IN SLIGHTLY more than a decade, Glentanner stud at Kongorong has made strong inroads in the Angus breed and on February 11 they will achieve another milestone – their first on-property sale.
Subscribe now for unlimited access to all our agricultural news
across the nation
or signup to continue reading
Stud principals Allan and Kayelene Lucas and their son Brad will offer 20 autumn 2015-drop and 10 spring-drop bulls.
“We have been selling bulls privately for the past eight years but we never had the numbers to warrant having a bull sale until this year,” Brad said.
“We have sold at the field days for the past six years and built a good local client base but we bought some females from Raff, so our flush numbers were up.”
The stud was established in 2005, with embryos bought from The Basin stud, Willalooka, prior to its dispersal, as well as females bought at the sale.
Selected females have been added from Stoney Point, Raff and Vermont studs.
Extensive use of breeding technologies has helped Glentanner grow quickly to 150 stud cows.
It has also given the herd diversity of genetics.
Among the sale bulls are sons of top American and Australian sires, including SAV Harvester, SAV Bandolier 1916, Koojan Hills Buddy F23 and O’Neills Expedition.
Allan – who spent more than 40 years dairy farming – says artificial insemination and embryo transfer were the best ways to multiply their numbers quickly.
“When we got out of dairying this was our next project and we wanted to grow quickly and have a herd that was a worthwhile size,” he said.
Brad says the stud has a simple breeding objective.
“Our aim is to breed an animal capable of reaching the highest possible weight at the earliest possible age. At the end of the day, weight pays,” he said.
Glentanner has enjoyed considerable showing success at the Royal Adelaide and South East shows.
Their biggest highlights have been winning grand champion Angus bull at the 2011 Royal Adelaide Show and winning grand champion Angus female with Glentanner Black Cap F6 in 2015.
A feature sale lot will be a flush in this female, which is an imported embryo from Canada and is a trait leader – in the top 10 per cent – for growth and carcaseweight.
