Sourcing quality Hereford bulls from top studs

The station, an aggregation of five properties totalling 2024 hectares, has a long history with Poll Hereford cattle – at least 40 years – and currently runs about 450 whiteface breeders, along with an Angus herd.

“The Poll Hereford herd is our smallest but we’ve got such good genetics and bloodlines that we're reluctant to go away from the breed,” Mr Tim Roberts-Thomson said.

“The property won the Victorian Dalgety herd of the year award twice.”

Genetics have been sourced from South Australian studs Allendale Poll Herefords and Days Whiteface.

“We've tended to keep going back there – their bulls seem to work well in the high country here," Mr Roberts-Thomson said.

“We like the Wodonga sale because we think it’s an enormous plus to see how the Poll Herefords stand up against the Herefords, and there are some very good studs who also have on property sales but tend to keep their top bulls for this sale, so you've got the ability to purchase the best of what's on offer in the breed.”

Mr Roberts-Thomson said he was looking for low to moderate birthweight, good 200-, 400- and 600-day weight figures, positive rib and rump fat, and good intramuscular fat (IMF) and eye muscle area (EMA).

Most of the heifers have been kept as breeders for the past few years, but steers are sold from 10 to 14 months of age, to backgrounders, feedlots, and bullock finishers.

“We have to be conscious of what our customers want, and that's yield and marbling,” Mr Roberts-Thomson said.

“We have a number of repeat buyers looking for our cattle, and they need to know that were buying the top genetics on offer. In the past we’ve sent cattle to our background operation in the Riverina, and some of the people buying our cattle grow them out as bullocks, hence the need for 400- and 600-day growth, while being mindful of EMA and IMF.”