After years of toil establishing their predominantly Brangus and Brahman breeding operation, Bill and Kay Geddes at Doonside Stud say they’re now at a point where they consider their herd production to be more of an enjoyable hobby, as opposed to work.
The Geddes consider themselves “multi-breed people”, in addition to their Red, Black and Grey Brangus and Polled Red and Grey Brahman they also produce Droughtmaster cattle at Doonside – situated 60 kilometres north of Rockhampton – with the herd encompassing close to 4000 head.
Bill said they don’t feel the need to take holidays to overseas locales, when they get so much enjoyment from attending the various heifer sales, such as the upcoming Rocky All Stars Elite Brahman Female Sale.
“Producing cattle is a fun activity for Kay and I these days, we’re old enough, and in a strong enough financial position, that it’s now something we do for our own pleasure,” Bill said.
The 8000 hectares of improved coastal at Doonside is watered from one end to the other by nearby Alligator Creek, with several pondage banks also dotted across the operation, which Bill said have all been filled to the brim recently.
“We’ve had quite good falls all year which has helped our paddocks, and now with the 450mm we’ve received from in the wake of Cyclone Debbie, we’re in a great position for later in the year.
He said they find the Brahman breed and the attributes they possess to be perfectly suited to their operational requirements where they usually sell their feeder steers at 18 months direct to the feedlot.
“All our derived breeds need enough Brahman content in them to survive in our environment. If we have cattle that aren’t performing to our standards, we’ll put a Brahman bull over the heifers to strengthen them up.
The Geddes aren’t afraid to experiment with innovations within the industry which is why in the last 12 months they successfully cloned one of their Grey Brangus cows.
“It was one of our foundation cows which we decided to clone as she produced 15 heifer calves for us but she’s now 15 years-old and we can’t AI her because it won’t take.
“The cloned heifer calf is now three months-old, and we’ve had no problems with her at all, she was born in excellent health, and we hope she’ll be able to continue on where her mother left off.”
Bill said they’re looking forward to attending the Rocky All Stars Sale again this year after purchasing eight head in 2016, which are “performing well”.
He said this year he’ll be looking for a Polled heifer with a good temperament that can “give us something special” that he can use with a Polled bull at Doonside.
