ENTERING a single pen of black baldy steers for the past four years has paid off for James and Jacinda Douglas and daughters Ava and Ruby, from Waverley Run at Big Springs, who took out equal champion feedlot performance pen in the NSW Beef Specatular Feedback Trial.
The biggest win to date for the Douglas family, the steers were of Ireland Angus and Yavenvale Hereford blood and were randomly selected out of the annual draft of weaners the family put together.
When selecting the individual steers that would make up their team, it was a luck of the draw.
“We simply looked at them and if we liked them they were in,” Mr Douglas said.
Feedlot performance is calculated from the average daily weight gain of each individual animal, along with their health and whether they were administered any treatments.
The Douglas’ black baldy pen of five steers were awarded a perfect score of 350.
Their steers entered the feedlot between 350 and 438 kilograms before putting on an average of 2.79 kilograms per day over the 112 days on feed, to reach a final weight of 650 to 746 kilograms.
The team had an average dressing percentage of 54.8 per cent, lean meat yield of 56.82pc, and an average MSA index of 55.07.
Three steers had a marble score of two and qualified for the Riverine Premium Beef brand, while the team achieved a profit of $683.42.
With a total team score of 821 out of 1000, the Douglas’ team of five were placed fourth overall – another big acheivement for the family.
Mr Douglas said he really liked the black baldy and the type of animal it produced.
“Hereford first calvers are joined to black Angus bulls for calving ease and to produce black baldy calves,” he said.
“The black baldies are nice from day one, they have a lot of shape and performance.”
The family runs 800 breeders, half Angus half Herefords, across a few farms in the Big Springs area, turning off all baldy calves produced.
“No black baldy calves are kept, they are all turned off. Even the females,” Mr Douglas said.
Along with their large cattle herd, they also run 3000 sheep and have been consistently feeding with the drought.
“We haven’t had to cull much, just have been selling the dry cows at pregnancy testing,” he said.
The Douglas family shared their win with James’ sister Alison Skinner, and her husband Dane, also from Big Springs, who entered a sole pen of Angus steers that equalled the Douglas’ perfect score.
In addition to this, Mr Douglas' father, Les Douglas, from Cheviot Hills Ag, Big Springs, was also successful in the trial taking home reserve champion Riverine Classic Beef Champion Pen with a pen of five Hereford steers.