WHAT began as a dairy farm in the early 1900s has turned into a successful commercial Hereford operation at "Orana", Breakaway Creek near Hamilton, Victoria.
Subscribe now for unlimited access to all our agricultural news
across the nation
or signup to continue reading
Kevin Malseed first invested in Herefords with the purchase of 70 Bombala heifers from Gippsland for about $70 a head in 1978.
The 780-hectare property, now run by Kevin's son Paul Malseed, is home to 500 red and white breeders and 20 bulls.
Having a good spring last year has bumped up the improved and native pastures on the property, setting the property up well for calving in April and May.
"We have a good balance of country - we have 142ha of river flats so in a normal year this is green right through until we get the autumn break," Paul Malseed said.
Mr Malseed said they tried to keep some feed ahead of the cattle in the autumn to carry them through the harsh Victorian winters.
Females are joined in July and August in an artificial insemination (AI) program in the good years, using a mix of Bowmont and Yarram Park genetics for both the natural and AI joinings.
AI hasn't been used in the drier seasons but is believed to be the key factor behind the "Orana" herd's high calving rate.
"It is a seasonal thing - if you get a bad year and they are not in good order it does impact your pregnancy rate, but if you get a good season AI is worth doing," Mr Malseed said.
Bulls are selected on "nice cherry red colour", eye pigmentation and temperament before Mr Malseed goes through the figures to see if they are consistent with average birth weights and carcase and thickness of the bull.
"Bull investment is a big thing - you've got to get it right because it influences your herd so drastically," he said.
"On the female side, it is okay to look at the steer calves by the bull but it's his females that are the key.
"Any females somebody keeps will be in the herd for 10 to 12 years."
The Malseeds use a split calving program, where heifers which were not pregnancy-tested-in-calf (PTIC) during the autumn cycle are rejoined.
"Out of the 500 we join, about 80 will calve in the spring," Mr Malseed said.
"It is also to do with our country here. We have a lot of country that could flood - we have had 80ha under water for several months of the year before.
"We bring all the weaner calves home on to the river flats which lighten up the paddocks for the calving season."
The Malseeds will retain the top 85 females for the "Orana" herd, strictly selecting on pigmentation and growth.
"When we go through at weaning time we pick out the biggest and best," he said.
Although the Malseeds don't feed their calves, the lower input costs outweighs the slightly lower weights.
"That is something we have been very proud of, the money we spend getting the calves up is really low."
The family tradition is to sell the weaners at the annual Hamilton weaner sales in January, where the best "Orana" steers and the heifer "seconds" are sold.
"The heifers aren't really our culls because there was probably another 10 (in the 2014 sale herd) I could have taken out for our own herd.
"We usually hold back about 30 of the lighter ones to grow out so we get more weight on them and then put them into the next markets."
Even during a tougher 2012-13 season, Mr Malseed's Herefords topped the Hamilton sales in January last year.
"Orana" heifers, weighing an average of 294 kilograms, sold to 170 cents a kilogram while the steers topped at 201c/kg.
"We were down a bit on our weight but considering we don't feed out, the costs we put into them balances out."
Rebecca Sharpe
Journalist for The Land at Dubbo.
Journalist for The Land at Dubbo.
