BOS Indicus cattle were once renowned as care-free easy calvers but the era of chasing growth has seen issues emerge - especially in first calf heifers.
Gyranda Santa Gertrudis stud principal, Peter Mahony, has been measuring birth weight for five years - along with other monitoring of their maiden heifers.
"We see a lot of northern cattlemen using low birth weight breeds of cattle that may not fit their environment or market across maiden heifers because traditionally there just hasn't been the data in the tropical breeds like Santa Gertrudis," Mr Mahony said.
"The reality is that low birth weight normally means low growth.
"Yes it might be safe - but what value is a whole crop of under-performing calves? "
"The real benefit is being able to identify those curve bending genetics that deliver both low birth weight and high growth in a smooth shouldered animal.
"The only way to find these animals is to measure and record. No shortcuts."
Gyranda will be taking a line of young bulls to the Richmond Field Days.
These bulls are vaccinated, have passed a bull examination including semen morphology and carry a full set of EBVs to demonstrate growth, fertility, carcase and temperament.
Gyranda is consistently at the fore front of general industry and breed specific developments and is recognised as a pioneer in the development and implementation of breed testing standards.
The Theodore-based stud is proud to be a family run business. It has been passionate about what it does for five generations.
The history of Gyranda is the basis for its success and underpins its breeding philosophy.
Gyranda genetics are the result of more than half a century of careful selection.
With fertility as the stud's guiding light, Gyranda bulls are constantly vetted to ensure that they meet and exceed industry standards.
The X3X brand is Gyranda's guarantee to its buyers that each animal has been subjected to a model of testing that has proven, time and time again, to produce cattle more likely to perform beyond expectations.
