HOWQUADALE Station, Mansfield, steers are targeted to wean at about 60-65 per cent of their mother’s weight.
To achieve this owner Tim Roberts-Thomson and manager Tim Norrie have devised a strict guideline for selecting top Poll Hereford genetics and pile on the kilograms via an assortment of improved pastures.
“We’re certainly turning off the kilos out the front gate and that’s what it’s all about,” Mr Norrie said.
A herd of moderate-sized cows is important to this equation and rather than run “thumping” cows weighing from 800-900kg, Mr Norrie said they keep a moderate-framed cow who will not “eat us out of house and home”.
White-face cattle graze three very different stations owned by Mr Roberts-Thomson, with one each in the Northern Territory and the Riverina.
“It’s good to have a breed which is very adaptable and that’s from the cold climates of Mansfield, to the very hot conditions of central Australia,” Mr Roberts-Thomson said.
At the southern end of the business, about 1000 Poll Hereford breeders are run, geared at weaner production.
They also supply a number of commercial bulls to both the NT property and also commercial breeders.
The property is made up of both flat and hill country, with the former good for fodder production and the latter, which faces north, a perfect stomping ground for breeders in the winter.
Based on Merawah genetics, the herd has recently been infused with Allandale and Sevenbardot genetics, with sires selected on their performance traits.
“I like to see that they can turn out a bit quicker, getting the 200-day weight up really high if we can,” Mr Norrie said.
But estimated breeding values are purely a guide and Mr Norrie is more interested in seeing lines of cattle when choosing sires.
“I like to see the sisters and brothers of bulls we’re looking at; that gives me a better indication as to what the bull will be like.
“If I can see something with females on the ground and milking, that’s what I’m looking for.”
All calves are sold from about eight to 10 months of age, with the bottom end ranging from 300-350kg and the top-end of the drop, weighing in over 400kg.
They are generally weaned late November, early December, before a draft of steers are sold at the weaner markets in mid-January.
But if the season goes under, calves will be pulled off from as young as six months.
“You don’t want to damage your cow herd because at the end of the day that’s your factory.”
Cows are given a three to four month break and are on a rising plane of nutrition before joining.
Younger stock are synchronised with artificial insemination and about a third of the herd is joined this way.
Run initially on the flat country, the younger breeders are “taken care of for the first few years”, before being turned out in the hill country.
The better end of heifers will be kept as replacements – generally from 250 to 300 head – for either the Howquadale Station or the NT.
“We put a lot of time and effort into the breeding of these cattle so we don’t really want to give them away.”
Cattle which head to the far north property are run at Numery Station, a 2022 square kilometre expanse 187km east of Alice Springs, or closer to home at the 34,400ha Riverina property Juanbung Station, near Hay.
“The goal is to get all three properties working together so that the NT property is our calf factory, Juanbung is our backgrounding property and Mansfield runs our elite herd which also provides bulls for the NT station,” Mr Roberts-Thomson said.
About 4500 breeders are run in the NT, mostly Hereford, with some Droughtmaster cattle.
Weaner steers are trucked south to Juanbung at about eight to 10 months of age and grown out to about 14 months. They are generally sold to a feedlot at about 400 kilograms-plus.
Having the three stations has meant extra options for their beef breeding, Mr Roberts-Thomson said.
“What we really aim to do is value-add to stock ourselves.”
Pastures are under a constant process of improvement and currently perennials are the main focus.
“We’re getting all our perennials back in line with some high performance crops such as Brassica which we can throw weaners on.”
A large amount of Lucerne is also grown and trucked to the other properties which Mr Norrie said they supply with fodder.
Good pastures to finish weaners on are a priority, and fodder is used when breeding heifers to ensure their goal of growing grass and producing kilograms is always in sight.
“As long as we’re doing that, we’ll go ahead.”
