GETTING it right from the start has proved important to Eden Valley cattle breeders and sisters Barb Fuller, Gunwarrie, and Sue Holt, Burn Brae.
Mrs Fuller previously ran De Rose Hill Station with husband Rex and family, about 100 kilometres north of Marla, on the Stuart Highway. The station had a predominantly Angus herd.
“They seemed to cope better with the drought, in our experience,” she said.
In December 2009, Mrs Fuller moved to the Adelaide Hills, and started again with a new herd of Angus cows.
She lives on a 40-hectare block, with a second on the opposite side of Eden Valley, and about 40 breeding females. Mrs Fuller sells steers at 12 months of age, mostly to feedlots, while keeping the top heifers. She started her fresh herd with stud cows.
“I initially bought stud cows because I wanted those bloodlines,” she said. “Then you can trace these back, but if you buy at the market you don’t know the history.”
Mrs Fuller said, combined with the bull selection, she knows the genetics of all the animals on the property, something Mrs Holt agrees is important.
Mrs Holt runs her operation in partnership with her sons, with about 80 cattle, selling steers into the weaner market, while spare females are sold through a breeders market in March.
The cattle at Burn Brae include a purely Angus herd – run with son David – a pure Poll Hereford herd – run with son Andrew – and black baldies from the mating of the two.
Their set-up also includes sheep and a vineyard.
Recently the Holts trialed a later calving period, believing it would require less hand feeding for the cows.
“The way springs have been lately, we don’t get the green, so we’ll go back to autumn calving,” Mrs Holt said. “But you don’t know if you don’t try.”
The sisters agree on what they are looking for in a bull – good temperament, structure, early maturing pattern, good feed conversion and intramuscular fat.
Mrs Holt said she looks carefully at Breedplan figures for a “balanced animal”, but along with Mrs Fuller, considers a visual inspection an important second check.
