Using Simmental cattle to inject hybrid vigour into producers' herds makes dollars and sense to breeder Grantley Muller.
After nearly 30 years in the breeding game, it is this focus on customers' bottom line which drives every breeding decision for the Muller family of Rellum Farms Simmentals, Mount Gambier, South Australia.
Established in 1993, Rellum Farms selected Simmentals from more than 30 breeds on display at the Adelaide Royal Show because the Mullers saw massive potential for the beef industry.
"The breed still offers a lot of potential; they are never going to be the base cow herd, they will always be a breed that compliments Angus, Herefords, and Shorthorns," Mr Muller said.
Rellum Farms runs a mostly traditional herd and have dabbled in artificial insemination and embryo transfer programs on exceptional bloodlines.
One of which is the stud's matriarch hero, Rellum Farms Tabatha 5, grand champion female at 2010 Adelaide Royal, who went on to win champion pairs with her junior son.
Now in retirement, Tabatha was recently flushed, with the stud still leaning on her constitution and fertility brilliance.
"Her genetic lines are throughout our herd, she's 16 years-old and has done so much for me," he said.
The stud will calve 100 registered cattle this year, and anticipated 15 bulls would sell into the local F1 and crossbred commercial cattle market.
"Our client base has shifted, customers see a massive boost in their profits by taking their bottom 30 per cent of their pure Angus calves, and joining to our Simmental bulls," he said.
"They're gaining hybrid vigour, yield, and growth, that is surpassing their top purebred lines by up to 50kg; worked out on a cents a kilogram basis translates to a lot of extra dollars."
He said with the stud's reputation of producing easy fleshing, good yielding, structurally correct calvers resulted in more producers turning to them to add kilograms to their bottom line.
"Last year, we didn't pull a calf," he said.
"We join for six weeks, and anything that doesn't rear a calf doesn't stay.
"We're structurally ruthless, too."
Showing their commitment to their clients, he said the stud would offer bull calves from a homozygous polled Simmental bull next year.
"When producers change direction, it's a compromise not to lose a trait to obtain your goal," he said.
"We moved gradually to ensure we didn't lose our style."