KEN Warriner knows a thing or two about cattle.
He has to – he helms Consolidated Pastoral Company which owns 16 properties totaling five million hectares and is responsible for the management of more than 300,000 cattle across North Australia.
He spoke before the start of the Mt William bull sale and told the crowd he had selected his first purebred Mt William Charolais bull 25 years previous.
Last Friday Mr Warriner selected five bulls for a top $6500 price tag, booking the cattle to Consolidated Katherine where they will return to 20,000 Charolais-Brahman and 20,000 Charbray breeders.
Progeny will be exported to Indonesia to be fed under roofs in the tropics where they can gain 1.8 kilograms daily at a cost of $1.80 a day, compared to $3.60/day in the NT.
He told the crowd he liked the Charolais-Brahman cross because they were tolerant and did well.
He drew the line at Composite cattle breeds which he felt were too hard to control in regards to breed lines.
Mr Warriner said the beef market was improving and the opening of the EU quota was a positive step for the industry.
He also said Russia was on the verge of buying boxed beef again.
