A DRAMATIC switch from Poll Herefords to the “Rolls Royce” of beef cattle – Wagyu – was made at the Bishop family’s historic “Wootton” at Scone 14 years ago.
The 3440-hectare property between Scone and Merriwa is now home to more than 1000 Angus cows mated to Wagyu bulls and 140 fullblood Kuro Kin stud Wagyu females to be joined this year.
Founded in 1900, the picturesque property is now run by Peter Bishop Snr and his son, Peter Jnr, a fourth-generation farmer.
At one time it was the oldest and largest Poll Hereford stud in NSW, established by Peter Bishop Jnr’s grandfather, W.A. Bishop, in 1944, with Rangers Valley cows and a bull, Moreduval Alex IV.
Wootton Poll Herefords was dispersed in 1997.
“It was a commercial decision as the growth of the Angus breed was having a dramatic impact on our clients, who started buying Angus bulls, and we saw an opportunity to get out of Herefords and into Wagyu, a breed that was getting a premium and which still commands that premium today,” Mr Bishop Jnr said.
“We bought 20 embryos in recipients from Queensland – all female, as you can sex the embryos – and calved them out, selling 10 of them to pay for the cost of the other 10.”
He said most of the herd was derived from these females.
Three years ago, the enterprise held its inaugural bull and female sale, offering comprehensive packages of data on stock offered for sale.
“They are bloodlines renowned for frame, and we have been trying to complement that frame with marbling,” Mr Bishop Jnr said.
“Our goal is to get a high degree of marbling as well as to maintain the frame of our cattle, that is what feedlots and Japanese buyers are after – yield as well as marbling.
“If you select too heavily for one trait, the other trait you are trying to chase will decrease.
“What the industry is trying to do at the moment, using Breedplan, is identify good traits and select according to performance figures, breed, frame, yield and marbling.”
A mild climate allows joining over an extended period.
Full blood females are joined by artificial insemination (AI) while 1000 Angus females are single sire joined to full blood Wagyu bulls at a 1:50 ratio, with the market requiring sire identification of every calf.
“Our clients, be they Japanese or the Australian feedlots, require us to identify the sire of the progeny, the birthdates, base (dam), sex and treatment records – we don’t use anything but a vaccine and a drench for worms from time to time,” he said.
Calving takes place from February to November.
“You have got to have progeny ready to go when the 11 ships (a year) go, so sending them off throughout the year gives us cash flow and we can also take advantage of times when the feedlots have a shortage of cattle.”
Mr Bishop Jnr said Wagyu cattle were easy calvers due to their low birthweight.
“Our full bloods are on high (fertility) percentages, we have AI programs in autumn and spring, and last spring our conception rates on the first AI were 83pc, which is extraordinarily high,” he said.
Nutrition and allowing cows to mature were important in this.
“We don’t join them until they are two years old, to allow them to establish their frame, as they are later maturing animals and need a chance to grow out before they get pregnant.
“If you don’t let them grow out, their development is compromised with nutrients diverted to their baby.”
He bought in Angus females, preferably from local breeders.
“All of our Wagyu/Angus progeny is terminal – we sell every calf – and because of this we have to buy in replacement Angus females, and this can be hard to do in current market conditions,” Mr Bishop Jnr said.
Weaning took place at nine to 10 months old throughout the year.
Calves were yard weaned over seven days with lucerne hay and water readily available.
“We don’t work them with dogs, just walk them through quietly until we can pat them, and then they are put on to oats or forage crop and grown out to market specifications.”
Mr Bishop Jnr said the global financial crisis had resulted in Kuro Kin reducing its full blood female numbers by more than half.
“During the GFC (global financial crisis), the impact was a depressed market for bulls, but that’s starting to turn around and we are seeing a lot more inquiries.
“The full blood cows are culled if they don’t have a calf or if their progeny does not meet our classing criteria.”
Mr Bishop Jnr said the Japanese market preferred cattle under 14 months and 270 kilograms delivered to quarantine.
“The reason for that is Japan imposed a tariff and once they are over a certain weight, the tariff doubles.”
“Wootton” has 259 hectares (640 acres) of improved pasture (fescue, phalaris, lucerne, clovers and forage such as Taipan oats) with a push to expand improved pasture.
“It depends on the rain but generally speaking if they are putting on a kilo a day, we need to have them on there for about three months,” he said.
“From time to time, we supplementary feed our stud sale bulls, but most of the time they are raised on grass.
“I don’t want to create any illusion of big, fat, shiny bulls – I want clients to see them as they are, and we really only supplementary feed in drought.”
Mr Bishop Jnr said increasing breeding numbers, with 250 females recently purchased, was among his goals this year, along with developing more country for improved pasture.
“We want to increase breeding and utilise what country we have here to capitalise on market opportunities.”
Despite a buoyant beef market, Mr Bishop Jnr is circumspect about the future.
“We’re seeing a firming of prices ... but I don’t want to overstate that confidence because I am unsure how long it will last, whether it is sustainable or not, but it’s certainly looking like this year might be an opportunity to pay off some debt.
“My concern is that the US economy is still pretty shaky, and economies in Europe, such as Portugal, are going belly up, while Japan is dealing with a crisis.”
All these factors would put downward pressure on any beef boom, but China could prove an emerging “El Dorado” for beef exporters.
“China is facing population pressure and demand for protein, and that requirement might be an opportunity for farmers to capitalise on,” Mr Bishop Jnr said.
Kuro Kin was now fielding increasing inquiries from Chinese buyers seeking Wagyu beef.
“On a farm level we sell 30pc of our progeny to Japan, live, and the remaining stock goes to domestic production feedlots owned by Australian companies, who onsell product to clients both overseas and domestically,” he said.
