PAT Mangan keeps a busy lifestyle, one many of us would struggle to keep up with on a daily basis.
On the outskirts of Geelong, the ‘fifty something’ year-old runs his crossbreeding cattle operation, while also hosting farming tours around Australia and as far as Africa.
“Farming goes back to my roots,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to breed cattle.”
Growing up in Tongala in northern Victoria on a cattle and cropping enterprise, Mr Mangan now runs a similar operation on his 280 hectare property at Moorabool, between Anakie and Geelong.
In what Mr Mangan describes as a small, select commercial operation, white Shorthorn bulls are joined to a breeding herd consisting of 80 Hereford cows.
“I was always a Hereford man and dad was into his Shorthorns,” Mr Mangan said.
Mr Mangan was on the lookout for something different and the hybrid vigour of the Shorthorn Hereford-cross cattle appealed to him.
After crossbreeding for six years, market demand influenced Mr Mangan’s swing to Shorthorns from predominantly black cattle.
“It was common sense,” Mr Mangan said. “It’s an opportunistic market that isn’t catered for and they make good money.”
Nine years ago black was beautiful, but you would pay $150-$200 more for Angus breeders,” he said. “It’s the economies of the choice in the first instance. When you can buy 50 more Hereford than Angus for the same price, why not?”
Mr Mangan praises the temperament of the Shorthorns, which he said is “very, very good.”
Breeders are sourced from sales in the state’s west, while Mr Mangan purchases his bulls from central Victorian Shorthorn studs.
“Confirmation is the main thing,” he said. “We go for commercial bulls. They’re good value for money and at the end of the day they’ll perform.”
Mr Mangan’s white Shorthorn bulls, duly named Polar Bear, run with the breeding herd for nine weeks to achieve a tight calving period in late summer to early autumn, with cows not in calf, culled under a strict policy.
Breeding the roan calves for a select market, Mr Mangan said his choice of business has been vindicated in the last 18 months. A draft of his Shorthorn-cross calves sold at the Ballarat weaner sales in February, where the steer portion averaged $840 while the heifers averaged $830.
“That’s $200-$300 up on last year’s average,” Mr Mangan said. “I’d say 99 per cent of the cattle at the sale were black; there were only three pens of roan cattle. So they stand out to people looking for something different.”
All calves are yard and paddock weaned for 6-8 weeks before being sold at 11-12 months old at an average of 350 kilograms.
“There’s a distinct advantage if cattle are weaned properly,” Mr Mangan said. “People will pay a premium for cattle that are accustomed to a feedlot environment.”
Looking to the future, Mr Mangan expects it will take him another 4-5 years to reach his target.
“The aim is to produce 150 Shorthorn-cross weaners by introducing quality breeding lines,” he said.