TALLANGALOOK SHORTHORNS SANTA GERTRUDIS

Santa demand drives expansion

NEW SIRE: Rosevale Reunion R130 bought by Tallangalook Santa Gertrudis for $32,000.

TALLANGALOOK’S foray into Santa Gertrudis began with buying a Waco sire at Beef Australia in Rockhampton in 2018 for composite bull breeding. So popular were sons of Waco M720 that Tallangalook launched its own Santa stud in 2020 with a handful of select females from the renowned Rosevale herd. Few herds boast data as deep as Rosevale, providing the perfect foundation for outstanding bulls for the future. The demand for Santas in the far north has been such that Tallangalook last year secured a further 36 Rosevale females, instantly creating a top shelf female herd backed by proven genetics. Tallangalook also invested $32,000 in young sire Rosevale Reunion R130, boasting an exceptional pedigree in terms of fertility with his dam producing seven calves in the past seven years and granddam 14 calves. Moderate in frame and with data in the top 1% in the breed for fat cover, Reunion weighed 790kg at 23 months on sale day, the second highest daily gain of all registered bulls at the 2021 Rosevale bull sale. Tallangalook recently collected more than 200 top-shelf straws from Reunion, with the semen testing 83% for motility and 78% for morphology. A limited number of straws are available for sale. As well as bulls for sale, a range of the Tallangalook Santa females will be on show at the 2022 Tablelands Better Beef Open Day.

FOR SALE ON OPEN DAY: Tallangalook R49 is an outstanding composite Santa x Shorthorn bull, weighing 750kg at 23 months.

More markets = more $ options

CHASING fl exible market options – weaners, feeders or bullocks? Want durable bulls backed by elite genetics and data? Keen to capitalise on the southern feedlot boom? Over the past 24 years, Tallangalook has been producing quality Shorthorn, Santa Gertrudis or composite bulls. Tallangalook bulls will maximise hybrid vigour when used over Bos Indicus cows, producing exceptional F1 steers and fertile, maternal females. Increasingly, quality meat attracts quality price premiums, and Shorthorns rival the renowned Angus breed for marbling and taste. This is important in satisfying the needs of feedlots, which have changed buying patterns across Australia in the fi rst three months of this year with the percentage of stock on grain feeding jumping to 55% – up from 44.8% average in the fi ve years previous. Shorthorns stand alone in crossbreeding, forming the basis of 40+ breeds worldwide (Santa Gertrudis, Droughtmaster, Belmont Red, Murray Grey and Speckle Park to name just a handful). The maths speak for themselves when it comes to crossbreeding cattle – research shows that heterosis (hybrid vigour) adds up to 23% weight gain. To produce sires suited to Bos Indicus females, Tallangalook has used embryo transfer, AI and IVF to access the best Shorthorn genetics available. Principal sire Bayview Archer M15 (bought last year as a mature bull for $15,000) is in the top 1% of the breed for EPDs at + $154. He has bred superbly across multiple studs, with sons this year selling to $33,000 (twice). Our fi rst drop of Archer calves at Tallangalook are characteristic of their sire – moderate birth weight, exceptional thickness and outstanding structure. Tallangalook will have an array of Shorthorn, Santa Gertrudis and composite bulls and females on display and for sale during the 2022 Tablelands Better Beef Open Day. Visitors welcome at 86 Blake Rd, Barrine, for the Open Day or at any time by contacting Nick Trompf 0412 786 719.