With a history of more than 40 years of selling at Casterton, the Hortle family are busy preparing their quality draft of Hereford weaners for next month's annual sales.
Despite a tough start to the season and a long, cold winter, Jeoff and Jill Hortle, along with their daughter Carmen Gorman, are pleased with how this year's drop of calves are looking.
"We did it pretty tough here, we were just getting rain in five-millimetre lots through the winter which kept the grass going," Mr Hortle said.
"We fed out over 600 rolls of hay through the autumn and winter.
"But the pastures didn't really jump away until we had 27mm in October."
They currently run about 300 breeders across a spread of seven properties in the Casterton area, totalling just over 500 hectares.
Trading as Woranga, they will offer about 120 steers and 90 heifers, predominantly April/May-drop, in the weaner sales in the New Year.
Final heifer numbers will depend on how many are retained as replacements.
Mr Hortle anticipates this season's draft of steers to be about 350-370 kilograms, while the heifers will be "back a bit" at 260-280kg.
The Hortle family bought their first Hereford heifers in 1977 and continue to be impressed by the breed's temperament, doing-ability and ease of management.
"The Herefords have been very good to us over the years and we like their docile nature, they are very safe to handle in the yards," Mr Hortle said.
"I used to do a fair bit of livestock carting around the area and I definitely know which breed I prefer to cart."
Originally based on Nareen bloodlines, the Hortle family had been sourcing bulls from Bowmont for more than 20 years, but with the stud's dispersal in 2017, they have since been buying bulls from Yarram Park near Willaura.
Mr Hortle uses visual appraisal for his bull selection, focusing on temperament, frame size, structure and coat colour.
He also prefers the traditional horned Herefords.
"They have to have a good coat colour, white socks, and a white crest, I don't like red-backs," he said.
"Eye pigmentation is also important and our herd is getting better around the eyes."
Medium to high birth weight bulls are selected for the big-framed cows, while a smaller, young bull will be used over the maiden heifers.
The cows are joined on June 1 to start calving the following March.
The Hortles try to make sure their cattle present at the annual Casterton sales in the best possible condition, starting with a Multimin vaccination at calf marking, along with a dose of 5-in-1.
"We started using Multimin about three years ago and I think it has given the cows and calves a real boost in their overall health and doing-ability," he said.
The calves are yard-weaned on hay and handled extensively for about three days in mid-December.
They also receive a second 5-in-1 injection, a B12 shot and are backlined with Easy-Dose to keep the flies away.
They are then turned out into a small paddock adjacent to the yards before being moved into larger paddocks with better quality pasture feed.
During the past few years, the herd has become European Union-accredited which Mr Hortle believes has opened up more marketing opportunities.
They are also accredited through the Pasturefed Cattle Assurance System.
"The weaner market has been worthwhile for us over the years, it suits our operation and we are getting repeat buyers which is pleasing," Mr Hortle said.
The Woranga Hereford steers will be offered through Elders on January 8, and the heifers on January 10.
