THE “last straw” from a Royal Show English interbreed champion bull has produced what John and Sue Harvey, Torr Down South Devon stud, Trentham, believe is one of their best calves to date.
Mr Harvey said the stud had bought only two bulls since emigrating to Australia in 1982.
“We have managed with semen from England,” Mr Harvey said.
“Last year we used one straw we had left in our tank, for 21 years, from an English interbreed champion.
“We used it on our polled, young cow and we have produced a clinker.
“Both Sue and I reckon it’s the best calf we have ever had.
“This is what keeps you ticking over; it’s the challenge, that just doesn’t disappear.”
Both Sue and I reckon it’s the best calf we have ever had – this is what keeps you ticking over, it’s the challenge, that just doesn’t disappear.
- John Harvey, Torr Down South Devons, Trentham
Mrs Harvey said it was a great new bloodline for the stud as a future polled sire.
“We think we’ll register him as Torr Down Dynamo,” Mrs Harvey said.
“My grandfather had South Devons, not pedigrees, and my father had a herd and his became pedigrees in the late 1920s,” Mr Harvey said.
“My younger brother took over most of that and now has one of the most successful South Devon herds, the Sexton South Devon stud, in England.”
Torr Down started in 1982, when the Harvey’s flew 22 of the hardy British breed cattle to Australia.
Mr Harvey said he visited a number of studs when he first came to Australia.
“At that time, South Devons were really beginning to race ahead and make good money,” he said.
“In 1983, the year after we arrived, we sold a number of bulls and averaged $6000 for them. It’s taken until this year to do that again.”
The Harveys run the stud on their own eight hectares, as well as another 8ha leased block.
“We are running about 10 cows, plus followers, and have got heifers coming along, in calf to a Red Wagyu bull.
“We have five bulls, 12 to 14 months of age, which will be offered at beef week.”
He said some of the outstanding features of the breed were docility, high meat yield and maternal traits.
While docility was a major attraction, the other thing producers were looking for was marbling.
“The demand for our bulls has increased, particularly in the last year – we have sold to Angus, Red Angus and composite producers.
“The red and black Wagyu breeders claim their animals marble better than anything but they take longer to achieve that than we do.
“South Devons have been renowned for good eating meat, for hundreds of years.
“We sold our old stud bull, Torr Down Marvel, to two Red Wagyu breeders; they wanted him for his homozygous polling trait, because he had good marbling figures and his docility.
“They have bought him to put those traits into their Red Wagyu.”
Mrs Harvey said the stud achieved excellent birth and weaning rates.
“We are a small stud, so we can watch them. We have the ‘maternity paddock’, right outside the bedroom window,” she said.
The calves were weaned at 10 months old, to give the cows a rest.
“But by that time, a few of them have weaned themselves,” Mr Harvey said.
Females were only culled if they couldn’t get in calf, with the oldest animal in the herd being 11 years of age.
The Harveys recently used superphosphate for the first time in 10 years, to “a tremendous response – the clover was unbelievable”, according to Mr Harvey.
Liming was also necessary in the Trentham area to help boost the rye and white clover pastures.
The herd was offered supplementary feed, particularly when the bulls were weaned.
“We wean them in June and July and because they are out wintered, we give them a little bit of grain,” Mr Harvey said.
