Cumnock beef producer, Bruce Gavin, began his shift to the 'dark side' about 10 years ago when he started joining his Shorthorn heifers to Angus bulls.
He says the decision was based purely on grabbing a share of the marketing advantage offered by Angus cattle.
“Black cattle sell, even in dry times. Angus cattle are very acceptable in any market, people look at the colour of cattle and then worry about the quality,” Mr Gavin said.
“I went to the dark side with the blacks but I just could see the sense in it. You have to go with the flow.”
Mr Gavin still has a couple of mobs of purebred Shorthorns but all his 570 breeding cows were joined to Angus bulls last September.
He sources his bulls from Tim and Rebecca Brazier’s Choice Angus stud near Molong.
The Banjo Paterson Way runs through the Braziers’ “Inglewood” property and Mr Gavin liked what he saw when driving past their roadside paddocks stocked with commercial Angus cattle.
“I could see they were selecting the sort of cows that I like. I didn’t really need to know much more than that. They’ve got very nice cows with good frame and good milk.”
Mr Gavin and wife, Annabel, operate 1794-hectare “Wansey” where they produce both beef and lamb. His mother, Jean, is also involved in the business.
They have endured a couple of tough years but some useful rain has meant they haven’t had to feed for the past five or six months.
Mr Gavin said they had come through the drought relatively unscathed in terms of stock numbers but had a heavy cull of cows eight years and over before last winter and had also sold more heifers than usual.
“Shorthorns are very good cattle and I think what I really noticed in the drought was the crossbred cows held their condition. Angus have a little bit more fat and are a little bit hardier.
“The Shorthorns have great milk, great frame but actually can milk too hard when (it’s) dry. The Angus cows do a really good job on their calves. They lay down a bit more fat which gets them through.”
The Gavins target the feedlot market with their steers, selling them at around 15 months and 500-520kg.
They grow out the steers on lucerne-based pastures and try not to supplementary feed any of their cattle but that wasn’t possible last winter. The cows are run on phalaris-based pastures.
The Gavins usually keep around 150 to 160 heifers each year for joining to low birthweight Angus yearling bulls. The rest are sent to Dubbo saleyards as stores at around 300-350kg and 12-14 months and are usually bought by feedlotters.
The fertility of bulls are tested before joining and any females that fail to get into calf are culled. The herd is joined for eight weeks from September 1.
Mr Gavin focuses on pastures and water while the Braziers identify the bulls suited to his breeding and production program.
