BREEDING top Poll Hereford cattle for a number of markets is at the forefront of the plans of Guyra cattle producer, Barry Clark, Keston Park Poll Herefords.
Over six decades of prime Poll Hereford bloodlines, carefully selected by Mr Clark, roam across the property, with no plan on stopping the breeding operation anytime soon.
Mr Clark said he breeds Poll Herefords simply because they are the “best” and after years of breeding can’t fault their ease of maintenance.
"They are the best, they are a lot easier to handle, their temperament is great.
“I’ve become attached to them, especially after 60-odd years breeding them,” Mr Clark said.
Around 180 heifers and 20 bulls are the base of the breeding operation, bloodlines such as Knievel, Allandale and Valma straight from Tasmania attributed to their bulls.
Mr Clark said they have had an odd occurrence of a pure white Hereford born this breeding season, following from last season’s pure white Hereford heifer.
“Last week we had a pure white calf born out of a pure white heifer.”
Although they are pure Hereford, a genetic trait among Mr Clark’s herd has caused a gene inherited from both bull and heifer that created the pure white calves in the herd.
The gene that can make a calf white can be selected when AI breeding is undertaken, some breeders across the state have the white gene available from certain bulls.
“All I want to do now is get a pure white bull,” Mr Clark said.
He sells weaners through the saleyards at Inverell along with a few bulls every year at Glen Innes.
“We sell where the market is good, we sell steers and a few heifers to keep numbers down around that 200 mark,” Mr Clark said.
Mainly focusing on natural servicing, after years of specifically AI for their breeders, Mr Clark said they now stick to natural servicing with their range of bulls.
“We use to do AI a lot, now we only do it at times, we stick to the natural serving really.”
Mr Clark said they sell a certain amount of their stock through AuctionsPlus recently, as it is a different form of selling and a different market of buyers.
“We sell only a certain amount through AuctionPlus, although we really like it,” Mr Clark said.