A family in the Riverina are using American and Australian genetics to breed meaty bullocks for the grass-fed market.
Tom, Sophie and Thomas Holt own the 28,733ha Coonong Station and Coolbaroo Station aggregate, in the Urana (NSW) district, combining a fauna and flora reserve with producing Hereford beef, wool and fat lambs.
Stocking rates on the property are managed to complement the needs of local wildlife and protecting native vegetation.
The wool-growing sheep flock and fat lamb production numbers 28,000 to 32,000 head.
There is a commercial herd of 300 cows, plus replacement heifers. Steers are grown out to 340kg, or continuing grazing until they are bullocks and are sold direct to Radfords Meats at Warragul.
The Holt family owns a cow herd in America that they use to improve their breeding herd in Australia. They also buy Hereford bulls at the Herefords Australia National Show and Sale at Wodonga to complement their breeding aims in Australia.
"We have some cows in Texas that enable us to use American genetics," Tom Holt said.
"American Herefords produce the type of well-fleshed, muscled and meaty animals that we aim for."
As well as artificial insemination and natural joining in Australia, the Holt family produce their own embryos in America and import them to Australia.
"America has more herd numbers than Australia, which give us a greater diversity of genetics to choose from.
"We bring over embryos and pick a phenotype among the cow herd and see what happens.
"It's working for us. Importing ET and semen to use here is consistently improving our herd.
"We mingle that muscle pattern with bulls we buy in Australia that complement our breeding."
Mr and Mrs Holt favour Wodonga because they can view a large number of bulls - particularly horned bulls - in an efficient attribute selection process. Then they look at the sires and dams in a bull's lineage.
"If we're onto a bloodline we like, and they're going to push it through Wodonga, we'll go there.
"We'll budget into buying one bull or four or five bulls, depending on what we need."
They also like the opportunity to compare what other people are buying.
"We also go to shows, including the Sydney Royal, and look at what animals are being favoured."
At Wodonga, they have purchased Ironbark and Kirraweena Glenholme bloodlines.
"We also breed our herd bulls out of bloodlines we favour," Sophie Holt said.
"If you buy the right bulls, you have an easy care animal
"We look for an honest bull that's going to be easy care, do their job, and give us longevity in the paddock."
Jeanette Severs
I research and write articles across a broad range of topics for an agricultural and rural readership. My hours of work are part-time - generally Monday, Tuesday and Friday.
I research and write articles across a broad range of topics for an agricultural and rural readership. My hours of work are part-time - generally Monday, Tuesday and Friday.
