Buchan Station backs Milwillah Angus genetics as Lance and Lyric Anderson become managers

More than 90 per cent of the 800-hectare property in Victoria's far east was burnt, which wiped out kilometres of fencing and most of the pasture for the operation's Angus herd, east of Buchan.

The on-the-ground optimism is a stark contrast from December 2019 and a new husband-wife manager team and their two children have considerable plans for the station's breeding program.

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The station runs about 500 mature-aged cows and 200 heifers and recently spent a total of $130,000 on three high-profile bulls from the Milwillah Angus stud, west of Young, NSW.

Buchan Station was purchased by Surf Coast real estate valuer Bryan Hayden and his wife Vicki in 1998, and new managers Lance and Lyric Anderson and their two children, Rhyme, 15, and Hughie, 11, have recently joined the team to oversee the day-to-day operations.

"We came straight into the autumn join and got straight on with the artificial insemination program, along with marking and weaning, so it was pretty hectic to start with," Mr Anderson said.

"There's plenty to do."

Both Mr and Mrs Anderson have worked on the land their entire life.

Mr Anderson started as a jackaroo at sheep property Hampshire Station, Merriwa, NSW, before he took up a stockman's role with Angus operation Minnamurra Pastoral Company, Cortina, Wollar, NSW.

It was during his time at Cortina where he met Mrs Anderson, then Ms Mitchell.

From there, he worked as an overseer at Yarraman Station on the Liverpool Plains at Blackville, NSW, and was later appointed manager of Colinta Holdings, Denman, NSW, where the pair worked for 10 years.

The family relocated to East Gippsland in 2018 to be closer to Mrs Anderson's family, the Treasure family of Dargo High Plains.

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One aspect of the Andersons' operation which differs from many 21^st century farming operations is their reliance on horses - just don't ask them how many they own.

"That's like asking a woman how many shoes she owns," Mrs Anderson said.

Their horses and working dog team are ideal for mustering cattle in the steep, and often inaccessible, country at Buchan.

"There's some paddocks you wouldn't be able to get cattle out of without the use of the horses because of how much rain we've had," Mr Anderson said.

The Andersons are also supported by Ean 'Doggy' Free, a local who has worked on the property for years.

The use of horses also relates to one of the operation's key breeding objectives - good temperament in cattle.

In Mr Anderson's words, "horses and dogs take the rattle out of your cattle".

The operation includes cleared grazing land and some permanent pasture for fodder, watered by pivot irrigators from the Buchan River, including a variety of chicory, rye grass and clovers.

Buchan Station runs an AI breeding program which starts in October and May.

Following the AI program, the bulls are joined with the heifers in the paddock and produce about 500 calves from the two joinings each year.

The annual draft of yearling steers is sold in Bairnsdale at the Bill Wyndham & Co feature spring store market, and last month, the station sold 85 steers, 12-14 months, to a top price of $2440 a head.

One aspect Buchan Station is likely to become known for is its progeny of Milwillah Angus bulls, after the operation purchased three bulls for $60,000, $40,000 and $30,000 at the stud's on-property bull sale earlier this month.

The top-priced future sire, Milwillah Napa S23, is set to play a key role in the station's breeding program.

"We've got 90 trade heifers here that we're going to join to S23 through two rounds of AI and then sell them as pregnancy-tested-in-calf heifers in early 2023," Mr Anderson said.

"We want all of our heifer calves to be of that high standard that people want to take them and breed with them."

The operation AIs 100pc of its breeding herd and will use the Milwillah bulls extensively in its program.

"Our autumn joining was a real success with 93.5pc in calf and 68pc of them were in calf from the first round of AI," Mr Anderson said.

Buchan Station has used the bloodline for 15 years and the Haydens said they intended to further invest in the NSW's studs genetics.

"It will be the first time Buchan Station has offered this sort of number of females in one go," Mr Anderson said.

"We would like to sell more of our heifers PTIC but that could mean our steer portion might have to go a bit earlier to make way for the heifers."

Mr Anderson said the high prices from the steer draft at Bairnsdale last month gave him a sense of optimism.

"The steers did remarkably well over the winter here," he said.

"We had such a wet winter, it was so wet and cold, but they still managed to put on 1.5 kilograms a day on the pasture leading up to the sale.

"It's in their make up, they're bred to perform."

Mr Hayden said he was pleased with the Andersons work so far.

"They have bought a new dimension to the program, and under extremely difficult wet conditions have so far managed to achieve fantastic results," he said.

Milwillah Angus stud principal Will Caldwell said Buchan Station selected "fundamentally perfect" cattle.

"The Hayden Family of Buchan Station have been securing the very best we can offer for nearly 15 years," he said.

"Cattle selected are fundamentally perfect in their make-up with feet and leg set and disposition a priority.

"Early weight gain and fat cover are a must."