Hereford fan of 65 years heading to Wodonga National Show and Sale

Buying around six or seven bulls from a number of on-property sales throughout the year, Mr Reid, of Howlong, likes to attend the annual Herefords Australia National Show and Sale at Wodonga to see what's on offer.

Mr Reid, his wife, Jill, and their son, Scott, and grandson, Marcus, run 630 pure Hereford breeding females on the family's 1620 hectare property, located just kilometres from the Murray River.

"We have an all horned herd, which are fair dinkum Herefords," he said.

A fan of white face cattle through and through, Mr Reid said he doesn't plan on changing anytime soon.

"There are a lot of breeds about, but I think the Herefords are better value for money, and you get per/head as much as the other breeds do," he said.

Trading as Reid Trust, Mr Reid has attended the Hereford National sale for the past 30-odd years, on and off, last year buying two bulls from the Sykes' family stud, Mawarra, which have performed well for him.

His family has been on the Howlong property since 1860, and Mr Reid recalls getting into Herefords about 65 years ago, after his father and uncle previously ran a Shorthorn herd.

"We used to have a lot of sheep too, but they went by the wayside and we have focussed more on cattle and growing grain crops," he said.

"We have predominantly bought bulls from Sugarloaf and Mawarra Hereford studs."

Mr Reid believes the Herefords Australia National Show and Sale is "a good place to have a look around and see what everyone is offering".

"It is very much a social event also, as after a fair few years, you know everybody, so it's good to catch up and you might buy a bull," he said.

"Most of the studs we buy bulls off will be there and have cattle in the show and sale, so it's a good opportunity."

Mr Reid said he ran about 24-25 bulls in their beef operation.

"A bull's life is about six years so you keep him for four and he's about had it, then you have to buy about six or seven each year," he said.

Joining in mid-June, with cows calving at the moment, the Reid family aim their progeny towards the feedlot market or bullock buyers.

Mr Reid said he also sold through the local saleyards, and last year sold a line of 16 month old steers weighing 480 kilograms to a Leongatha bullock fattener.

"We usually aim to sell steers at 16-18 months old, weighing from 450-500kg," he said.

"Last year was pretty tight for selling cattle. I think we were $1000 down last year and they were the best steers we've ever had."

Mr Reid believes the forecast El Nino event last year didn't help matters for cattle producers.

"Last year it was never going to rain again, but it rained pretty well and the Bureau mucked the cattle market up, as everyone off-loaded in preparation for drought. It cost not only producers, but the country, a lot of money."

Growing their own hay, with about 100ha of lucerne permanently sown, Mr Reid said they didn't off-load any stock due to the forecast El Nino event.

"We always keep plenty of hay on-hand, so if you do strike a bit of a downward patch, you've always got plenty of hay to feed them," he said.

"All our cattle are grassfed, supplemented only with hay, but they are getting a fair bit of hay at the moment as we are pretty dry."

Describing his country as undulating with creek flats, Mr Reid said he had been missing the rain, and hoped for a break in the weather soon.

"We haven't had much rain this year, and it's bloody dry at the moment, but in my experience, April is always a shocking dry month," he said.

"We have had three or four good Autumns down here so you can't be greedy and have it good all the time."