Based on his 680 hectare property “Kananga”, near Geurie, but with country leased north of Lightening Ridge, Wayne Leigh has been using the annual Poll Hereford sale at Dubbo for the past six years to secure his selection of replacement bulls.
“The quality for money is extraordinarily good,” Mr Leigh said.
“I am getting the pick of people’s best bulls and not paying over the odds for them.”
When approaching the sale, Mr Leigh admitted there is a limit to the amount he can pay for his choice of bulls, but is prepared to ‘meet the market’.
“I think $5000 to $7000 will buy a pretty good bull,” he said. “But if we like a bull, we will try to buy him if we think he will be good for our herd.”
Mr Leigh selects bulls with correct conformation, especially with good feet as they have to be able to get around his country and cover the cows.
“I study their conformation, bone structure and feet, before I look at their figures, but take into consideration their weight and fat cover when making my selection,” he said.
“It is especially important on our Angledool country which is stony they have good feet.”
For the past two decades, Mr Leigh has preferred the Hereford breed for their fertility and temperament, both crucial traits for the financial success of his operation especially on the 20,200ha aggregation in the Angledool district.
On that country, which Mr Leigh said is also heavily timbered, cow numbers are down to 400 Hereford and Hereford/Santa Gertrudis cross due to the recent drought.
“We are now in a rebuilding phase, and intend to run 600 cows again,” he said.
“We only muster twice a year, and the bulls run with the cows all year round, so temperament is very important as we don’t handle the cattle a lot.”
Mr Leigh noted he runs a fairly cost-efficient operation at Angledool, and the Hereford breed is best suited for his management practices.
When marketing his cattle, Mr Leigh can adjust his sales to suit seasonal conditions across the state where restockers might be active, current market values or whatever fits in with his management.
“We have a lot of options and can sell them as weaners, for feedlot entry or grow them out to heavy weights if we have the feed,” he said.
“In my opinion, the Herefords are better than other breeds, weight for age.”
The dedicated cattleman said weight is crucial.
“We are selling our cattle on weight basis, and weight will always beat cents/kg,” Mr Leigh said.
“We have had steers on our softer country weigh 700kg and still only have their milk or two teeth.”
