Benambra graziers keen for Angus to succeed

"We've had three cuts of lucerne and it is a foot-and-a-half high again," he said.

"Usually you would only get two cuts, but the quality is immaculate and the best I've ever had."

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Mr Pendergast, his wife Sharon and their family, will sell 600 mixed-sex calves during the Mountain Calf Sales in March, including 300 Angus weaners at Omeo.

He said the cattle were in "terrific" condition ahead of the 82^nd Mountain Calf Sales, and appeared to be much more fresh and sappy compared to recent years.

"Our calves are not born until June and July so they are sold as eight and nine-month-old calves," he said.

"We're trying to raise the age of our calves at the time of sale so they will be about 11-months-old and we're really focusing our efforts on the Angus."

The Pendergast family runs 1000 breeders, comprising of 600 Angus females and 400 Herefords, but ongoing demand for black cattle is driving the shift to focus on the Angus progeny of the herd.

"We're bringing in 120 Angus heifers every year and joining them to calve in the first week of March as opposed to June and July," Mr Pendergast, whose family settled in the area in 1830, said.

With help from the next generation on the farm, including son Stuart, Mrs Pendergast said high beef prices had allowed the family to improve on-farm infrastructure and fund inputs.

"We've bought new machinery and new vehicles and that's because of the last couple of years we've been able to afford these things," she said.

"We've spent a lot on blackberry spraying and aerial spraying and we've done a lot to improve the farm."

Mr Pendergast said the stronger prices helped.

"We've got money to spend on a couple of hundred tonnes for super," he said.