Breed beaut for butchers

Principal of Baleze Bazadaise, Grantville, Ms Tuchtan said Queensland producers had discovered the weather hardy qualities of the breed but further word needed to spread among the southern States.

"The Bazadaise is well-established as being 'The Butcher's Perfect Beast'," Ms Tuchtan said.

She said the breed's motto was proven repeatedly at carcase competitions across the country with milk-vealer crossbreeds.

The stud has won championships at eastern Victorian carcase competitions from 2002 to 2010.

"Crossbreeds achieve high dressing percentage, of about 60 per cent, and increased saleable meat yield, particularly of the better cuts," she said.

"They grade well in competitions because the meat yields are about 80pc which is enormous.

"One butcher who owns three shops in regional Victoria and Queensland buys Bazadaise bulls to breed his own cattle because of the meat yield and quality."

Ms Tuchtan's passion for the breed dates back to the first year they were introduced into Australia in 1991, when she selected 24 cows for joining.

"In the first drop we didn't have one calving problem at all, and the calves immediately had so much strength as soon as they were born and we saw significant growth within three weeks so that is how I started," she said.

"I saw that the muscle was very good and they were easy calvers – while they are born thin within three weeks you can see the muscle developing and they are easy to handle."

Baleze has been building the stud since 1992, aided by importing semen and embryos, along with flushing programs and now satisfy the demands of several repeat buyers.

The breeding program consists of artificially inseminating (AI) 50pc of the breeders to imported genetics from France and England, embryo transfer (ET) of the top females and natural mating with the remainder of the herd.

A split autumn and spring calving is to accommodate both markets for clients in Queensland.

Ms Tuchtan said the early stages of the ET program had enabled a boost in stud numbers while fast-tracking genetic progress.

She said the breed had outstanding Genstar markers for tenderness, marbling and feed conversion.

"Anything for me that didn't score high we culled and I am now really happy with what we produce," she said.

Like many Victorian studs last year, the lack of northern demand impacted sales which Ms Tuchtan anticipated would recover based on improved seasonal conditions in NSW and Queensland.

"The last year was difficult with the drought," she said.

"I always had good sales to Queensland with bulls and cows, but because of the drought nothing has gone up for the past 18 months.

"They will need breeders, cows, calves and bulls this year, so we are keeping our fingers crossed for it to improve."

In the future, Ms Tuchtan hoped to see increased promotion by butchers of the breed's carcase quality, which would shine a spotlight on high performance, good muscling beef breeds.

"It is a terrific breed that can add to the meat industry because of the feed conversion and the docility," she said.

On display at Beef Week will be full blood Bazadaise bulls, females, together with crossbreds, and embryos and semen for sale.