KEVIN Beare is the jack-of-multiple-trades and master-in-training of the black Angus breed, which he has invested in since securing his slice of land on the South Australian South East in 2006.
Mr Beare, Evandale, Kingston, runs his commercial operation alongside hotel-motels and a recyclable plastics operation.
And, he was formerly a stock and station agent for Dalgety Bennetts Farmers until resigning in 1986 to resume the lease of the Wudinna Hotel Motel. Several pubs followed in Roxby Downs, Adelaide and Whyalla.
Now, across four adjoining aggregates totalling 2225 hectares in the top beef breeding region of Limestone Coast, Mr Beare runs 22 Glatz-blood black Angus bulls, which he puts over 800 females.
Glatz bulls are bred to be fertile, docile, structurally sound, easy care cattle that consistently breed genuine performance and good type to their progeny.
"We have sourced bulls from Glatz ever since we bought the farm," Mr Beare said. "It was one of the first studs we visited in the Adelaide Hills and we then followed them to Avenue Range.
"The quietness, soundness and the early weight gain in the vealers was what attracted us to them. They give us the weight we're looking for and the stud also provides a two- to three-year guarantee on bulls bought."
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Mr Beare recently secured 607ha of a neighbouring property and is increasing stock numbers accordingly.
In May, he starts joining his 200 heifers over six weeks and his 600 cows over eight weeks, aiming for a calving percentage of 80pc for heifers and 90pc for cows.
Pregnancy testing is done in mid-October, with the dries sold for slaughter.
Calving starts on Evandale in February/March and is staggered over eight weeks to streamline production and tasks such as marking.
Weaning falls at the end of September, with little supplementary feeding done over summer aside from hay in February/March.
In November, aged and dry cows are sold on-hooks, generally to Midfield Meats, and last year averaged $1765 per head.
Surplus heifers are offloaded in December to China through Landmark International, while in January, 10-month-old steers are sold at the Naracoorte weaner sale or on-farm to lot feeders and finishers.
Mr Beare said Glatz bloodlines always attracted strong demand.
"I haven't been in this (commercial Angus breeding) game all of my life," he said.
"But, between myself and my manager Chris Holloway, who is responsible for the daily running of the property, we work our way through things and achieve our desired results.
"We believe in the Angus brand, which obviously a lot of people do because you drive around the countryside and see a lot of blacks.
"More than any other breed, we find demand for Angus is always consistently strong, both in the saleyards and privately."