NORTHERN Rivers NSW weaner producer Ron Dean says he introduced Simmental genetics hoping to improve the quality of his heifers by adding a bit more size and length.
Imagine Mr Dean and his wife Colleen’s surprise when even the so-called cull heifers found a ready market as future breeders.
“It really was a very nice surprise,” Mr Dean said. “We were hoping to get a bit more weight but the quality was there for people wanting to go on and breed from them.”
The push to improve the productivity of the 250 head breeder herd on the 445 hectare property Clifton Pines at Mummulgum started in 2009.
Mr Dean likes to make his selections early.
“Generally we like to select our breeders as soon as possible, even right when they are born,” Mr Dean said.
“We draft the cow and calf in to either the steer paddock, the heifer paddock or the cull heifer paddock.
“We go back later on and have a good look over what is what, but generally it is pretty right.”
After, two crosses Hereford bulls were reintroduced.
The Simmental bulls have been sourced from Peter Cook’s Barana stud at Coolah. The Hereford have come from the Martin family’s Dalkeith stud at Cassilis.
“We look for bulls that show good milking ability, length and can do well in this coastal country,” Mr Dean said.
“We’ve also made the switch to all poll bulls. That has made a noticeable change at branding time by cutting down on the amount of dehorning.”
Clifton Pines is located on the highly productive Richmond Range west of Casino.
The herd is run on Rhodes grass, paspalum and kikuyu dominated pastures, which also benefit from haifer white clover.
The females are joined over a four month period. The calves are weaned at nine to 12 months, with the top weights coming in in at around 430kg and the younger calves around the 350kg mark.
During the tough winter period during July, August and September the herd is supplemented with a soybean-based powdered lick supplied by nearby Mara Seeds. “The lick certainly helps them convert a lot of dry grass into productive feed,” he said.
The Dean’s weaners are sold at the annual George and Fuhrmann weaner sales in Casino during March.