A FAMILY team effort has allowed the Doodle Cooma Poll Hereford and Schipps Red Angus studs to expand in size recently with the purchase of a new property.
Adding Glandore, 930 hectares just east of Wagga Wagga, NSW, to Gumly Park, Gumly Gumly, NSW, has brought the Schipp family's enterprise to 1400ha.
"We've got a bit of optimism about the beef industry, so we thought we would have a fair dinkum go at it," stud principal Daryl Schipp said, adding everyone pitches in with the running of the two studs, along with a commercial herd.
"I run the day-to-day operations, my wife Trish runs the office as well as working at Charles Sturt University, and the children – Lauren who works in Sydney, Adam at Newcastle and Zoe at Wollongong – get back to help when possible," he said.
"My father Joe assists with maintenance and my mother can often be found feeding the workforce."
The Poll Hereford stud cow herd of 80 head was established in 1949, and continues to achieve results for its clients, both commercially and in the showring.
Hollow Point stud presented Doodle Cooma Hector, a bull purchased at the Wodonga National, at the 2014 Royal Melbourne Show (RMS) which won senior champion Poll Hereford and was second in the interbreed.
Another bull, Wagga Caesar, out of Doodle Cooma Marvel, was grand champion Poll Hereford bull at the RMS, while the equal top price cow at the Cromer Park dispersal was out of the Doodle Cooma Duchess family, Mr Schipp said.
Schipps Red Angus stud was established in 1993, and has now sold cattle to all States of Australia except South Australia.
"Red Angus cattle are an easy doing maternal breed with all the carcase attributes of their black cousins except they are more heat tolerant and cross exceptionally well with all red breeds," he said.
"Clients are crossing their Red Angus bulls over Santa Gertrudis, Shorthorn, Hereford, Limousin, Charolais and Simmental cows with sale topping results."
The Schipp enterprise has put this to the test themselves, running a commercial Red Angus cross Poll Hereford herd to produce high performing females.
The commercial herd will be the one that expands with the property, with the aim to build up numbers from 40 to 150 head.
"We have been crossing the two breeds since we started the Red Angus stud – it's exactly the same cross as the black baldy cow, famous across the world for its productivity, but a red package that is more heat resistant," he said.
"We keep the female portion and cross them back to the Red Angus or Poll Hereford, but could go to any breed, so when we expand we could go with another breed over them."
Selling the offspring as weaners into the Wagga Wagga markets, Mr Schipp said they always attracted solid demand.
Having the two breeds had also helped them better service their clients, he said.
"We can reach a wider market with more clients, but also give clients the option of two different breeds to choose from – some are running both breeds," he said.
"With the Red Angus, you are getting all the attributes of the Angus breed, in a red package, which I like; they are versatile and heat resistant.
"And since the initial chase for frame score led to a decline in Poll Hereford demand, now the breed are back to focusing on carcase traits and grass fed doing ability, so they are surging back in popularity."
The Schipp family have been participating in Stock and Land Beef Week since it began, missing only a few years through drought.
Mr Schipp said it was a low cost opportunity to present your cattle to a fairly wide audience.
They will have a selection of their stud herds on display at their Gumly Gumly property as part of Beef Week on January 27.