CHAROLAIS bulls make the perfect terminal sires for Bruce and Ben McRae’s Hunter Valley crossbred weaner operation.
The father and son team runs 200 black baldies joined to Charolais bulls, alongside a Hereford-based herd to breed replacement black baldy females, on 1200 hectares at “Blumenthal” and “Oakleigh”, Ellerston, near Scone.
The McRaes have been buying Charolais bulls for the past 10 years, focusing on Palgrove bloodlines for the past six.
“The main reason we went with the Charolais was for the weight for age,” Ben McRae said.
”We’re hitting our target weights a lot earlier than we were with Angus or Limousin bulls.
“We also like the temperament of the Palgrove bulls and their softness.”
Weaners sold straight off the cow, from seven to nine months of age.
“They need to weight at least 300 kilograms but we prefer to get them between 330kg and 350kg,” Mr McRae said.
“What we were achieving in nine months, we’re now achieving in seven months
“This year we sold calves in February that we’d normally sell in April, and being able to sell them a lot earlier is allowing the cow to have a rest before her next calf.”
Palgrove principal David Bondfield selects bulls specifically for Hunter Valley breeders targeting the weaner markets.
“The bulls that suit our requirements have low to moderate birthweight and the carcase traits we want, but we’re really looking at 200-day weight figures,” Mr McRae said.
“We want to send them off without having to wean with allows us to run more breeders.”
Most calves are sold through the Scone weaner sales but in the past couple of years the McRaes have been able to sell to a restocker in Western Victoria.
“He’s looking for Euro and Charolais-cross cattle and he buys out of the Hunter regularly, so when the market here isn’t doing so well, we’ve been able to sell our cattle interstate.”
Mc McRae said the focus was on weaners as that production suited the properties.
Breeding cattle is the main priority for the family.
“It’s not finishing country here,” he said.
“We’ve got some country with pasture improvement but we use that for our first calvers to get the right nutrition so they can go back in calf again.
“By using Charolais bulls, getting the hybrid vigour of a first cross and hitting the target weights earlier, it means the cows get a good break before they go again.”
Mr McRae also keeps a small herd of 30 pure Charolais cows to breed commercial bulls.