Mark Hermon is a postie who loves to breed cattle.
The proud owner of a herd of around 30 cows and calves, Mr Hermon is serious about the way he manages his operation.
His aim is to develop a herd of Speckle Park cattle using a beef-based foundation, rather than dairy-based.
The herd is run on about 65 hectares in the shadows of the south-western edge of the Grampians.
Mr Hermon said the block had unimproved pastures and an area was regenerating after blue gums.
His spring-calving herd is based on Herefords bought three years ago.
The cows were joined via artificial insemination to an Angus bull with a view to retain some of the Black Baldy heifers.
The progeny were joined using AI to Speckle Park sire Trade Secret, a white bull.
He said there were plenty of dairy-based Speckle Park cattle available, but he wanted to base the herd on beef.
"Eventually we want to develop an F1 herd of cows by selling the Herefords and retaining heifers," he said.
The herd includes 22 Speckle Park calves.
"If I had the numbers of steers to sell in the saleyards to get a presence and people could see them," he said.
"But I don't have the numbers and I don't feel they'll sell as well.
"We're looking at AuctionsPlus to get that broader range of buyers, plus that bit of control about what they sell for."
Mr Hermon said the calves would be weaned early December and listed for sale in mid-January.
The steers would be about 10-months-old and should weight around 380 kilograms.
