we can put animals on the market any time of year and sell them, there is always buyer demand for black cattle,” explains Guy.

From a bull management perspective, the exchange of bulls mitigates the risk of breakdowns and bulls are spelled for a number of months before being re-introduced to another mob. The changeover of bulls is tied in with other husbandry requirements such as 7-in-1 booster shots and backlining for the breeders. Branding and weaning are also done during these quarterly windows.

Weaners are weaned onto fodder crops such as oats. Replacement heifers are usually picked on type, size, temperament and Angus content and grown out to 300-350kg. Once they have reach desired weight they are joined as yearlings to high calving ease, low –birth weight bulls and must calve unassisted.

Typically, weaner steers and cull heifers are fed on fodder and turned off by two years of age as milk toothed animals, weighing a maximum of 420kg and ideally having gained 1.2kg/day.

Their cattle’s performance in the feedlot is a prime objective for the Campbell’s.

“We’re trying to aim for high marbling and good performance in the 400-600 day weight range. We’re finding feedlots have so much data on your cattle that if you keep producing an article that they make money, they’re going to be coming back to you with a premium because they know your cattle can perform,” says Guy.

To achieve these objectives, Guy identifies suitable bulls using the ‘search catalogues’ function on the angus.tech platform.

“By using the angus.tech platform, we put our parameters on key estimated breeding values (EBVs) in and cull each catalogue down to 20 or so bulls that hit our specs,” explains Guy.

“We’re aiming to buy bulls with IMF over +2.5, EMA over +5.0 and try to get 400day weight over +100kg. Then we play with calving ease according to what we need him for, but we’re finding that by using the Angus breed, we can get those numbers and good growth rates as well as a low birth weight, you can find the curve bending bulls. We really like the data that Angus has compared to other breeds and the accuracy of EBVs. We like buying bulls on figures and having the confidence in the genetics that bull delivers,” says Guy.

From there the bulls are inspected physically and dropped from consideration based on temperament, muscling and structure. The Campbell’s prefer buying bulls that are aren’t in too forward of a condition and purchase 18-month-old bulls or older, as they don’t require the care younger bulls do.

More recently, mature cow weight has also become a focus for the Campbell’s operation. Given their experience during the drought, they value productive cows that aren’t consuming as much to fulfill maintenance requirements and as such, are keen to moderate their mature cow weight.

“Given that we are chasing growth, we are conscious of the need to keep our mature cow weights down. When you’re

feeding animal in drought conditions, you don’t want a bigger cow that’s consuming so much to meet her needs,” says Guy.

Going forward, it is Guy’s goal to continue to develop the fodder available to support the production system they have in place, with the next development being the establishment of 160ha of Leucaena.

“A part of my dream is to have green feed year-round, so trying to get Leucaena going, in conjunction with our oats and forage, will fill a bit of that gap,” says Guy.

The Campbell’s selection emphasis on traits vital to their target market is bound to be a major factor in their success. However, it is the consideration of calving ease and maternal traits, such as birth weight and mature cow weight – and the identification of suitable curve bending bulls – that will ensure that their breeding herd continues to produce the article so sought after by buyers, all while suiting the production environment.

Golden Arrow Taking Angus To The Next Level

LOCATION HANNAFORD & TALWOOD QLD

AVG RAINFALL 600mm /ANNUM

AREA MANAGED 20,000 ac

‘Golden Arrow’, Hannaford has been in the Wells family since its development in 1932 and is currently owned and operated by David and Anna Wells, the third generation. David and Anna run a breeding operation, currently joining 600 pure bred Angus breeders and turn off roughly 250 weaner steers each year.

Fertility is a key focus at Golden Arrow, with PTIC rates consistently between 94 and 96%. Joining is a three-month window from December 1st, and any female that returns empty at pregtesting is culled. Maiden heifers are first joined at 15 months of age – either to leased Wagyu bulls, with all F1 progeny

supplied to a local feedlot operator as weaners, or to calving ease focused Angus bulls.

“We like to value add to our heifer side of things by either joining them to Wagyu bulls for calving ease in our F1 program, or to low birth weight Angus Bulls and have the option to keep them or sell them as PTIC heifers” says David.

All pure-bred Angus progeny from the core breeding herd are weaned and the steers sold on AuctionsPlus at around 250kg liveweight while their heifer counterparts enter the breeding program.

David attributes part of the success of this program to the saleability of Angus.

“This year we are selling weaners for more money that we have ever have, but even back in 2018-2019, every time we went to sell our weaners on AuctionsPlus, we sold them every time, we have never had them passed in. We have always sold them at, or above, the market. They are just a salable commodity, it doesn’t matter if you are in a dry season or a good season. There seems to be a concept that anything that is sold that’s 100% Angus, put extra cents and dollars on top of it.” he explains.

Approximately 80% of the bull herd on “Golden Arrow” are registered sires purchased externally, while the balance are bulls the Wells’ have bred themselves. When selecting a bull for purchase, David explained visual assessment is a must, but his initial step is to look at a bull’s EBVs. He prioritises genetic condition free bulls with low birth weight and high early growth (200 day weight), followed by carcase traits such as intramuscular fat.

When inducting a purchased bull, he allows for three months where, on delivery, the group of bulls purchased together are run with his small herd of five dairy cows.

“We keep them in the group of bulls they came with and put them in with our little herd of five dairy cows we use for paddy rearing just to get them used to their new surroundings. It keeps them quiet, lets them adjust before we add them to the bull herd, limits the fighting etc, for the three months before we join” says David.

Between joining seasons, the bull herd is run on a leucaena crop of around 150 acres to regain and maintain body condition.

Drought has played a significant role in shaping David and Anna’s business. Five years ago, the Wells’ were joining 1,000 breeders – 80% of which were Angus, the balance composites – over their two properties, ‘Totara’, Talwood and ‘Golden Arrow’, Hannaford. The successive dry years of 2017-2019 saw both properties completely destocked, the composite portion of the herd sold, and the remainder relocated to agistment near Windorah.

Now, with a good season behind them, ‘Totara’ leased, and 600 head of pure-bred Angus breeders left, David describes the restocking process at Golden Arrow as an opportunity to focus on their Angus genetics, particularly the selection of replacement heifers.

“What we want to achieve by coming back and focusing on just what we have got here at Golden Arrow is to do a lot more work with our replacement heifers” explains David.

“In the past we’ve chosen our replacement heifers at an age that hasn’t really given them all an opportunity to come back into the cycle. Because we have a three-month joining window, we were culling heifers for simply being three months younger. It interests me a lot, to have some extra tools to use when choosing those heifers and now that we have a season behind us, our program is to sell all the steers at weaning, we’re looking at doing more with those heifers by using HeiferSELECT with Angus Australia.” says David.

As a result of family succession, David and Anna inherited their pure bred Angus herd from David’s great uncle who started breeding Angus in the 60’s on a neighbouring property. When asked why they continued to use Angus, David lists fertility and saleability as the driving factors.

“I love the fertility of Angus, I haven’t had a lot to do with other breeds of cattle but from what I understand, we are just miles in front. Also, it’s being able to sell what you want to sell, when you want to sell it, and know you’re going to get the money for it.” says David.

“That was another big reason to go 100% Angus. When we had composites, every year we have had to 900 calves, we had 50-60 composite that stood out – they weren’t apart of the line, they weren’t as easy to sell, they took away our ability to say that everything else was 100% and it was costing us dollars” explains David.

David identified three limitations with running Angus at Golden Arrow; the lack of hybrid vigour in a pure bred herd, pink eye and buffalo fly.

“When we used to have a composite herd, our crossbred cattle would always be heavier, but the dollars you got for

them were less than the 100% Angus, which offset the difference.” says David.

“Eyes are probably one of the biggest frustrations we face, it’s a cost. Some way to combat this would be fantastic” he says.

When it comes to buffalo fly, the Wells’ have experimented with a combination of drenches, ear tags and back rubbers to control them but are yet to find the perfect solution.

Overall, David and Anna’s strong focus on genetics aims to not only improve the fertility in their herd, but to gain insight into how what they are selecting for is performing in the supply chain.

“It’s not only about the heifer you are choosing, but it’s also to see how your genetics are performing. Despite that we have repeat clients, because we sell our steers on AuctionsPlus we don’t receive a lot of feedback in relation to how our cattle do in feedlots or elsewhere in the supply chain, we just don’t have that data. That’s where we’re trying to get to and to have HeiferSELECT, it’s an important tool that we’re hoping we can use.” says David.

Note: HeiferSELECT is a genomic selection tool, offered by Angus Australia, in partnership with Zoetis and Neogen. It is designed to inform the selection of Angus replacement females in commercial beef breeding operations that are 87.5% Angus breed content or greater. It provides genomic predictions for nine important maternal, growth and carcase traits. For more information, please click HERE.

The Joseland’s Black Cattle on the Barcoo

LOCATION YARAKA QLD

AVG RAINFALL 400mm /ANNUM

AREA MANAGED 64,000 ac

The Angus Influence

Originally a Droughtmaster based herd, the Joseland’s initial foray into Angus came when the opportunity arose to buy a herd of Angus cross breeders locally. From there they started buying Angus bulls, with the aim to produce progeny that they could place in southern markets.

“New South Wales gets that earlier break in spring and that’s where we used to get caught a bit, being our driest time, we realised that we needed an article to sell into the south into the New South Welsh spring,” explains Tim.

“That splash of hardiness in the Ultrablacks is important and works well in our operation. In a dry pinch, which you do get in this country quite often, they can withstand that. With Angus bulls, you need to find them and get them in, that can be difficult, and you have manage them a bit and spend more time on them,” he adds.

Despite this they try to keep the Brahman influence to a minimum.

On the banks of the Barcoo, just north of Yaraka in Queensland’s channel country, Tim and Kerry Joseland run a breeding operation, producing Angus influenced weaners. Their operation is run on two properties – “Eltham” and “Bonavista” – both 43,000 acres a piece.

In order to increase the Angus content of their herd Tim and Kerry have used both pure bred Angus bulls and Ultrablacks and, despite having successfully used purebred Angus bulls and being pleased with the results, the Joseland’s value the adaption advantages that come with using Ultrablacks.

“There is variation in content in the Ultrablacks, some swing to a bit more Brahman content but we like to swing the other way and get very soft bulls with that splash of hardiness. Feet and walking ability is a big thing,” says Tim. They have some trouble with pink eye in their herd and treat affected animals with antibiotics.

“We were hoping that Ultrablack would be the answer and they are certainly more resistant, but it is still a major issue. It’s an extra management time

and cost, it’s the biggest problem with British bred cattle, especially out here with the dry times we experience and the dust and scratching them on prickly bushes. Because we only bring them in twice a year over the two rounds, it’s a little bit hard to manage,” says Kerry.

Heat tolerance has also been a concern for the Joseland’s but they feel that, even though the cattle experience high temperatures at “Eltham” there is sufficient shade for them to get out of the heat. In their experience, they adapt and learn to feed at night in the cool.

When selecting bulls, Tim and Kerry look for soft bulls with ‘a bit of leg’ and walking ability and then consider EBVs – particularly milking and calving ease figures.

They feel that the bulls acclimatised really well and really value the temperament of Angus and Ultrablacks and their polledness.

“We have found with most of the stud Angus and Ultrablack bulls, that their temperament has been incredible. Also, no dehorning is an absolutely major advantage, dehorning is just unnecessary stress,” says Tim.

Managing the Droughts and Flooding Rains

Grazing management in Tim and Kerry’s operation is a balance between opportunistic pasture utilisation and spell-grazing. They also identify bigger scale as a major advantage to better manage the feed and country types.

“We are running our stocking rate pretty conservatively and we utilise our land types accordingly. Now that we have more country it’s a lot easier to manage,” he says.

With 20,000 acres of flood out country from the Barcoo and other channel systems and the balance being a mixture of lighter country consisting of mulga, pulled gidgee, melon holes, Mitchell and Flinders grasses and Buffel grass creeks, the Joseland’s feel that the mixture of land and pasture type is a valuable asset.

“The flood out country from the Barcoo channels is very beneficial. The catchment is in the heavier rainfall area to the East so when we get a lighter season and there is big rain at Blackall, Tambo, Jericho, Barcaldine, we benefit. It is amazing. Some years, like in 2008, we had 7 inches that year and around Blackall had 10-15 inches in a few days, so we got the flood water out of that which gets you through. It floods out 10km wide,” says Kerry.

“It’s the different variety of country that helps us. Having the variety definitely makes this country safer,” adds Tim.

After rain, herbage such as gidgee burr, button grass, carrot weed, pig weed, lambs tongue and blue bush, often very high in protein, is the first to respond and cattle are spread over the property to utilise it.

“You have to manage the herbage, come September to November when it is stinking hot the herbage just shrivels up and then it is gone, you have to utilise it.

We spread our stock out and manage it otherwise you waste it,” says Kerry.

In addition to managing the utilisation of the herbage is the management of the feed availability in the channels.

“When there are floods going on we shut our cattle out of the river and give them access to the lighter country. When the river dries, and the flooding risk has dropped we put them back into the heavier channel country, spelling the outside country,” says Tim.

“In the current season where we have had ongoing rain, we haven’t shut them out of the lighter country because they are making use of the herbage, if we shut them out we are wasting that herbage,” he says.

As the season progresses to what is usually the driest time of year (August through to November) the cattle on “Eltham” rely more on top feed such a Mulga and Boree.

“Top feed will get you through for a couple of months until you get enough rain (approximately half an inch) to get a response from the herbage. You need a bit more rain to gain a response on the heavier soil in the river and flood out country,” says Tim.

“It’s incredibly sweet this country, and soft for young cattle. There are some big industry players that have identified that,” he adds.

Breeding for the Season

Having had to destock, source agistment and go droving over a number of years

due to poor seasonal conditions, Tim and Kerry stock conservatively, running 800 to 1,000 breeders over the two properties.

Their breeding operation is also heavily influenced by the seasonal conditions.

“We generally join all year round –because the seasons are so erratic in this country you can get caught out, but when the season allows, we pull our bulls out after the first round (MarchApril) and then have a bit of a gap until it rains (usually just before Christmas),” Tim explains.

“We will wait until we have had 4 inches and then a follow up until we know we have a season to bank on and that it wasn’t a false start before we add the bulls back in,” Tim adds.

“It’s not totally controlled breeding but it allows us to look after our bulls in that time that they are not really needed and check them before they go back in,” he says.

Replacement heifers are initially joined at 18 months old and occasionally younger depending on feed availability and maturity and are selected on similar criteria to that of the bulls; walking

ability and softness. Ultimately, the Joseland’s aim to breed medium framed cows.

“We believe in medium framed cows for this country especially. Big cows take too much to keep full in a drought. Cows with a medium frame will still produce the same quality calf provided that the breeding is there, and they will handle a dry time better, provided you get the calf off. If a big framed cow goes down she takes a lot to get back up again and you won’t run as many, you will run 10-15% more medium framed cows,” says Tim.

All younger breeders and weaners are run at “Eltham” so that they can be more closely managed, while older breeders are run on “Bonavista”.

“We keep the older cows on the southern block, while we generally keep the weaners and maiden heifers in the river and the channels and our younger breeders the on the western side out of the river,” says Tim.

“We do two rounds in a normal season, but will do four in a bad drought, pulling calves off and look after those cows and heifers,” says Kerry.

During the two rounds of mustering the Joseland’s conduct each year, anything that presents dry is pregtested and if the pregnancy is undetectable they are sold.

The weaner progeny are taken through to light feeder weights of 350-450kg and placed into a variety of markets, including the southern market.

“We do sell them into different markets depending on what seems to be the best at the time. We have sold direct to feedlots, we have sold through AuctionsPlus and we also use the Blackall saleyards which is a very good selling centre,” says Tim.

“It is local knowledge that even if its dry here that our calves and weaners weigh like lead, because they get all that soft herbage like button grass and lamb’s tongue. It’s incredibly good when you have got it for cows, calves and weaners. When it is wall to wall feed weaners just do so well on it, so we are pretty lucky really to have this sweet country that produces such soft feed,” he says.

McIntyre Ag

Flexibility drives McIntyre Ag

LOCATION ST GEORGE, DIRRANBANDI,, SURAT, QUILPIE QLD

AVG RAINFALL 300mm /ANNUM WESTERN QLD

400mm /ANNUM SOUTHER QLD

AREA MANAGED 160,000 ha

Based in south west Queensland, Hamish and Mary McIntyre run a breeding, backgrounding and lot feeding finishing enterprise, alongside mixed farming and cotton operations. Their cattle enterprise, spread over nine properties in the St George and Quilpie districts, accounts for some 160,000 hectares.

Having bought their first property near Dirranbandi in 1999, the McIntyre’s

most recently acquired the Quilpie aggregation of “Canaway Downs”, “Bulgroo” and “Gammon Downs” in 2019, which forms the basis of their breeding operation, joining a total of 7,000 females per year across all properties.

Hamish estimates that 70% of the herd is straight Angus and 30% cross bred which were included in property acquisitions. All are joined to pure-bred Angus bulls, except for 12-month-old maiden Angus heifers, which are joined to Wagyu bulls to produce a terminal F1 cross which are supplied to AA Co’s Aronui feedlot program as feeders weighing approximately 450-500kg.

“We breed Angus because of the premium provided by the market and the suitability to the climate and to our operation. There is no doubt from a carcase point of view that their traits are more regularly repeatable. We find it easier getting the carcass quality we want out of Angus compared to some of the other breeds. In our operation we’ve found that there is 50c/kg difference in carcase value between our Angus cattle and the composite cattle we are turning off,” says Hamish.

Joining commences on the 1st of December (as seasonal conditions permit) and bulls are pulled out at weaning (May/June), keeping mustering to two rounds each year. Of the 7,000 head joined, approximately 6,200 head are calved out, with any pregnancy tested empty females, those that present dry at branding, older cows and other ‘off types’ that they want to cull, drafted out and sold.

The breeding herd is self-replacing and aside for some culling on temperament and smaller frame size, the majority of weaner heifers are kept as replacements in order to continue to grow the herd size.

“Everything is pregnancy tested and so if they aren’t in calf at any stage they move on, we have a very strict regime, there are no second chances. That has helped fertility over time and we are seeing calving percentages, from pregnancy test through to weaning, averaging 83-84%” says Hamish.

The focus on fertility is the key consideration when selecting bulls.

“The biggest thing when buying bulls for our operation is fertility, we have

been selecting for low birth weight, high growth rate and larger scrotal circumference for a long time. Our next consideration is carcase trait EBVs” states Hamish.

Calves from “Canaway Downs” are weaned to St George and educated.

The steers are backgrounded on forage crops and pasture until they enter the “Mooramanna” feedlot at 400kg, while the heifers are joined to Wagyus and calved out before being trucked back to “Canaway” for their second joining.

Having purchased “Mooramanna” in 2015 to establish a feedlot enterprise and value add to the fodder and grain being produced on other properties, the McIntyre’s grain feed all steer progeny and cull females through their 3,200 SCU licensed feedlot.

“We feed our own cattle, value adding the grain, cotton seed and hay we produce. We aren’t trying to compete with the bigger feedlots, it’s really a facility through which we can finish our own cattle,” explains Hamish.

“We take a very flexible approach to what we plant, we always have something ready to plant based on our

needs and plans get thrown out on the basis of not enough rain, or too much (rarely). When water arrives, we do a gross margin per megalitre and decide what fits. All of our decisions are flexible and cash driven,” he says.

Approximately 4,000 steers (along with 3,000 cull females) are finished in the feedlot each year, with most being fed between 100 and 120 days to a carcase weight of 380kg and are then consigned to processing plants in South East Queensland and Northern NSW between 20 and 24 months of age.

Each cohort are marketed to the best gross margin scenario, with the operation being entirely flexible to capture the best returns. This includes the use of Hormone Growth Promotants (HGPs).

“Historically the straight Angus don’t receive a HGP. However, with the grids the way they are at the moment (March 2021) – around 740c/kg cwt with a HGP – there isn’t an incentive for Angus without a pill,” says Hamish.

The emphasis on selection for carcase traits has seen the McIntyre’s cattle consistently perform in the annual RNA

Paddock to Palate competition. The 2020 competition saw Beef Central describe the performance of Hamish and Mary’s Angus and Angus cross entries as ‘one of the most remarkable performances by an individual exhibitor’, with places in all four classes (100day export class, 70 day trade class, non-HGP 120 day class and the Wagyu challenge) and strong performance all three facets of the competition –weight gain, carcase performance and eating quality.

Hamish credits these results as the culmination of a long-term breeding program coming together.

“The bulls we have purchased are obviously doing the job because we aren’t setting cattle aside for competitions, we are just selecting steers out of our commercial cattle that fit the criteria. The consistent results have been satisfying because it means that those traits are flowing through your female herd” he states.

Ag

Clear lines at Moonya Agriculture

LOCATION MT ABUNDANCE QLD

AVG RAINFALL 550mm /ANNUM

AREA MANAGED 7,000 ha

James and Natalie Stinson and their family own and operate “Moonya” and adjoining property “Tannaby”, Mt Abundance (60km south west of Roma), running a breeding operation that turns off Angus-Santa cross feeder cattle.

Their decision to utilise Angus genetics stems from their drive to produce a true to type animal with consistency that lends itself to marketing lines of cattle into the feeder market.

“They are a totally marketable article in this part of the world. They are adaptable to the conditions in general and there is always someone who wants them, whether it is a backgrounder or a feedlotter, or producers from NSW. They also present well, because they don’t have huge variation like they do in other breeds, they all look the same and it certainly gives them a line,” says James.

“We are really trying to narrow in on a specific type of beast and the Angus breed is pretty good on that front. We have an image in our mind what we are looking for,” explains James.

“More recently we have been targeting growth and weight for age and temperament is a consideration. We find that poor temperament influences their own growth” Natalie adds.

By running a cross breeding program James and Natalie feel that they achieve a degree of resilience to handle the extremes, with Mount Abundance regularly experiencing above 40°C during Summer and below freezing during Winter.

“At the end of the day we are in Queensland, we don’t have a reliable rainfall and it gets hot as well as cold and dry. We get all the extremes. If Buffel grass frosts, it loses it’s protein and the cattle still have to perform. It is that overall do-ability, that where we find benefit with the cross breeding” says James.

Ideally joining 900 females each year, the females are run in mixed age mobs of 80 for ease of management and are cross joined (Angus bull over Santa cows, Santa bulls over Angus cows) for 12 weeks from mid-November each year.

“We structure our entire breeding program around having nothing lactating over winter and then we join

to start calving in late August, early September,” says James.

“It’s all about breeding for us, keeping our replacement heifers, selecting what we like, or what we have evolved to like, and what we know does well. Fertility is the number one priority.” says Natalie.

The replacement heifers are joined for the first time as yearlings, and everything that is not in calf in at preg testing is culled.

“There are no second chances where fertility is concerned, if she isn’t in calf we are not interested in her,” says James.

This no tolerance approach has yielded results for the Stinson’s,with preg testing results consistently in excess of 80%, with yearling heifers returning 89% preg tested in calf and cows (including re breeders) ranging between 86-87%.

“We are happy with these results. You always want more but they must have a bit of pressure and if you aren’t putting that little bit of pressure on, you aren’t improving what you have got by taking off the bottom. It also helps with cashflow” says Natalie.

Like many producers, James and Natalie’s business has been significantly shaped by drought, and as a result the selection of replacement heifers has been mostly quantity based.

“We are just trying to recover from the 2019 drought which was pretty ordinary and playing the balance between getting our breeder numbers back up, selection of replacements and shortening our joining period, coupled with time management constraints,” says James.

By shortening their joining period, the Stinson’s hope to tighten up calving and achieve a greater level of consistency again in their calf drop.

The smaller ones that are a bit later born tend not to fit the clear lines that we usually see across our herd. If we tighten joining and have a tighter age groups at weaning that will give us clearer marketing options with a deteriorating season, with management and with everything else involved in breeding,” says James.

“We noticed that our Angus cows in particular have a very tight calving window, even coming out of the drought. Their window has been tightening right up and their average calving date is ideal,” he states.

Traditionally replacement heifers at “Moonya” were selected on a minimum weight of 320kg which was deemed to work really well. However, the last couple of years James and Natalie have been chasing numbers to rebuild their female herd and as a result, have been only culling the animals that returned empty and that ‘they could not stand.’

“That is what we have done in the recovery phase, but we would like to get back to that minimum weight criteria and also getting an external classer to class the heifers,” says Natalie.

Their experience in the 2019 drought has also led them to begin planning major infrastructure works to better allow them to feed cattle over dry times.

“In the previous drought we sold everything, and then it was just too hard to get back in, to get the numbers and the genetics that we want, that took years, a lot of money and a lot of

breeding. During the 2019 drought we decided we would feed, we wanted to still have cattle at the end, and it worked in some ways, it didn’t in others, and it taught us a lot. As a result, we have put together a feeding program to go forward with now, we have sorghum planted for silage and bunkers dug, we have silos for pellets or grain, a feed mixer to be picked up, we bought feeders, built a hay shed and have oats planted for hay. In theory what that allows us to do is keep a herd of 500 core cows and feed them for 400-500 days,” explains Natalie.

“It is about preserving those genetics. We have put a bit of time into them, time is probably the biggest investment, and we have put money into them. We have discovered that you can’t just go out into the market and buy that cow back at the flick of a switch,” adds James.

In addition to greater selection of replacement heifers and tighter joining periods, they also are placing higher emphasis on their bull selection.

“We purchase all our bulls, it is the only opportunity that you have each year to introduce new genetics to stir the pot up otherwise your gene pool gets too small,” says James.

“We primarily look at fertility. I really like the figure that the Angus Society have, Days to Calving, and it gives some indication of re conception rate which essentially is what we have been trying to achieve. They have got to have a calf, raise it and get back in calf in 365 days. So that fertility trait is a strong priority, so that’s been our primary focus for the last few years,” he states.

“Docility, structure and growth are also of great importance to us, we use the figures as a reference and as a guide, but the ultimate decision is made on visual assessment. We just follow along with the data and if a bull has all the figures we then ask, ‘do we like the look? ‘how’s his temperament?’” adds Natalie.

Significant attention is also paid to birth weight EBVs, with James and Natalie agreeing that it is a major consideration and as a result they don’t have a lot of calving difficulty.

All bulls have their BullCHECK assessment completed prior to joining each year and the bulls are joined at a ratio of 1:40, meaning two bulls per 80 cow mob. Also, a concerted effort is made to ensure that the bull herd at “Moonya” remains a young herd.

In terms of managing these bull’s acclimatisation from wherever they have been purchased from James believes that basic management is key.

“Irrespective of where they come from you must nurse them long a little bit, their environment has changed regardless, their feed has changed regardless. At the end of the day, they are bulls they are there to do a job and

I think that regardless of if it was a searing heat wave or covered in ice, if there was a job to be done, I think that they would still go and do it. We haven’t had any issues with them, and they get on with the job,” he explains.

The Stinson’s feel that they are fairly satisfied with the article they are breeding currently and are receiving that feedback from the feedlots purchasing their male progeny.

Weaning onto oats at around 260270kg, the steers are achieving weight gains from 1.2kg/day to 1kg/day depending on the quality of feed and are sold into the feeder market usually by direct sale or occasionally via the saleyards.

In terms of limitations, hair is a concern of the Stinson’s, and they feel that they gain adaptation benefits through crossbreeding and achieving a slicker coat.

“At the end of the day it is a Bos Taurus genotype, there is always going to be a challenge as far as the Queensland conditions go, but the positives are the weight gain, their polledness and temperament. We all detest dehorning, 70% of our calving herd now is polled,

we would like to see fewer with horns and we will achieve that using the Angus genetics,” he says.

When asked what was next for the Stinson’s Moonya Agriculture enterprise there are several driving factors. Infrastructure and preparedness for the next drought is a key focus but James and Natalie also feel that it is achieving that next 1% increase in production, as well as recovering the quantity and quality of their breeding herd.

They are currently involved in a phosphorus supplement trial with Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, aiming to see if greater phosphorus availability has an impact on their preg testing rates.

“We are always pushing for more, gain that extra 1% and I suppose that is where this phosphorus work coming in, just trying to push that a little harder and try and gain out of that. I think we have most things covered and the trajectory is looking good,” says James.

Rocklands Station Angus at Large Scale

Straddling the Queensland and Northern Territory border and encompassing the township of Camooweal, “Rocklands” runs at a scale unique to the Northern Beef Industry. On a backdrop of 6,600km2 and a mixture of open downs and spinifex country (roughly 80% and 20%, respectively), Paraway Pastoral Company run 44,000 head in a breeding enterprise producing an Angus Santa cross article.

While “Rocklands” is a part of the larger Paraway portfolio, one of eight businesses in Northern Australia, operations on “Rocklands” and indeed the rest of the portfolio are regarded as stand alone.

Steer progeny, while retained in Paraway ownership are sold at market prices into backgrounding and fattening enterprises in Paraway’s Queensland’s channel country and Maranoa district holdings, such as “Tanbar” (Windorah), “Davenport Downs” (Winton) and “Moira Runda” (Condamine).

Matt Barrett, with his wife Tina, manage “Rocklands” and the 26 staff it employs. Coming with considerable experience in company run pastoral operations both on the Barkly Tablelands and the Channel Country, Matt describes running a breeding operation of this scale on downs country as a challenge.

“Compared to the channel country, the Barkly is a little more consistent and more of a challenge because you are breeding as opposed to backgrounding and fattening. We brand 15,000 calves a year here, it is just a bigger challenge,” he says.

Breeding in Big Numbers

The breeding enterprise at “Rocklands” currently consists of 24,000 breeders, 7,500 heifers joined for the first time earlier in the year, 6,500 yearling heifers and a bull herd of 1,000 bulls, in addition to the sale of 7,500 weaner steers and other cull animals but fluctuate depending on seasonal conditions.

The majority of heifers are initially joined at 2 years of age; however, some are joined as yearlings depending on weight and maturity.

“We do that for two reasons, one, they are big and mature enough and secondly, we join them to a bull of our choice rather than an unsuitable herd bull,” explains Matt.

For their first joining, heifers are joined with newly purchased bulls in December, with the view to calve down in October, November and December the following year. From then on, bulls are run with the breeders year-round.

“As the breeders get older, they do drift into 13-15 month calving intervals. Our bulls stay out year-round but we

preg-test and draft them into groups based fetal age each year,” he says.

“Our pregnancy rates are seasonal dependent, for the dry cows that have weaned a calf in September and are being rejoined in December, 98% are back in calf. For mature cow, the 12-month rebreed rate is roughly 40% and those that are wet, still with a weaner at foot, 80% are back in calf,” says Matt.

Although calving interval and rebreeding rates are of interest, Matt identifies calf loss as the biggest issue on “Rocklands.”

“Calf loss and rebreeding rate are our biggest challenges. “Rocklands” is in line with industry average for the North for calf loss, but I still feel that is too high. It is improving, currently we are probably 5-8% better than last year, however it’s too high. I think that there is a dozen or so different things that result in calf loss, heat, nutrition, crowding at waters, just the scale of the enterprise, dogs, it all adds up. We have trials going on at the moment, trying to identify nutritional factors in partnership with UQ through the Calf Alive Project,” he adds.

Having raised a calf is a key requirement for breeding females at “Rocklands” –with any returning without a calf culled. Cows are also culled for age at ten years old.

When it comes to replacement heifer selection, as many as possible are joined.

“Our cull rate on the heifers is around 5%. We join as many as we can, the 5% that are culled are purely on type, weight for age and temperament. Also, when they get joined, anything that fails to join and preg-test in calf is a cull as well, which is around 10%,” says Matt.

Getting the Best out of Black Bulls

The bull herd at “Rocklands” is 50% Angus and 50% Santa, with bulls backcrossed over the female herd (Santa bulls over Angus cross cows, and Angus bulls over Santa cross cows) to ideally produce an F1 progeny that has higher marketability while retaining some adaptation.

“The fertility of Angus is a highlight, their marketability is right up there, their growth and weight gain, they are the traits we really like in the Angus. The cross with Santa is to bring the tropical adaptability, heat tolerance and walking ability into the herd,” says Matt.

When it comes to bull selection, selection criteria are regarded very stringently.

“We select bulls on conformation and we select very heavily on EBVs, with the biggest focus on Days to Calving EBVs. Fertility, low birth weight, moderate framed animals with high 200 and 400 day weight EBVs are highly sought after and we have recently started selecting for IMF,” says Matt.

When asked about the steps they take to manage the Angus bulls acclimatisation and their survivability

in the “Rocklands” environment, Matt indicated that they take some steps to get the most from their investment.

“Bull survival is fine. We buy them and we get them up here early in the year, for example in June we took delivery of 240 of the 300 new bulls we need for this year. Once they are here, we feed them in a paddock by themselves and give them six months to acclimatise before joining for the first time in December. It gives them the chance to mature, grow a bit as well and harden up a bit to the climate before they go out to work,” says Matt.

“Come June-July when we are pregtesting if the bulls are good solid, sound bulls they stay out. If they need a bit of help, we bring them back in and put them with their cohorts in a paddock and supplement their feed until December and then they go back out to work. We do that just to help their survivability and to give them a better chance to get the cows in calf come December. The ones that in poorer condition are likely to be the ones that have been working harder anyway so we look after them a bit,” he says.

“Acclimatisation of six months seems to be working but you have got to buy the right bulls. When we are selecting our bulls from breeders we don’t buy the hairy or woolly rough looking blokes, we try to buy the clean coated, strong footed, good conformation types,” he adds.

In Matt’s experience the slicker coated the animal, the more heat tolerant the animal appears to be.

A sample (approximately 10%) of all bulls are BullCHECK tested annually, a component of which is crush side semen test and bulls are culled for age at around 8 years old.

Recently Paraway has embarked on a custom breeding program, producing F1 Angus Santa bulls with the view to address the variability of the current cross breeding program and create some more consistency in progeny line.

“We have had a number of years now where we are up to second and third crosses and they have calves that range from one end of the spectrum to the other. When you get your first cross it tends to be a very tight line, second and third cross they tend to disperse a bit. If we can try and tighten that back up by using these F1 bulls it will be a good result,” says Matt.

Country Utilisation and the Infrastructure to Back it Infrastructure at “Rocklands” has been an extensive development with water the primary focus. In a bid to utilise as much of “Rocklands” as possible, watering points have been strategically positioned within 3km grazing radius of each other (6km between waters), with approximately 80% of the place within 3km of water.

Grazing management has also been a focus of development, with paddocks being fenced in respect to land type and to sizes that equate to relatively similar carrying capacities of approximately 800 head per paddock across all land types. Paddocks on “Rocklands” range from 7,000 ha to 40,000 ha.

Each year, every paddock’s carrying capacity is assessed and is matched with the appropriate stocking rate. It is through this regular assessment that a spelling regime is implemented, based on country condition which in turn aids the destocking process in the event of drought.

Matt describes the benefit of this style of grazing management particularly in the event of a failed wet season.

“We stock our country to the green date of 21st January, it is a trigger point to start offloading cattle. By having stocked our country to the land type

and carrying capacity, we aren’t in dire straits immediately,” he says.

“From there, there are a number of levers we can pull such as selling stock we had set up to rejoin, blanket early weaning certain mobs and selling the percentage of those cows that failed to raise a calf,” he adds.

Sage Advice

Due to low disease challenge the major limitations in Angus use on “Rocklands” are predominantly adaptation related. To combat this, Matt offers this advice for people wanting to bring Angus bulls into northern Australia.

“Select the bulls for the country, make sure they have that natural heat tolerance, that they are clean coated and strong footed. In the handling of Angus cattle, don’t expect them to walk the same distances you can walk a Brahman cow and calf, they are slower and you just have to adjust accordingly, but when you get them there you are selling them at $200 extra a calf so just walk slower, it is as simple as that,” he says.

“We have got our paddocks split up, they are relatively small for the area we are in and that aids in minimising the distance that they have to travel,” he adds.

Oddly enough, Matt says that one of the biggest issues they have is the high fertility resulting in heifer calves having early and out of season calves.

“It is a challenge for those heifers to raise that calf and then get back in calf again,” he states.

So, is the use of Angus paying off at “Rocklands”? Weaning weights have been increased, despite the seasons being, as Matt describes them, not fantastic.

“Season has got an affect, but the seasons here haven’t been fantastic and the weaning weights have increased. It has made a difference, our weaning weight at the start of 2022 was 260kg. That will reduce to approximately 220kg as the year progresses and we wean other mobs but it is a pretty good start to the year,” says Matt.

Tara Ag Adaptability and Resilience

LOCATION CLONCURRY QLD

AVG RAINFALL 400mm /ANNUM

AREA MANAGED 40,000 ac

Located in the Southern Gulf region of Queensland, 60km north of Cloncurry, “Tara” has been owned by the Lynch family since 1926. Dan Lynch, now the third generation, has been at the helm for 44 years, having purchased the 13,747 ha property from his father in 1976. Now managed by Mark and Pam Suhr, Dan is based at “Stapleton” in the Northern Territory.

“Tara” consists of predominately Flinders and Mitchell grass country with some areas of pulled gidgee sown to Buffel grass and desmanthus and some lighter sandy-red country that Dan describes as ‘natural Cloncurry Buffel country’. Managed in a time controlled rotational grazing system, “Tara” has been extensively developed, with 43 paddocks roughly averaging 365ha in size, up to four watering points per paddock and a grazing radius to water of 750m.

Through this intensive management, the carrying capacity of “Tara” has improved from 1,700-1,800 Livestock Units (LSUs) to a 23-year average (prior to the last seven years of drought) of 3,050 LSUs. As a result of seven consecutive failed wet seasons and the 2019 North Queensland floods in which 40% of adult stock and 90% of weaners and calves on “Tara” were lost (as well as $500,000 worth of infrastructure), “Tara” is currently carrying 1,000 breeders and 500 head of mixed sex weaners.

Traditionally a Brahman breeding enterprise targeting the live export

trade, the last decade has seen a shift in breed choice for Dan. After a chance encounter at Beef 2009 in Rockhampton with representatives from Te Mania Angus, a fixed time artificial insemination (AI) trial was devised, utilising Angus, Simmentals and Brahman semen over 800 head/year of “Tara” straight Brahman breeders. The program ran from 2010 to 2012 and was suspended in 2013 as a result of the failed wet season.

“It was the biggest fixed time AI program in Australia at that time” says Dan, “and the long and short of it was that the cross bred Brangus animals that were bred on the property adapted and performed just as well, if not better, than their cohorts”.

These results, coupled with the ramifications of the 2011 live export trade ban have made transition to an Angus crossbred a more permanent trajectory.

“Following the live export ban in 2011, we had all Bos Indicus cattle at “Tara” and in 2013 it forgot to rain. From 2011

to 2013 I was selling the Bos Indicus steers for 80-90c/kg and Angus cattle were still getting $1.40-$1.50 or more” explains Dan, “I made the decision to diversify in herds. We had to change to a breed that was in more demand than the Bos Indicus cattle because they were obviously more reliant on the live export market and we found, as a result of the Federal Governments decision in June 2011, that we were at huge peril.”

Come 2014, another failed wet season and with more than 5,000 head of Bos Indicus cattle to place that Dan “had trouble giving cattle away let alone selling them”, it ultimately resulted in the purchase of “Stapleton” in 2015 – a 160,000ha holding south of Katherine in the Northern Territory. As the wet seasons continued to fail, Dan continued to offload the Bos Indicus types from “Tara” to “Stapleton”.

“We opted to offload the Bos Indicus cattle to “Stapleton” because we learnt from the AI program that the Angus cross cattle could not hack this environment unless they were bred in it” says Dan, “and “Stapleton” is some of the toughest country in Australia to produce cattle on simply because of its low phosphorus and calcium levels.”

“Tara” was obviously the ideal place to incorporate an Angus influence because it is an equal distance to the southern market as it is to the northern live export market.

Now a 100% cross-bred herd with a significant Angus influence, the cattle bred on “Tara” are targeting the

southern markets. In a usual season, male progeny would be carried through to two years of age and a weight of 400-430kg and sold direct to abattoirs and backgrounders. This year however, after having the poorest growing season on record, Dan has production fed and sold weaners.

“The beginning of this year was the least amount of pasture I have ever grown on “Tara” in the 40 years I have owned it. We grew 26 stock days/ha whereas usually, in a normal wet season, which we haven’t had for 7 seasons, we usually grow between 70-120 stock days/ha” states Dan.

Despite these conditions, Dan exerts a significant amount of breeding pressure on his breeders.

“What I have chased for the last 30 years, is fertility and adaptability. The animals firstly have to survive, that is the important thing, therefore they have to adapt. Secondly, they have to be highly fertile” says Dan.

The breeders are controlled paddock mated at a ratio of 2.5%, with the bulls going in on the 15th of January and coming out in either a muster in mid-to-late February or at weaning in May, depending on the season. Despite the varied time the bulls are in with the breeding herd, the joining period for retaining females is 63 days and pregtesting conducted in June fetal ages pregnant females into the NovemberJanuary calving period.

All other PTIC cows falling outside of the calving period are drafted into a

separate mob and, depending on the need for cash-flow or calves and the availability of grass they are either sold, held until calving, or kept. By drafting them into their respective calving periods, the mobs have progeny of similar age, making management easier.

If the cows that fall out of the November-January calving period are kept, they are re-joined at the same time as the core breeder herd the following year. Any preg-tested empty females or females that lose a calf are culled.

The majority of female progeny are kept as replacement heifers to be joined at two-years of age, with a small number of exceptions being culled for poor temperament and bad structure.

Through this breeding program Dan has achieved a 74% re-conception rate for lactating females.

“There are three things that influence re-conception and animal performance. Nutrition, nutrition and nutrition. If you can’t keep you animals in body score three going into calving in Northern Australia then you can’t expect them to re-conceive in their lactating period” says Dan.

After the AI program was suspended in 2012, Dan has been using home-bred bull progeny from the AI program and, more recently pure Angus bulls from Southern Australia.

Dan describes the bull selection criteria as polled, high growth, low birth weight and moderate mature cow weight.

“We don’t want 40-50kg calves. We also need bulls out of cows that are lower average weight, because in Northern Australia we haven’t got the pasture to support a 650kg cow. We want our cow weaning weight at about 430kg max and providing she can present us with a calf each year, she is a more economical animal to run than a 600kg cow” explains Dan.

As for the acclimatisation process for the Angus bulls coming from Southern Australia, they have found that the younger they arrive at “Tara” the better the results. Having received two consignments thus far that arrived just prior to the summer wet season setting in, the bulls are fed molasses fortified concentrate mix, usually containing urea, 20% crude protein, minerals, vitamins and a rumen modifier such as rumensin.

“They can’t come from improved pasture in Southern Australia, be turned out in the paddock and expect them to firstly survive and secondly be in working condition in a northern environment that is 41-42°C with a pasture base that has a crude protein level of 2.5-3%” says Dan.

“Even though there are southern bred bulls that have been at “Tara” for 2 years now, some haven’t been able to adapt, they just cannot handle the environment. Whereas the bulls bred from our AI program generally handle it, no trouble at all. We credit it to the cross breeding and being bred in the environment that they have to survive in” states Dan.

Prior to joining, the bulls on “Tara” undergo BullCHECK testing, including full semen morphology. At the most recent BullCHECK event in early December 2020, the Angus cross homebred bulls were all in forward store condition, averaging a body condition score of 3, while the southern bred Angus bulls averaged 2. Mark and Dan will wait on the semen morphology results and use it to select the bulls to be used this year, provided the bulls passed the other BullCHECK criteria. If a bull does not pass, it is given another year to acclimatise.

The difficulty of acclimatising southern bred bulls to Northern Australia is what Dan views as the biggest challenge in using the breed.

“I think the biggest challenge we have ahead of us in moving into flatback cattle and Angus is being able to source seedstock animals that will adapt to our environment in Northern Australia” he says.

Changes in the time of year that bulls are received at “Tara” from southern Australia and their induction present opportunity to achieve a smoother acclimatisation. However, Dan feels that a key part of the solution is recommencing the fixed time AI program, right where he started introducing Angus Genetics to his herd.

“Angus have the depth in their genetics and they have also got the demand f or their product, that is why I am pursuing the Angus breed” he explains.

“What I think the answer will be is that when the seasons change, and we can actually get back to fixed time AI is actually breeding our replacement bulls on property” says Dan, “I would gladly do it in the future, we just haven’t had the seasons there to do it”.

Tower Hill Station Balancing Softness and Adaptation

LOCATION MUTTABURRA QLD AREA MANAGED 40,000 ac

Brad and Jackie Schultz and their family have lived on “Tower Hill” Station, north of Muttaburra, for nine years. Originally working in Brad’s family business and contract crutching, Brad and Jackie were given the opportunity to start buying portions of “Tower Hill” from Brad’s parents in 2017. Now the owners of three quarters of the 40,000 acre property, they are focused on building their breeder numbers and continuing their expansion.

“Instead of just giving it to us, if we wanted it we had to buy it and it certainly makes you appreciate it and gets you out of bed each morning,” says Brad.

“Tower Hill” is split into three major country types, accounting for roughly a third each – spinifex, open downs and channel country, which overall carries roughly one beast to 35 acres. The Schultz’s feel that this mixture of land type makes “Tower Hill” relatively safe country as the variety gives them options.

As a result, Brad and Jackie are astute managers of their country types, maximising the production they can gain from the season while retaining the cows’ body condition scores, supplementing where necessary, all without overgrazing.

“We use the spinifex country later in the year when the season gets a bit tight as it responds more quickly to small falls of rain. It also gives the heavier black soil downs country an opportunity to respond to the wet and recover,” explains Jackie. “We feed M8U (molasses and 8% urea, coupled with rumensin, a rumen modifier) and a molasses-based mix when the cows need it to remain in the right body condition score”.

The Schultz’s run a herd of 750 breeders that are predominantly a Brahman composite cross, with a growing proportion Angus cross. All cows are joined to Angus bulls, sourced from a northern NSW seedstock operation.

“We have stuck to the one seedstock operation where we buy our bulls from. They are very genetics and performance focused, and we have a good relationship with them, they understand our operation and can help us find bulls suitable to our environment,” says Brad.

“We have been using Angus bulls for 7-8 years, we started off with one and have been going from there,” adds Jackie.

When looking to purchase bulls Brad and Jackie prioritise scrotal size (correlated with early maturity in female progeny and shorter postpartum anoestrus, or days to calving), temperament, birth weight for heifer bulls and then 200, 400 and 600 day growth. Slick coats are also a major consideration.

“Slick coats are a big thing for our operation. We don’t go for the hairy ones because they can’t cop the heat and can’t disperse it, and it is hot here compared to where they are used to,” explains Brad.

Brad and Jackie believe that acclimatising bulls is vital and buy their bulls in July and let them acclimatise until Christmas.

“We let them roam around, get used to everything, acclimatise. The bulls we brought up this year haven’t missed a beat; they are in good condition. It’s

absolutely key to let them acclimatise, don’t just bring them home and throw them in with the cows,” says Brad.

The bulls are carefully managed post joining and are fed a supplement once removed from the cow herds and given time to regain condition for the remainder of the year.

“Joining has to be seasonal. When they are working, they are working at the best time of year. As it starts to turn, they come off onto good feed and then as it dries off, they get a bit of M8U here at the house, they aren’t working in the hard time of year,” says Brad.

The breeder herd is joined for four months each year, ideally starting in early January, depending on access across the channels, joining at approximately 3%. Brad and Jackie think that this ratio may be too high as there is a fair bit of fighting between bulls and a few injuries and are planning to trial joining at 2.5%.

“Angus know what to do, they don’t need any extra players,” says Brad.

Calving from October onwards, a portion of the progeny are sold into the weaner market while the remainder are taken through to feeder weight (400kg) on the downs country as yearlings the following February/March, depending on the season, feed availability and cash flow requirements.

“We calve early for our area, it works best for us and lets us sell weaners into an early market or have cattle at feeder weight to sell early the following year. If they have had a decent season down south and have reasonable winter crops it provides a good market for our weaners – particularly our Angus cross animals,” says Brad.

“Ideally, we would like to consistently target the feeder market, but we will probably always have to sell weaners

from a cash flow and overgrazing perspective. 2020 is the first average year we have had in the last decade, we have just been trying to survive” adds Jackie.

Replacement heifers are selected as weaners on a range of criteria such as depth, temperament, slick coats and Angus content and are joined for the first time as yearlings weighing approximately 300kg.

Fertility is a primary driver for cattle production on “Tower Hill”. Preg-testing is conducted every year, with any pregtested empty (PTE) maiden heifers culled and taken through to feeders with their year-drop counterparts.

Those that go on to calve have their calves weaned early to give them time to recover prior to joining as re-breeders, a strategy that appears to be working, with 98% of the Angus cross second calf heifers PTIC in 2021.

For the wider breeder herd, the Schultz’s are currently employing a two-strike system where if a cow presents at branding without a calf, she is given a second chance but if preg-tests empty is culled. The breeding herd averaged 83% pregnant across the entire herd for 2021, having joined on the back of 75-100mm of rain.

“Because we are trying to build numbers and with the way the market is at the moment, you can’t afford to buy the replacements, we have resorted to giving our cows two strikes. We used to only give the cows one miss, but because it was so dry and we got so behind in the seasons we were pushing them too hard so we have had to ease the pressure off, they were just working too hard,” says Jackie.

The prolonged drought conditions that Brad and Jackie have been operating in has had significant influence on their

breeding decisions and they are cautious of their herd becoming ‘too soft’ and unable to handle the tough conditions if they get a mediocre season.

“We have been burnt with so many hard years. Our cow base isn’t pure bred brahman by any stretch, they are a softer crossbred brahman base and you can get very soft calves. We can’t have them too soft because when it shuts up shop and stops raining, we are worried that they will go to pieces. They need a bit of toughness,” says Brad.

“We like the soft crossbred Angus progeny; they sell well into the southern market but have the adaptation we need for our environment. It is easier to look after the 20 odd Angus bulls we have, than trying to look after 750 softer breeder cattle,” adds Jackie.

They also pursue a medium framed, fertile cow.

“If the cows are too big, they take too much grass to produce. It’s great to have a big cow that dresses well at the abattoir, but we are chasing calves out of her in mediocre seasons, so she has to perform rather than be fat and big,” explains Brad.

Going forward, Brad and Jackie plan to keep growing their breeder herd, expanding their business and integrating more Angus cross bred heifers into their base breeder herd.

“The data underpinning the genetic tools is a huge asset and the marketing –Angus sell themselves, everyone knows what Angus is. You see it everywhere, everyone wants to buy it, everyone wants to eat it, so breed it,” says Brad.

Argyle Turn-off and Tackling Ticks

LOCATION MUNDUBBERA & MOUNT PERRY QLD

Originally running a Brahman breeder herd, the Allens decided that they needed to cross-breed and trialled several breeds. However, they found that when they were finishing cattle on the irrigation that the Angus cross steers were outperforming their peers.

“We noticed that the other crosses got left behind – the Angus were sold before anything else, they were maturing earlier and they had fat coverage” Tim explained, “they were meeting the criteria of what the market was demanding at that stage”.

“We are to the point now where we are selecting lovely soft heifers. They are a little slicker than their pure Angus counterparts due to the Brahman influence, but it seems to be working, they are certainly performing” says Megan.

Tim and Megan Allen of ‘Argyle’, Mundubbera have been successfully running Angus cross cattle for more than 20 years.

Their operation encompasses a breeding enterprise of approximately 1,300 breeders, run over three properties –“Cheltenham”, “Narayen” and “Williwin”, and a backgrounding and fattening enterprise on “Argyle”, under 300 acres of irrigation.

From this basis, Tim and Megan’s herd of 1,300 breeders is now approximately 70% Angus cross cows and has seen a shift from producing bullocks to now targeting a mixture of the feeder market and the domestic grass-fed market –with the majority of each year’s steer progeny being turned off before 18 months of age.

Joining over a five-month period (October to March), the breeder herd is self-replacing, with heifers first joined at 18 months old. Replacement heifers are selected on temperament, udder structure, balanced confirmation and moderate frame.

On the back of what the Allens describe as a pretty bad season, pregnancy test results for 2020 were 89%. Empty heifers and cows are culled while re-breeders (second calf heifers) –pregnancy testing in calf at 70% on average – are given some leniency depending on the season and need for breeder numbers.

Nutritional management has proved vital to maintaining the high PTIC and calving rates Tim and Megan are achieving in their breeding herd. As a result, the Allens feed a protein and phosphorus lick pre-calving and have worked on establishing legumes such as fine stemmed Stylo, Cassia and Secca in pasture.

The breeding herds are run as mixed age herds for a number of reasons, including mitigating dingo risk. As a result, birthing ease is a priority for the Allens

– catering for maiden heifers and cows, alike. As such, low birth weight EBVs are prioritised in bull selection, second only to temperament. High 200-day growth weight EBVs and structural soundness are also considered critical while larger eye muscle area and positive rib and rump fat EBVs are also sought after.

Come weaning (June), all calves are weaned from “Cheltenham”, “Narayen” and “Williwin” to “Argyle”, where 300 of 3,000 acres are under centre pivots, irrigating a high protein, winter dominant mix of rye grass and clover. The replacement heifers reach a top of 450kg at 16 months and are trucked back to the breeder herds to acclimatise and be joined in October. Meanwhile their cull counterparts are taken through to supply the Coles Graze program at around 2 years of age.

Steers are backgrounded to sell directly into the heavy feeder market. Majority reach 400-500kg and the age of 18 months while those who overshoot the grid end up destined for the abattoir. Tim and Megan are EU and MSA accredited and are suppliers to both the Coles Graze and Teys Grasslands programs.

“This variety of accreditations has made it very easy marketing weaner steers down south, should the need or opportunity arise. People ask me ‘Why Angus?’ and I say ‘cause I can sell them’” says Tim.

“The market options with Angus have given us the ability to sell into any market because they are a desired item” adds Megan, “you can go sell them as stores, you can sell finished cattle – we have a variety of options, we can choose our markets and what direction we want to take them”.

In terms of challenges, controlling the tick burden in a relatively high Angus content herd in the tick zone certainly comes to mind but Megan and Tim all but dismiss the idea.

“Parasites cost you money, they will knock the weight off your cattle and cost you production and we are all about trying to get cattle as heavy as we can, as quickly as we can for sale. If you let the tick burden get away from you it costs you a lot of money and we can’t afford that. It is just a matter of keeping them clean and maintaining your tick regime, regardless of breed” says Tim.

Using a combination of dipping, chemical treatment, blooding and burning on some properties the Allens aim to give their cattle protection from tick fever while eroding the overall tick burden.

Overall, the marketing options that utilising an Angus cross provides has been very much realised by Tim and Megan, with the combination of breeding and backgrounding/finishing under irrigation well suited to capturing a number of target markets. Tim feels that by producing a desirable article that the market wants, it has made their enterprise more profitable.

“Don’t go out to the market and say I am going to produce these cattle because that’s what I like – go and see what sells, and then breed a good article because you will be more profitable” says Tim.

Dunmore Pastoral Fertile and Functional Breeders for the Environment

LOCATION DUMORE QLD

AREA MANAGED 8,000 ha

WRITTEN BY

Cheyne Twist, Senior Marketing & Communications Officer

Angus influenced steer backgrounding enterprise and breeding operation.

Further to the beef enterprises, the operation also farms country with dryland and irrigated multi-species fodder cropping.

General Manager of Dunmore Pastoral is Tim Clay, who returned to the family operation in 2014 following a period of time working in the northern Australia cattle industry.

“I grew up at “Prospect” and did a year after school working for Consolidated Pastoral Company (CPC) at Newcastle Waters Station in the Northern Territory (NT),” said Tim.

“I came home at the end of 2014 when we purchased “Dunmore” from my cousin in a farm management role. In 2020 my sister and brother and law came on to manage a new property we purchased (“Remilton”) and we created a role for a General Manager in the business, which I filled and have been doing ever since.”

The Dunmore Pastoral business is made up of three locations, the “Prospect”, “Dunmore” and “Remilton” properties.

Located in the Dunmore district of Queensland’s Darling Downs region, Dunmore Pastoral is a mixed farming operation spanning across three properties.

Made up of parents Ralph and Von Clay, son Tim and his wife Gemma and daughter Annie Webb and her husband Fraser, Dunmore Pastoral is a family operation, running an Angus and

“I went to Marcus Oldham from 2010 - 2013 doing a Bachelor of Farm Management.

“Following this I did a year as an Operation Analyst for CPC in 2014, traveling throughout the Kimberly, NT and Cape York working on ways to improve station performance.

Located in the Dunmore locality, “Prospect” and “Dunmore” cover 4,800 hectares of owned country, on Black and Grey Brigalow, Box and Belah soils and 3,200 hectares of leased lighter textured forest breeding country. On these two properties, Dunmore Pastoral runs 500 Angus breeders and 1,200 backgrounder steers and heifers.

The rest of their operation is run on “Remilton” 100km further west in the district of Westmar. Made up of Brigalow and Belah soils with some red Box country, “Remilton” is home to some 800 backgrounder steers.

Angus was originally introduced into the family’s operations in the early 1990’s.

“Angus bulls were first purchased in the early 1990’s to put across first calf Hereford heifers due to their ease of calving,” said Tim.

“The family had originally had Herefords but by the mid 2000’s there was a strong Angus influence,” he continued, “Most females are now completely black but there are still some legacy broken baldys within the cow herd.

“We have found these crossbred cows to be highly fertile and functional, especially running on the lighter country. There is also a small percentage of cows with some bos indicus content from heifers purchased following the 2019 drought.”

When it comes to the adoption of Angus genetics within their breeding system and the reasonings behind this transition, Tim said, “Primarily Angus are fertile and functional breeders for our environment.

“Secondly the integrity and repeatability of data for the use in breeding decisions is unparalleled to other breeds.

“Thirdly the marketing has been backed up by a quality product that people want, that we can produce for a premium with no sacrifice to cost of production.”

Primary to the Dunmore Pastoral business is their steer backgrounding enterprise, which contractually supplies progeny to Mort & Co.

Through this part of their business, Dunmore Pastoral supplies pure bred Angus steers for the Mort & Co 200day grain fed program, used in the production of the company’s branded Angus beef products. For this market, steers are turned off for feedlot entry at 380kg-500kg, HGP free, with milk- 2 teeth.

Additionally, the operation also supplies cross bred steers to the Mort & Co 100day grain fed program. Similarly, the market specifications for these animals are 380 – 500kg at entry, HGP free, Milk – 2 teeth, with under 51% Tropical Breed Content.

In 2024, the family will look to supply approximately 2,500 steers into Mort & Co’s Grassdale and Pingrove feedlots through this contract. The herd also participates in MSA grading.

When it comes to their breeding operation, the family joins 500 females annually, with approximately 80 heifers retained each year back into the herd.

Heifers are joined at 14 months and 350kg+. Bulls are put out for joining in January for a 90-day period, running at one bull per 50 females.

Following the joining period, females are pregnancy tested to a nine-week window, with any empty females falling out of this period culled from the mob. Dunmore Pastoral has an average conception rate of 94%, with an average weaning rate of 90%.

In the lead up to, during and after joining, nutrition is a focus in the management of the animals.

In regards to management practices applied during this time, Tim said, “We are mainly matching timing of mating with feed quality.

“Bulls are put into the paddock on the 1st of January, and this lines up with the following year to match peak lactation around January or February with the best chance of receiving reliable rainfall and therefore pasture quality and quantity,” he said.

“Lick is also made available all year round to maintain performance.”

To maintain genetic improvement and productivity within their herd, females are cast for age at eight years old. Furthermore, females are culled from the herd typically based on fertility, structure and temperament.

“Any female coming in at branding or weaning without a calf is culled,” said Tim.

“Any cow that is preg tested empty after weaning is culled. Heifers are culled on phenotype, weight for age (maturity) and temperament.”

He continued, “All cull vendor bred heifers are taken through to a joining weight of 320-350kg and generally marketed through AuctionsPlus as future breeders for other producers.”

When selecting sires for their herd, the family combines genomic information and phenotype to make their selection decisions for their commercial operations.

“Generally, at a sale we don’t look at bulls under the 25th percentile for the Angus Breeding Index,” said Tim.

“Calving Ease needs to be positive; Mature Cow Weight is under +110, better than average growth figures and Birth Weight is under +5.”

Structurally, Tim highlights bulls must be, “Appealing to the eye, with an even back line and underline and thick rump.

“We think there could be good bulls outside of these parameters but if we are preparing to pay $15,000 - $20,000 for a herd bull everything needs to stack up,” he said.

“If you’re trying to be in the top 25% of the breed there’s no point looking at bulls in the bottom 50%.”

The business has also utilised fixed time artificial insemination within their breeding herd in order to take advantage of sires that which meet their desired selection criteria, however, were priced out of their market. These programs were a success for the operation, with a 60% pregnancy rate achieved.

Applying a no passengers approach to ensure success within their operations, Dunmore Pastoral theorises that every female must be productive, and if she’s not that animal becomes tradable to provide an income stream.

Sustainability and productivity continue to be at the forefront of Dunmore Pastoral, with several areas of innovation being introduced into the business in order to make changes that benefit the overall efficiency of the operations being run by the Clay and Webb families.

When it comes management practices and philosophies applied within their business, Dunmore Pastoral utilises feed budgeting through matching stocking rates to carrying capacity, an area of development introduced to the business four years ago.

“We budget out feed from the end of the growing season in March and budget through to December,” said Tim.

“We input this data into Maia Grazing to help guide our decision making. We also systemise as much as possible.”

Feed budgeting has been a beneficial area of development for the business and its growth since they began its implementation.

“Since we started feed budgeting and rotational grazing four years ago, we have not had to force sell any animals and we

have maintained constant grass ground cover, even in a decile 1 rainfall year in 2023,” said Tim, “We have seen it be more financially rewarding as well.”

Furthermore, the company has been utilising the Optiweigh system within their operations, which Tim emphasises as a ‘gamechanger’ for their business.

“We now do less yard work and check weighing, which means there is less stress to the animals,” said Tim.

“The Optiweigh operates 24/7 365 days of the year, and we book all of our consignments using the data from it.

“Cattle are mustered, yarded, weighed, and trucked all within 24 hours and we know that they are within 5kg’s of what they would weigh at the feedlot two weeks before we get them in.

“The added benefits are we know when they might be getting sick for example with three day or which paddocks put more weight on than others and also knowing the cost of mustering in terms of shrink etcetera.”

With sustainability a mainstay topic within the industry, the family have also trialled and implemented some environmental adaptions in their business through the use of biosolids as a fertilizer for their pastures.

“We were hesitant at first to use biosolids due to the odour and reports

of potential contamination materials present in biosolids, but after a great deal of research and partnering with a company call Top Soil Organics in 2021, we could see their testing regimes and integrity around how it is applied to the paddocks was very tight,” said Tim.

“Soil samples are taken pre-application to determine the appropriate application rates and then taken again thereafter to monitor any elevated levels, which we so far, we have not seen.”

This innovation has proved a beneficial one, not only for their business, but through recognising the implications such progression can have for environment in general.

“Compared to other organic fertilisers the response in pasture quantity and quality is unbeatable and likewise with cattle performance,” he continued, “We see it as a great way of completing the food cycle.”

“It is a lot better way of using the product than putting it into landfill and pumping it into the ocean.”

In 2023, Dunmore Pastoral opened their gates to the Angus Foundation Neogen Production Tour, which saw eight participants, all young members of the beef industry from around Australia, converge on farm, visiting Dunmore Pastoral and observing their day-to-day operations, with Tim as their guide.

With the emphasis on growth and productivity that is evident within the operations at Dunmore Pastoral, it is not surprising to see that for Tim, opening his operations to the visitors was a mutually beneficial opportunity to learn more from other members of the beef industry.

“The main benefits I saw from being a stop on the tour is hopefully they can take something away from what they have seen in our business and successfully implement that in their operation,” he said.

“Likewise, I think it was great for us to have to answer questions thrown at us that we may not have asked ourselves and potentially think about what we need to do differently as well.”

Looking to the future of Dunmore Pastoral, strategic planning is an important element of their day to day, with goals already in place for further development and expansion for their enterprises.

“Our primary strategic goal is to get to a 5,000AE carrying capacity in the next 6 -7 years,” said Tim.

“This will be achieved through a combination of purchasing and leasing more country and improving the current area we hold.”

Harrow Grazing

Angus Infused Cattle for Commercial Returns

LOCATION ARCADIA VALLEY, SURAT & BAUHINIA QLD

AVG RAINFALL 650mm /ANNUM

Sam and Heather Crowther first purchased ‘Harrow’ in 1980 and since then have built up their beef production business to near 7,500 ha in total and between 1400-1500 joined females and progeny to slaughter p.a. Their son Andrew and wife Katie are also based on ‘Harrow’ where they jointly manage the

beef breeding and feedlot businesses. Sam and Heather’s daughter, Angela and husband Dennis are based on the other family property ‘Prospect Park’ where they manage the largely Santa Gertrudis based operation.

“Every bull you buy should be a herd improver. Be better than last year”.

Sam Crowther, principal of ‘Harrow Grazing’ strongly believes in continual genetic improvement. With their core markets being to supply the 100-day grain fed direct to processors and grain fed domestic trade to Woolworths, the Crowther family invest strongly in genetics in order to best meet the market requirements.

The core breeding females of between 1400 – 1500 joined females p.a. are essentially run as two separate herds. One herd is predominantly a high content Angus herd (mostly Angus x Santa females) joined to Santa Gertrudis bulls. The other herd is predominantly red, being mostly Santa Gertrudis females, although a large proportion of

these have females with Angus genetics. This herd is then joined to Angus bulls.

Both herds are joined at a rate of 4% as part of a multi sire controlled joining program from mid Oct to April in the following year. Ongoing dry conditions have pushed the joining window out from the original 3 month join. Despite this, an average pregnancy rate in excess 90% is achieved with 70-80% of females already calved out by midOctober of each year, highlighting the strength of the Angus breed in tightening up conception patterns.

Maiden heifers are mated at 400kg liveweight at approximately 15-16 months of age. They are specifically joined to low birth weight bulls from early to mid-November. Bulls are pulled out of the heifers in around April of each year.

Calves are weaned in April of each year, starting with a process of feeding hay in the yards for 2 – 3 days before being tailed out each day after the 3rd day

of weaning. They are given a booster vaccination of 5 in 1 (original vaccination at branding) as well as provided a lice treatment. They are also educated to horses and bikes. Once weaned, the weaners are placed in a fresh buffell grass paddock that has been locked up to promote fresh feed and/or placed onto a forage oat crop if available.

WHY Angus – Proof of Profit:

Originally having a base herd of predominantly Santa Gertrudis, the Crowther family began investing in Angus bulls in 1995. This followed unsuccessful attempts at incorporating other beef types including Euro and bos indicus. Angus genetics have helped to build value for the Crowther family in areas such as weight for age, value adding, consistency in the product and the survivability of the cattle.

Weight for age:

With the inception of their on-farm feedlot in 1992, now 650 head accredited, Sam estimates that by using

Angus bulls, they increase the body weight in their Angus x Santa Gertrudis progeny by approximately 30kg per animal when finished, over non-Angus infused progeny.

This average weight advantage of 30kg / head is a significant factor in realizing on farm profit through the genetic potential of the majority Angus x Santa Gertrudis progeny through the feedlot. For example, using the median number of joined females’ of 1450 breeders at an ~87% weaning rate (90% preg test rate less 3% loss) is 1260 calves. Assuming 50% of the calf drop is a first cross Angus, then 630 head weighing an extra 30kg / animal when finished, potentially equates to an extra 18,900 kg return in actual beef over the year, excluding Angus infused cattle of less than 50% Angus content.

Alternatively, Angus infused cattle are run over a combined 5,900 ha (exc. ‘Prospect Park’), which equates to an extra 3.20kg of beef / ha / year. Andrew Crowther sums this up when he states,

“We aim to produce as much kilos of quality eating young beef as we can when we load cattle up the loading ramp”.

Value add:

The feedlot is used to value add with great effect and highlights the ability of Angus genetics to contribute to a readily salable article. A draft of Angus infused #9 steers recently backgrounded on oats was inducted into the feedlot on the 4th September at ~410kg liveweight. These could have been marketed at today’s store prices of average $1,150/ head.

However, 100 days on feed would likely look to return ~$2,000/head, less an approximate cost of $500/head for feed. Therefore, the return on the extra time and money spent on feeding Angus infused steers is well justified. As Sam states, “Angus and Angus infused cattle help provide a salable finished article at any stage of its life”.

Consistency of article:

Sam attributes the Angus breed with consistency of progeny, even in a crossbreeding program. Factors such as rib and P8 fat, marbling, muscularity and producing an overall even line of calves has translated into a more marketable item. In particular, the Angus bulls in Sam’s view “squares them up” in relation to the Angus x Santa progeny, which before using Angus bulls, progeny would be all growth and were often not as easy finishing.

Survivability:

Finally, the Crowther family is adamant that the Angus inject ‘survivability’ into the herd. Sam has observed many times, that when tailing out, the black weaners constantly have their “heads

down grazing as if it was like their last feed”, unlike the non-Angus infused weaners. This behavior carries through the entire lives of the cattle, with the Angus x females being good foragers, subsequently raising strong, healthy calves. As Sam states, “Survival is in their DNA” when referencing the Angus breed.

Bull Selection:

Crucial to maintaining a fertile herd and meeting target weights and market specifications is their investment in genetics. Selecting bulls that have good confirmation, structurally correct so the bull can stride out to cover the distances, strong constitution as well as sound EBVs including 600-day weight greater than +100 and above average EMA (Eye Muscle Areas) EBVs

are all non-negotiable factors. This is irrespective of whether the family purchases Santa bulls or Angus bulls.

However, the Crowther family also pay particular note of low birth weight EBV bulls. Indeed, the continual selection of low birth weight bulls and retained female progeny with those low birth weight genetics has meant that calving difficulty has been largely eliminated. Operating in extensive areas and with large numbers of cattle, it is impractical to continually monitor selected replacement heifers for any signs of calving difficulty. Therefore, bulls with low birth weight EBVs are sought out when attending Angus bull sales, particularly when joining maiden heifers.

Consistency at “Mt Kingsley”

LOCATION INJUNE QLD

AVG RAINFALL 600mm /ANNUM

AREA MANAGED 3,755 ha

The Benn’s operation encompasses a breeding enterprise of 450 breeding females and a finishing enterprise where progeny are pasture finished to meet the organic export market specifications.

“Mt Kingsley” is a holding of 3,755ha of predominantly buffel pasture and receives an average rainfall of around 600mm per year.

It is in this environment that the Benns run a rigorous breeding program, joining maiden replacement heifers at 15 months of age for 45 days and their re-breeders and cows for 85 days. Their objective is to wean 400 calves from the 450 joined females (a weaning rate of 89%), with their weaners averaging 50% of the mother’s body weight (approximately 300kg) at nine months of age. All other progeny, as well as cull

females, join the ‘grower’ herd where they are pasture finished by 30 months of age.

“The primary focus of any genetic selection in our operation is performance in the breeder herd. The finishing enterprise is essentially a byproduct of our breeding objectives,” says David.

In terms of rating trait priorities in the breeding females, the Benns consider temperament to be the most important. Fertility, mothering, confirmation and udder structure are also highly regarded and the breeding program aims to produce a moderate framed cow of around 600kg mature weight.

The replacement heifers (approximately 85 head a year) are selected on a weight threshold and joined in September,

a month earlier than the cows. The 45-day joining period serves to apply considerable reproductive pressure on the heifers while the earlier joining gives them an extra month to recover from postpartum anoestrus.

When it comes to bull selection, David and Chris look for the ‘full package’ and select for everything in moderation.

“We have had calving issues in the past and do select bulls with good, positive calving ease EBVs, particularly for the heifers, but aim for balanced figures across the board. We have achieved our desired mature cow weight and increased weaning weights using this approach,” says David, “but while EBVs are an important part of the process, temperament and confirmation of the bulls themselves are also critical.”

David and Chris have come a full circle on the Angus breed, initially purchasing Angus bulls in the 60’s. Since then, they have trialled a number of breeds in an effort to capture the production they were aiming for while gaining tropical adaptation traits. David describes this as relatively successful but felt that the variability this introduced to the herd needed to be addressed and that it was hard to stabilise the traits they were selecting for.

Ultimately it was a greater Angus influence that the Benns felt provided the consistency, market flexibility, fertility and temperament they were seeking and

has resulted in a progressively greater percentage of Angus being used in their herd.

“When we first started using Angus, sourcing reliable genetics in Queensland was difficult however I think with the reliability of Angus genetics now, we are more comfortable going to a straight Angus herd,” David stated.

“It is not hard to buy consistently quiet Angus bulls. There are now so many good bulls on the market suitable to the Queensland environment, I don’t see a sound argument for not using Angus,” adds David.

When asked if they have seen an uptick in fertility, David and Chris agree that it hasn’t been an uptick as such but the maintenance of performance in shorter joining periods.

Selling into the feeder market is a drought strategy in the Benn’s operation and the market flexibility that Angus provide is something David and Chris value.

“In dry years where we have had to offload to feedlots we found that the demand wasn’t for Bos Indicus cattle,” says Chris, “while you might lose a little bit with

the adaptability of a cross breed, we have found that Angus does open up more markets for you and capture the relatively consistent premiums”.

Some of the challenges David and Chris have found running a predominantly Angus herd in Central Queensland have been buffalo fly and blight, with management compounded by the fact they are an organic operation.

“Buffalo fly present the biggest challenge with organics,” says David, “we cull anything that seems susceptible to fly but from my observations between the Charolais, Brangus and Red Polls, the Angus are no more susceptible than other breeds in our herd”.

All-in-all, David and Chris are pleased with the performance of their herd and feel that the constant selection pressure and careful consideration of bulls are leading them closer to reaching their objectives on a consistent basis.

“It has certainly become easier to select for what you are wanting. We are seeing our average weaner weight increase each year and our cows have been performing under significant breeding pressure” states Chris. “People ask ‘Why Angus?’ and I guess my response to that is ‘Angus have come so far with their genetics in the last couple of decades and our herd is benefiting from those improvements’,” says David.