BULLS bred in Western Victoria are finding new homes in some of the most arid parts of Queensland.
Stock from the Murdeduke stud, which has properties near Winchelsea and Hamilton, is being eagerly sought out by buyers as far away as Charleville, in Queensland's channel country.
Manager Simon Falkiner said most sales from the Hamilton and Winchelsea studs had been local, but in the last three years Murdeduke had branched out into Western Qld.
"We've done sales in Charleville, and – just recently – in Barcaldine, and will probably do one in Rockhampton as well," Mr Falkiner said.
"We are moving to where the cattle numbers really are in Australia."
The push into Qld follows sales into another arid part of the world, Kazakhstan.
"Those cattle go down to minus 30 degrees, and grow a long coat and adapt really well to the Kazakh conditions," Mr Falkiner said.
"They go from one extreme of 45 degrees at Barcaldine to -45 in Kazakhstan and everything in between."
Traditionally the home of the Droughtmaster and Brahman, Mr Falkiner said Queenslanders were now paying a premium for flat-back cattle.
"Charolais have been quite popular, in taking the hump off, but they are a little bit harder doing in those tough, arid conditions, so red and black Angus are really giving them a run at the moment, and quite successfully."
The Angus needed a little bit of care when first moved to Qld but once they had acclimatised they coped extremely well.
"If they tip them out, like Brahmans, you can have high mortality rates – if the bulls are looked after, and shown a little bit of tender loving care, they do cope quite well.
"But you can't just treat them like a Brahman."
Murdeduke was founded in 1993, with the purchase of four leading Te Mania cows, with heifer calves at-foot.
The plan was to create an elite herd of females, from which superior Angus bulls could be produced.
In 2011, Murdeduke invested in Te Mania Emperor, for an Australian record price of $91,000.
Even after running with 40 open females Emperor was still the heaviest and biggest eye muscle area scanned bull out of 401 contemporaries at Te Mania in 2011.
Other bloodlines featured in the herd include R/M Ironstone, HF Tiger, Hoover Dam, TC Aberdeen, Ardrossan A241 and Exar Upshot,
The stud will have two displays, at Hamilton and Winchelsea before the March 11 sale date.
With an infusion of Brahman blood the bulls gained extra doing ability, providing the best of both worlds, Mr Falkiner said.
"People forget we are only a 21 inch (525mm) rainfall and we haven't seen 21 inches a lot in the last 15 years – our autumns can be as tough as any conditions, as dry and as hot as anywhere," Mr Falkiner said.
"That's one of the fallacies when I go to Queensland, they think I am coming out of green feed, 12 months a year, with grass up to their bellies."
About 50 of the stud's 18 month-old bulls would be offered for sale.