Good bulls are the key to weaner sale success, says Hereford breeder

Mr Armstrong, Island Bend, near Yea, expects to turn off 130 steers and about 60 heifers to the January 19 Elders Yea Blue Ribbon sale.

He runs the property, near Yea, with his son Cameron.

Mr Armstrong aid he bought bulls from Tarcombe, Ruffy, and Yavenvale, Adelong, NSW, "pretty much exclusively.

"I just like those two breeders - Tim Hayes, Tarcombe, and James Pearce, Yavenvale - because they are doing a really good job with our Hereford breed," he said

"Both of them have big herds, so they have the spread of genetics we need to keep the breed going forward.

"They have growth, a quiet, mild temperament, the females are 'milky' and the breeding of the horned and poll Herefords has given us that vigour we need in our cattle."

Mr Armstrong each year, said regular buyers sought out the steers and heifers he offered, with most going locally and to Gippsland.

"We are certainly getting a lot of C+ to B in the animal's butt shape, from the processors," he said.

AUS-MEAT specifications define the measure for muscle shape on the carcase as the fullness, or roundness, is scored on a scale of A (full muscling) to E (least muscling).

"We are getting the growth for age and the weights the processors are looking for and although we sell store cattle at the Yea saleyards, our mind has to be focussed on the processing of these cattle.

"For the people that buy our cattle, they need to know they will finish as quickly as possible, at the weights they require, with the cover and shape they need."

He said this year's steers and heifers were the best he had produced.

"They are magnificent, we don't hold back when we are buying bulls - we have in our mind's eye what we want and that's what we buy," he said.

"The price is the price."

In 2017, he bought Yavenvale Logo L291 (P) for $24,000.

Island Bend generally bought two bulls, each year, and currently had 15, he said.

"I do like to have a spare two or three, they don't break down in the bull paddock, they break down when they are with the cows," he said.

Heifers were joined at 25-30, per bull, while cows ran at 40-45 per sire: this year the Armstrongs joined 300 females, to get 293 calves on the ground.

The country had recovered, after extensive flooding just over a year ago saw 150-200 hectares of Goulburn River flats go under water for six to eight weeks.

"The flood was a disaster - it knocked us around a lot, we had to buy in hay, as we didn't cut any," Mr Armstrong said.

"But it's bounced back, we did resow a lot of country and the cattle have really done well on that re-sown pasture and what has grown back naturally," Mr Armstrong said.

"That's the trade off for living on this river country; we choose to live here, we love it and we think we've got the best country in the state."

The flooded country had been resown to annual and perennial ryegrass, as well as clover.

Mr Armstrong said he would stick with Herefords, even though many producers in the area had switched to Angus.

"Herefords grow well, they are quiet to handle and we have buyers that want them."

"The processors love them, because they yield well."

He said he didn't expect the heady prices of previous years, at the January sale.

While there had been talk of an El Nino and coming drought conditions, he said the Yea district was having "a bottler of a season."

Other parts of Victoria where also experiencing excellent conditions.

"I think confidence will come back - I don't think it will come back to those dizzy heights we had in last year or two, but I think it will be okay," he said.

Two years ago, the top price for his weaners was $2350/head, dropping to $1830/hd last year.

"I suspect this year will be lower than that - but by how much, nobody knows," he said.