Stan Walker places emphasis on female genetics in his stud, which led him to establish it with cows and heifers before he looked at bulls.
“The female is half the genetics after all,” he said.
Feminine influence is also in the stud’s name – Charellen – being a combination of his daughters’ names.
The stud’s evolution began when Stan and Denise Walker bought their first property, from her parents’ Mona and the late Clyde White.
“They ran a commercial polled Hereford herd and we established our own, polled, herd over the next couple of years,” Denise said. Her mother’s maiden name was Boulton, so there is a lineage of cattle breeding in the family. Mona continues to breed Herefords and checks her herd daily.
The first stud cattle Stan and Denise bought were PTIC heifers from Bill Lack, Willack stud; these were followed by Palarang PTIC heifers and the couple bought Taradale PTIC cows at the polled Hereford classic sale at Romsey.
Their first bull was a Palarang stud bull, bought at the Bairnsdale bull sale.
Since then they have added some River Perry PTIC heifers and cows and calves and bulls from Guilford, Valma and River Perry studs.
“I’ve also purchased semen from Morganvale Galloway to use in AI and a Charnock bull to bring in Heatherdale bloodlines,” Stan said. His focus has been on breeding calves with lower-to-moderate birth weights that grow into moderate sized cattle.
Recently the couple retired from off farm work, but before then they shared herd management between them.
“Moderate sized cattle suit us; and they also suit this area,” Stan said.
He also focuses on good temperament and better-than-average milking ability in the cows.
“The calf spends a lot of time with the cow and I think the cow’s temperament influences the calf,” Stan said.
“I went into the stud game in 1994 as a novice and I found John Birdsey, Bill Lack, Jack Petersen and David Miekle very helpful in the early years. I think it’s important to get guidance and be open to advice.”
Charellen stud regularly hosts return clients during Stock & Land Beef Week, but Stan and Denise welcome anyone who would like to see their bulls and view some of their breeding herd. “I think it’s important to see the cows, so I always run a few in to the paddocks alongside the bulls for Beef Week,” Stan said.
Calves are born March-April and weaned after Christmas.
The farm is dryland improved pasture, with a floodway that provides summer grasses for the cows and calves to graze. Six acres of lucerne is used for strip grazing in the winter and to harvest square bales in the summer.