A GRADUAL transition from a mixed cattle herd to an Angus operation is bringing rewards for fourth-generation South East farmer James Skeer and his family.
The Skeers used to run Herefords, Santa Gertrudis and Angus at their Monbulla property, west of Penola, but have shifted their focus to suit demand.
Mr Skeer has been running the family’s 1000-hectare property for the past two years.
“We’re going to all Angus, which has been happening for 15 years,” he said.
“Angus seems to be what’s in demand.
“You send the cattle to the markets, and because the Hereford still comes through in some of the cattle, some have white faces.
“Those (with white faces) get penalised a bit for that reason.
“They’re still nice cattle but they seem to be penalised.”
Mr Skeer, along with his mother Rosalie Skeer, stepfather Don Pole and a full-time employee, runs about 250 calving cows and heifers, and 1100 first-cross ewes.
More breeders have been retained in the past two years due to good feed availability, with cattle sold at Naracoorte and Mount Gambier.
Weaner sales at Naracoorte are the main focus, with nine-month-old 430-kilogram weaners making good money in December.
“We sell them (weaners) a bit younger,” Mr Skeer said.
“We used to grow them out to 2.5-year-old bullocks but you get more cents a kilogram for the younger ones and can turn more over by selling them a bit younger.
“We just sold weaners to a top of $3.67/kg or $1575.
“It was more like $3.40/kg last year, so (the price increase) is pretty handy.”
Mr Skeer said it was a great time to be back on the family farm, with the industry performing so well, but was quick to credit the present success to years of work put in by his family.
“There’s been a lot of hard work from my family and our employee,” he said.
“I’ve had a pretty good time with cattle selling so well, but obviously it’s been pretty hard for the whole industry for a long time so it’s good to see people getting a bit of reward.”
Mr Skeer runs his family’s Angus cattle on a predominantly pasture-based diet, with hay also fed when needed.
“It’s mainly through autumn and into winter when we’re feeding hay, but this year I can’t see us feeding for a long time,” he said.
“It’s good because feeding hay is a time-consuming job.”
The Skeer family grows phalaris, ryegrass and clover for pasture feed and cuts 80 hectares of hay.
Mr Skeer said strong cattle prices and good feed availability had allowed them to start thinking about investing back in the farm.
“If you can get decent prices you can invest in what you’ve got – fix cattle yards, fix fences and those things you might not get to if you’re not making much out of it,” he said.
Mr Skeer said they focused on conformation, calving ease and meat yield potential when selecting heifers to keep for breeding.
He said there were remnants of a mixed herd in the Angus, with hybrid size a noticeable advantage.
Size and growth rates are integral for the Skeers when buying bulls from local studs.
“We judge the bulls on the Estimated Breeding Values and their 200-day growth rates, and try to get the ones that are producing good growth rates,” Mr Skeer said.
The family has bought from Penola Angus stud Argyllshire, as well as high-profile studs Stoney Point and Pathfinder.
