Dedicated to the hunt for middle of the road good functioning cattle has led a Taralga producer to the RAS Angus sale for a number of years believing the event offers many opportunities which may otherwise go unnoticed.
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Guy Martin, “Wirrabilla”, operates both commercial and stud focussed herds of Angus and Fleckvieh cattle to capitalise on what both breeds can offer.
Running 50 Angus and 150 Fleckvieh stud females and about 400 Angus x Fleckvieh commercial breeders, Mr Martin has sourced numerous genetics at the renowned Sydney sale, with the latest injection from Kangaloon stud, KO Angus.
The “Wirrabilla” operation has been attracted to their genetic pool for about 10 years and also other quality studs that showcase their genetics at the sale because they slot easily into the breeding program and compliment the crossbreeding operation. Mr Martin has purchased a mixture of embryo packages, bulls and most recently an $8000 female at the 2016 sale.
“We do not generally head to Sydney with a specific trait or idea in mind - it’s just an opportunity to source new genetics which we need at the time from multiple vendors,” Mr Martin said.
“It’s also a cost effective sale - it’s not too expensive; you have a heap of vendors who don’t have their own on-farm sale and Sydney is a good place for them to do so,” he said.
“We use the bulls in herd and we wanted the genetic package of the female last year – we paid more then we generally would however we viewed her as a future donor cow. The embryo packages in particular were leading new genetics for us – they were not just any old thing so we couldn’t source them any other way.”
Operating on 1214 hectares, Wirrabilla Fleckvieh stud began in 2002 before Mr Martin tried his hand at the Angus job in 2012, to become Wirrabilla Fleckvieh and Angus stud which is about to sell 60 bulls out of the paddock this season.
Built on Victorian stud, Temania, and KO Angus genetics and more recently Kenny’s Creek and Millah Murrah, the decision to enter the Angus breed was simple, “if you can’t beat them then join them”.
“We were breeding a lot of Fleckvieh bulls which were not easily marketed and it was becoming increasingly difficult to get a good Angus bull for reasonable money so we thought we could breed them just as good and at a lot less cost,” Mr Martin said.
With the Angus portion of the “Wirrabilla” enterprise now up and running at full steam ahead, Mr Martin would now like to see producers focus on maintaining the breeds efficiency to ensure they do not loose the long-held advantages.
Grass-fed opens up multiple options
Opting for a grass-fed only nutrition program, the cattle at “Wirrabilla” operated by Guy Martin, need to have the ability to finish adequately on grass alone and also meet multiple markets.
“They need to be able to finish by about 14 months old so we chase the high 200 and 400 day figures – this was also the main reason for introducing the Angus breed into the program - they have the ability to lay down fat easier,” Mr Martin said.
“Combined with the Fleckvieh’s heavy muscle and milk supply they compliment each other really well,” he said.
More recently, Angus x Fleckvieh calves were sold through the Moss Vale sale yards at about 9 to 10 months old because of the high gains.
However if the season permits, cattle are also sold to Wingham Beef Exports and Teys Jindalee Feedlot, where they leave the farm at about 600 kilograms live weight for export and at about 14 months for the feedlot job.
“If they are not going to finish when we need them to, we leave our options open to sell to other markets.”
