Young stud breeders Jake and Emma Phillips, Naracoorte, may have forged successful careers in agriculture, but it is not hard to see that the young couple's passion lies in breeding Murray Grey and Angus cattle.
This year Phillips Cattle Company is one of six studs debuting in Stock Journal Beef Week, which kicks off tomorrow (Friday).
In recent years, they have been guests at the field day of the Koopman family's Bottlesford stud, Tungkillo, who they have had a close association with for nearly 15 years.
But this year they decided it was time to expose their cattle to another location and potential new clients.
On Monday they will have 10 bulls for sale - both yearlings and two-year-olds - at their field day and many of their 30 breeding females will be on display.
"This is just the start for us, hopefully people come and have a look and see what we are breeding and get an idea what they can expect in the future," Mr Phillips said.
They say it is an exciting time to be in the industry with strong cattle prices an incentive for breeders to not only invest in on-farm infrastructure but also spend more on superior genetics.
"I think the interest will be there (in Beef Week), the beef market has remained strong in challenging times," Mrs Phillips said.
"For us on a small scale having high beef prices means we can get reward for effort a bit and people buying bulls from us have confidence the progeny they have sold from those bulls are meeting the market," Mr Phillips added.
Phillips Cattle Company's Murray Grey stud was established in 2008 when Jake received a scholarship from the Murray Grey Society to buy a few cows from Banksia Ridge stud in the Adelaide Hills.
The following year when he was in the United States on the SA Junior Heifer Expo senior champion herdsman study tour he secured some embryos in a Murray Grey cow which he was impressed with, this cow's progeny are still having a big influence on their herd.
Three years ago Mr and Mrs Phillips ventured into Angus which they say has been an opportunity to broaden their market base and select genetics from a much larger gene pool.
They have mainly stuck to popular Angus sires such as LD Capitalist- the number one AI sire in the breed, as well as Millah Murrah Klooney and Thomas Up River . In their Murray Grey herd they have a number of progeny of Bottlesford Kudos.
They are focused on growing their herd and breeding cattle with carcase performance, fertility and docility.
"We don't live on the farm so they have to calve easily, they need to be able to fatten and with a young family temperament is number one," Mr Phillips said.
Start the day with all the big news in agriculture. Sign up here to receive our daily Stock Journal newsletter.
