THE SOUTHERN
Part of the Farmer Group Rural Newspapers Covering Victoria Published since 1986
APRIL, 2018
PROTECT GREEN WEDGE PAGES 3
UT O T LIF Australia’s Premier Mixed Farming Field Days
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SEEDS, FERTILISERS AND PASTURES PAGES 26-28
Cloning for quality Cloning is the best way for me to guarantee the quality animal I want. - GEORGE MERCIECA, GTM BRAHMANS
BREEDING THE BEST: George Mercieca (pictured here with his granddaughter) runs GTM Brahmans, and is known for producing some of the best breed examples in Australia. The GTM team are currently working on cloning their best breeding heifers, and hope to have calves on the ground within the next two years.
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told him if he achieved good school marks, and headed in the right direction, then we would buy a property and get a few Brahmans. “From that day on, Chris sent emails all over the world to breeders,” George said. One breeder from South Africa was so impressed by Chris’s pluck that he agreed to send him semen from his top bull - for free. Several years later, with Chris maintaining his interest and his school grades - the Mercieca family bought a farm. “He literally changed the course of our lives,” George said. “Before that, we had nothing to do with Brahmans. “But how do you say no when your son has worked so hard?” After purchasing a property, George and Chris packed their bags and headed out across Australia. From the outset, George knew to make a mark on the industry they would need the best.
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BY the end of 2019, George Mercieca hopes to have cloned his two best breeding Brahmans. Rather than replicating the bloodline, George wants to know exactly what he will get; with cloning, all the guesswork has been taken out. “A lot of people can be a bit funny when you start talking about cloning, but this is the best way for me to guarantee the quality animal I want,” George said. “There are not a lot of really high-end animals around, and I want the best - with cloning, we know exactly what will be hitting the ground.” George runs GTM Brahmans, a stud based out of Kyneton. Although the herd size is small, keeping numbers to less than 50 has allowed GTM to focus on quality rather than quantity. It is a long way from the man who liquidated his classic car collection to get into cattle breeding - and all at the insistence of his young son. “Chris, my son, started talking about this when he was five years of age - he knew he wanted to breed cattle even then,” George said. “I did a deal with him - I
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