A DECISION to nearly double their cow herd in the past few years is paying dividends for Telang Pastoral Company, Kingston, and has coincided with a much-needed lift in cattle prices.
Throughout this expansion, Shorthorns have been the breed of choice.
The Starling family has an almost century-long association with the red, white and roans and Rob Starling believes they remain the most profitable option for them.
“There may be a public perception Angus are best, but at the end of the day you can’t tell the difference between an Angus and a Shorthorn steak (for quality),” he said. “And we believe we can grow more kilograms of beef a hectare more efficiently with Shorthorns.”
Rob and wife Kirsty and Rob’s brother and sister-in-law James and Rebecca have grown the autumn-calving Shorthorn herd from about 400 breeders to almost 750.
Rob says the breed’s easy care and ease of calving attributes are critical, as he also runs large numbers of sheep.
On the 3700ha aggregation of properties in the Wangolina area, they run about 7000 big-framed, plain-bodied Merino ewes. These are mated to East Friesian-Border Leicester rams to breed maternal composite lambs. The Starlings also have a Border Leicester stud.
Rob says selling cattle in the “right condition at the right time” is their number one focus. “If cattle are in good condition in spring and into summer then you have marketing options,” he said.
Their target beef market has moved from selling weaners to growing cattle out for the European Union trade. Their aim is to have them reach 600kg at 20-22 months old. Last year, due to a lack of processor kill space, they sold at lighter weights a couple of months earlier. Most went to the Princess Royal feedlot at Burra.
“We got $6.20/kg for the first lot sold in September to the abattoir but we couldn’t get any more in,” he said. “Because we weren’t able to lock in a price we made a decision to sell a couple of months earlier. We got more dollars a head for 100kg less weight.”
Bulls have been sourced from a number of studs including The Grove, Yamburgan, Bayview, Sprys and Weebollabolla. Last year they bought four bulls at the inaugural unled Naracoorte sale to a $8000 high.
A few second-calving females are mated to Angus bulls but Rob says there are no plans to move away from Shorthorns.
“Breed selection for us is of critical importance and we believe we have the right one for our country and which makes us the most money,” he said.
