Summer Angus: Data key to successful beef operation at Willow Grove

The Bergamin family has run beef cattle at at Willow Grove, near Trafalgar, for almost 60 years, with Herefords being the main breed for many years, but they've used Angus genetics for the past two decades.

The enterprise is run by John Bergamin with his manager Ben Cumming.

"Even over 20 years ago we used to cross our Hereford heifers with Angus bulls for ease of calving, which we still do, the growth in the Angus breed is exceptional now," Mr Bergamin said.

The herd is now about a quarter Hereford and the rest Angus, and the breed split plays a big role in determining the most fertile breeders.

"We'll join breed for breed for the first six weeks in our joining period then put the Hereford bulls (all Yarram Park), over the Angus for the last cycle," Mr Bergamin said.

"So it's a nine to 10-week joining period, and if we get a baldy calf we know which female got in calf in their third cycle.

"We're aiming for around 70 per cent to be in calf on their first cycle, then 20pc in the second, and 10pc on the last cycle, which will be the baldies.

"We cull on fertility, as well as structure - particularly feet - age and temperament."

The Angus herd was based on Te Mania bloodlines, but the Bergamins have also used Lawsons genetics, and more recently, bulls from Anthony Pisa at Absolute.

"When we first bought our Angus females we went to Te Mania and bought four bulls that did a great job," Mr Bergamin said.

"With the heifer bulls we look for short gestation length, low birthweight, ease of calving, and a good milk figures as these traits suit our areas, as well as EMA (eye muscle area), IMF (intramuscular fat) and growth.

"I use EBVs for all my bull selections to source growthy bulls but the perfect one will have a moderate mature cow weight.

"The Absolute Angus bulls are getting better each year.

"Anthony's bulls aren't pampered pooches - they've got to grow out on their own with grass and water, and they've got to do the job."

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All the replacement heifers are joined as one mob to Angus bulls.

"For this upcoming joining I will need three heifer bulls and I wanted yearling bulls for my heifers because they're lighter.

"Last year I had a Te Mania bull that I culled for age that weighed 1378kg.

"He was a massive bull, and although the EBVs for birthweight and calving ease figures might add up, a bull like this would be way too big to go over heifers."

Among the past bloodlines purchased through Absolute Angus have been Regent and Emperor, with the recently purchased R-drop heifer bulls being Landfall Keystone and GDAR Regulaor.

"With Anthony's bulls, you get the breeding with affordability," Mr Bergamin said. All calves are sold as weaners, and over the years growth has improved so much that they're sold much earlier.

The family used to sell weaners at Heyfield in March, but they now go at nine to 10 months.

"We sold 256 mixed sex weaners in November because this was the last weaner sale for the year, and we sold about 80, predominantly heifers, at Pakenham in January," Mr Bergamin said.

While they were sold a bit early in November, it didn't impact prices, with all pens making more than 700 cents a kilogram.

"They were only young calves and the top pen of steers weighed 321kg and made $2390 or 745c/kg."

Heifers also sold well, almost on par with the steers.

"Over the years heifers would be $400 or $500 a head less than steers but with the shortage of females the price has increased."

The January calves were a bit heavier - around 280kg to 310kg - and all weaners are treated with two 7-in-1 vaccinations, Pilliguard and a Multimin injection.

The Bergamins run a purely grass-fed enterprise on mainly ryegrass and clover, but calves have access to a loose lick.

Calves are drafted into weight categories and regularly weighed prior to sale, and the weaners sold in November had gained 1.3kg to 1.5kg per day in the six-week period before the sale.

"That gives them a good start in life, as well as developing their rumen," Mr Bergamin said.

"We've already made about close to 4000 tonnes of silage this year that's all stored in pits. We got into silage because we're surrounded by a lot of dairy farmers and we also have the equipment to do hay.

"Cattle get a lot more energy from the glucose in the silage so we've gone down that path, but we still feed hay as well."

Nutrition also plays a major role at joining. Mr Bergamin randomly tests breeders for trace elements every second year with a blood test to identify any issues.

"Our country is fairly copper and selenium deficient which affects fertility, and magnesium can also be an issue.

"Multimin is always good, but they also get copper magnesium and selenium bullets. And because we have bore water we're also looking into testing the water to make sure there's nothing in there that's draining nutrients out of the animal.

"We are looking into putting minerals in the water as well. You can see it in an animal's coat - if they're lacking, you can tell there's something not right."

The family has been cell grazing for many years and they're constantly improving pasture with fodder crops.

"We do feed evaluation testing to see where we're at with the quality of the feed and get agronomists in for soil testing," Mr Bergamin said.

"We're trying to maximise return, through improving soil structure and getting the right pasture mix."

Having a pasture-only operation also pays off when it comes to cull cows.

"They go through the Greenhams Never Ever program so we get all the feedback on the carcase, and we're picking traits in bulls based on the grading of those animals. They're generally just empty cows, but they still meet the specs."

Mr Bergamin is also getting valuable feedback through his work with Lawsons Angus.

"It's interesting as a commercial breeder to see how our commercial herd stacks up against the pure genetics of the stud - it's telling us we're doing the right thing," he said.

"Harry Lawson (Lawsons stud principal) retains stud ownership of all the Lawson co-op cattle and selects the genetics. I keep the females and he buys back the bull calves from me.

"We have approximately 550 females, including 150 of the Lawsons co-op ones, about 250 commercial Angus and the balance Herefords.

"We have joined 600 cows on the farm over the years when the season was right, but each year I like to see at least 520 females pregnant at the end of joining."