There were a few new names heard over the speaker at year's Gold City Brahman Sale, as an outfit of first-time vendors rolled into Charters Towers to showcase their genetics in the north.
Chriswil Brahmans were among those who debuted for the first time on the northern stage, selling their two bulls for an average of $4000.
The stud, based in south-east Queensland at Milbong, is owned and operated by Chris Wilkes and managed alongside his partner Nicole Jovanovic.
Mr Wilkes said it had been a relatively tough first sale in Charters, but he was still satisfied the bulls sold.
"It's pretty dry up here so we thought we'd be hitting a tougher market, but at least they did sell in the end," he said.
The pair operate a mixed breeding and backgrounding commercial operation alongside their stud on a small block at Milbong, and a 1012 hectare property at Meandarra, 380km west of Boonah.
"We had to cull a lot of our cattle through the drought, so we've currently got around 80 registered cows, 80 commercial females, and about 37 bulls from weaner age right through" he said.
"Our commercial herd mostly consist of Brahmans, crossed with Chaorlais and the Italian breed- Piedmontese."
Having grown up on smaller properties around the Milbong area, Mr Wilkes was exposed to cattle from a young age.
His passion for the Brahman breed is what inspired him to begin his own stud in 1991.
"It was a slow process initially, as we had to first accumulate land to run enough cattle on," he said.
"What we're ultimately trying to achieve is to breed good functional bulls suitable to the commercial market, so we select heavily for quality, temperament, udder, fertility and weight for age so we can hit either the vealer market or the bullock market," Ms Jovanovic said.
"In the end they've got to be able to do the job and walk the miles. We have hard properties so our bulls have got to be able to perform."
Ms Jovanovic placed great emphasis on the importance of selecting for temperament within a herd.
"Really it's all linked. It's your meat quality because when they're quiet and relaxed they'll eat more, and if they're calm they'll go through and in the end they'll hang up and grade better," she said.
Mr Wilkes said as southern breeders it was their desire to tap into the northern bull market that inspired them to send bulls to Gold City for the first time this year
"We went to Brahman Week this year and decided we'd come up here too," he said.
"We've got more and more bulls coming along, and are getting more involved with artificial insemination, embryo transfer and IVF, so we're just trying out a few different markets to figure out where we can market our bulls down the track."
Over the years Chriswil bulls have sold to properties in New South Wales, Charters Towers, and Injune.
"We've also imported semen straws from America to diversify our gene pool, and also bring new genetics into Australia," he said.
"In future I would also like to be able to market stud females as well as bulls."
Mr Wilkes said as his stud grows, he looks forward to attending more sales in future to continue showcasing his quality grey Brahman genetics.
"Next year we're hoping to return to Gold City with around five bulls, and we'll take a few to Brahman week again as well," he said.
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