Angus breeder Bruce Dwerryhouse loves an even line of Angus cattle

And even though the decision 20 years ago to move to a purebred Angus herd was market driven, he couldn’t be happier.

Mr Dwerryhouse, along with his wife Gillian, of “Sunshine”, Glenellen, 25 kilometres north of Albury, runs about 300 purebred Angus breeders on 600 hectares spread over three blocks.

Mr Dwerryhouse is a retired agribusiness lender with Rural Finance Corporation of Victoria and also worked for Rabobank.

“I’ve really done that for 40 years,” he said.

“I always had a farm, but I retired four years ago.”

Mr Dwerryhouse began his Angus herd with 40 heifers brought in from Tasmania, and hasn’t looked back.

“We have been very happy running the Angus cattle.

“I like to have a very even line of cattle.”

One thing Mr Dwerryhouse insists upon is buying quality bulls.

“Because of the popularity of the breed, it has made it easy to get good stud bulls,” he said.

He has bought his bulls from Mike Gadd, The Glen Angus, Walwa, Victoria, for the past six years, and said he was impressed with the high quality of the cattle.

“Mike has a lot of honesty, integrity and knowledge,” he said. “He looks after you.”

It was from The Glen’s sire Rennylea Ambassador F857 that Mr Dwerryhouse has had some of his most impressive results.

Ambassador F857 is an Angus performance register (APR) bull and was purchased by The Glen at the Rennylea Angus sale in 2012 for $19,000.

Ambassador F857 is ranked in the top one per cent of Angus Breedplan for carcase weight, rib and rump fat and the heavy grainfed index.

“I liked him before I even I saw his figures, he’s soft and fleshy, just a beautifully put-together bull,” he said. 

Another claim is being the highest-ranked sire in Angus Breedplan for intramuscular fat (IMF) per cent with 25 or more progeny registered.

His steer progeny analysed in the Angus Australia Sire Benchmark Program have achieved up to an AusMeat marble score of eight, which is the highest recorded in the first three cohorts.

Three steers sired by Ambassador F857 and exhibited by Yanco Agricultural High School in the Sydney Royal Show steer and carcase competitions in both 2015 and 2016 won their classes in the taste-test competition.

The champion middleweight carcase at this year’s Sydney Royal Show, which was again exhibited by Yanco, was also sired by Ambassador F857.

The same steer was the champion carcase for taste test. Ambassador F857 is ranked first in cohort three of the AA Sire Progeny Test Program for the shear force test. Mr Dwerryhouse has bought four of his sons, and has been very impressed with the results.

“We have had extremely good results from him,” he said.

“He produces good upstanding, fleshy cattle, and his growth rate is excellent.

“He had a great presence. He is an upstanding bull.

“They are probably the best sires I have ever had.

“As soon as I saw Ambassador’s son, I thought ‘I have to get some of these animals’.”

Mr Dwerryhouse said the bulls were true to type, and excellent for growth.

“They are exactly what you want,” he said.

Mr Dwerryhouse calves his herd in September, and said the Angus mothers have been ideal.

“They are really good mothers, and very good milkers,” he said.

“They just suit us, they are easy-care cattle.”

He weans in the yards and paddock, and the weaners are put onto improved pastures.

He said his steers average around 480 kilograms at 15 months old, and are sold direct to feedlots.

He keeps 50 of his top heifers as future replacements, while the rest are sold to feedlots or to Coles.

“The feedlots are keen to keep our cattle,” he said.

Mr Dwerryhouse said the Albury area has also been ideal for raising good cattle.

“It is fantastic. Albury is a wonderful area,” he said.

His property has mostly grey granite, loam and clay soils, and he said the area receives around 685 millimetres of rain a year, which mostly comes in winter and spring.

He said the area has very hot summers.

Mr Dwerryhouse said he has been pleased to see the breed development and marketing carried out by Angus Australia.

“It has been very encouraging,” he said.

He said the recent boost in beef prices has also been a bonus.

“It is very gratifying to see where the prices are at at the moment,” he said.

“Up until the past two years, it has been a difficult time.”

Mr Dwerryhouse bought “Sunshine” – upon which stands an historic homestead – about four years ago.

He began fixing up the dilapidated 1911 homestead, which hadn’t been lived in for about a quarter of a century.

Mr Dwerryhouse said the house had no hot water.

And a lot of people suggested he knock it down.

“But it was very sound structurally,” he said. 

“We have re-plumbed and rewired it, and all we have to do is paint it inside, fit out the kitchen and put in the curtains and coverings.

“It is an icon of the district.

“It has just got character.”

Mr Dwerryhouse said a large Lutheran, German community settled in the area in the 1870s.

And many of their descendants were still in the area today. He said they were thrilled the house was being restored.

And he is happy to be doing it.