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Breeding
Philosophy

Our Cattle Philosophy

Angus & Angus Composite Heat Tolerant Genetics Designed for Grass Fed Performance.

Our passion for cattle, and the naturally managed environment they are bred and raised on, drives us to produce seedstock that are easy calving, fertile, resilient, adaptable, moderate size and profitable, especially in grass fed environments and operations. We act consistently and transparently, doing what we say and standing behind every animal we sell. We embrace proven tools, technologies and practices that strengthen our breeding program and lift industry standards. We take pride in breeding cattle that improves the herds, environments and enterprises they enter.

In our view, calving ease, fertility, moderate frame, temperament and finishing ability are by far the major profitability drivers for commercial beef producers.

We believe (and many people agree with us) that it is possible to produce from these moderate sized cows:

i. steers that can be profitably fattened on grass or in a feedlot,

ii. replacement heifers which are easy calving, fertile, resilient, low maintenance and easy fleshing, 

on a Grass Only diet. This is achieved by “BREEDING IN” Thickness, Muscling and Fleshing Ability on moderate frame animals.

It takes less feed to maintain a moderate size cow, compared to a large frame cow, you can run more moderate size cows, therefore wean more calves/kilograms of beef and thereby increasing your profit.

Kilograms of beef produced per hectare DETERMINES PROFIT, NOT kilograms of beef per animal

Decision Drivers

Guided by the needs of Australian Commercial Beef Producers, we ensure our cattle deliver reliability, longevity and value in every program.

  1. Calving ease: Any female assisted at calving is culled together with its calf.
  2. Fertility: Females must have and wean a good calf every year, from the age of 24 months, or they are culled – no exceptions. To ensure high fertility a 42-day joining period is currently used – we are progressively moving to a 21 day joining time frame to further improve fertility.
  3. Moderate Frame Size: We believe moderate cow size enhances efficiency, fertility, calving ease and profitability.
  4. Resilience: No breeding age females are treated for parasites (natural pest resistance must be developed) or provided with supplementary feed (survival of the fittest).
  5. Grass Efficiency/Muscling/Fleshing Ability/Easy Doing: BRED IN not Fed In
  6. Structurally sound: Good feet, legs, udder and coat / hair.
  7. Temperament: All bad temperament animals are culled.
  8. Bull Masculinity and early maturing: Improves fertility and reduces time to “turn off”.
  9. Meat Quality: Improving grass fed meat quality and tenderness.
  10. Longevity: Cows must have a long and productive life cycle.
  11. Milk: Quality not quantity.
  12. Our management practices: Apply pressure on the female herd to force out non-adapted and infertile animals.
  13. Replacement heifers: Are developed solely on grass with only mineral supplementation. We only want the most efficient and adapted heifers to make it into the breeding herd.
  14. Balance: We aim to achieve a “Balance” between all traits.
  15. Real world environment: Our cows are run as tough as, or tougher than, the environment most commercial cows are run in.
  16. Sale Bull: Must be born unassisted from a fault-free cow that has never missed a breeding opportunity, to make it into a bull sale.
  17. Honesty and Integrity: Will not be compromised.
  18. Cows Must Fit Their Environment: We want a cow that can survive strictly on what the farm produces, i.e. grass, with no additional inputs other than minerals. We let the environment sort out the “good ones”, we cull all empty, late, dry cows and bad doers – survival of the fittest. A cow must support the farm, not be supported by the farm. 
  19. Desirable End Product: We expect the cow to produce a desirable and profitable end product. Her calves must be able to feed effectively and meet the requirements demanded by the consumer and beef industry.