Geoff and Janie Williamson and family are passionate Shorthorn breeders, combining that with the knowledge that it is profitability that is critical to a cattle business.
With nearly 130 years of breeding Shorthorns in Australia, the Williamson’s Caskieben herd near Carisbrook has seen numerous changes over the years.
The stud first introduced polled genetics in 1975 with bulls from Kelso and Kaluga.
Geoff Williamson said that in the 1980s a number of United States sires were introduced which brought increased growth rates and improved carcase traits.
He said top sires were used in artificial insemination programs.
More recently bulls had been used from Broughton Park and Springwood Station which further increased the quality of the cattle.
“Broughton Park Thunder C23 (P), a son of Weebollabolla Theodore (P) has had a marked influence on the stud with many daughters and a couple of sons kept,” he said.
In 2016 a substantial AI program was undertaken.
Son, Alex Williamson said that while the stud had used AI for some time before that on a portion of the herd, the 2016 program saw the majority of the herd joined using AI.
“We carefully selected bulls that we thought would work with our females genetics at the time,” Alex said.
Sires used in the program included Yamburgan Zeus H140 (P), Futurity Honey Badger (P) and Caskieben Thunder K13 (P).
“We were really pleased with the results and there will be a number of bulls for sale this year and PTIC heifers on display at Beef Week that have come from that program,” Alex said.
Caskieben’s herd comprises around 100 breeding cows, selling some 25 bulls each year.
Each year the drop of bull calves was inspected with the top 50 percent selected for taking on for sale based on a stringent physical review for structural correctness and then on performance data.
The top 30 to 40 percent of the heifers were retained for replacements.
Alex said a high priority was placed on the female side of the herd to ensure there was consistency in the sale bulls produced.
Breedplan was a great opportunity to benchmark the herd against others and more buyers were using that data, he said.
Geoff Williamson said they were using genetics that depicted moderate birth weight, high growth rates, good eye muscle area, fat and intramuscular fat figures.
He said the result was that those indexes had increased dramatically.
“We aim to produce quiet cattle that perform well, have moderate birth weight and are that are structurally correct that will produce a high percentage of live calves for our clients,” he said.
“If we can produce cattle that area profitable to us, that should carry on through our clients herds as well.”
The Williamsons are positive about the performance of Shorthorns in carcase traits.
Programs such as the JBS “Thousand Guineas” Shorthorn branded beef were getting the Shorthorn breed more recognition.
“We need the feedback from feedlots and processors to reinforce our breeding objectives,” he said.
With a long history of selling bulls, Caskieben has a long list of repeat buyers.
Depending on the season bulls were also selected for sale at Naracoorte Shorthorn sale and at the Dubbo National Show and sale.
The balance of bulls are sold privately to clients running straight Shorthorn herd as well as in a cross with Angus and Herefords cows.