Angus bull quality has floored Thomas

At the forefront of the business, which trades as Wilcrow Pty Ltd, is operations manager Guy Thomas, who has run the breeding herd for 31 years.

Mr Thomas oversees all livestock-related activity across the 1098ha of fertile soft red and black basalt soil country on East Rossgole, near Scone, and Aberdeen, on the Rossgole Plateau, and a further 2000ha of high rainfall, high-quality grazing country on Scotts Creek, situated 70km north of East Rossgole, near Blandford.

He said Angus bulls were introduced into the program more than two decades ago to increase the fertility of the breeding herd and to produce a weaner that meets the market requirements.

"Angus Australia has done a fantastic job on their Estimated Breeding Values (EBV), which has been facilitated by the sheer volume of data recorded," Mr Thomas said.

"This has made EBV information a reliable factor when we're deciding on which bulls to buy."

Mr Thomas runs a fixed mating program from October to early January, with heifers joined at close to 18 months of age depending on the season.

In all the herd usually consists of close to 500 females, though in good seasons that has increased to close to 800 head.

"If the season is good the heifers are joined early," he said.

"All of our females only receive one chance.

"Any that preg-test empty are culled from the herd.

"From conception to weaning we work on a 90 per cent, or higher, weaning rate.

"Our goals are to produce easy calving, fast-maturing females that have great rebound rates when going back into calf."

Wilcrow Pty Ltd targets the weaner market, selling to restockers to grow out the progeny, as this avenue keeps labour and costs down.

"We also grow out ourselves for feeder cattle once again depending on the season," he said.

"We aim to sell 280 to 300kg weaners at eight to nine months old, and feeder steers at 380 to 420kg, the latter of which are mainly sold via AuctionsPlus.

"We receive a premium price for our product due to the Angus bloodlines we utilise.

"We've been loving the MSA feedback on the feedlot cattle and we'll be looking to follow that more closely with identification of sires."

Mr Thomas said when it comes to carcase traits he likes to purchase good muscling bulls for the cows, and ideally low birthweight bulls for the heifers.

To meet these objectives, Mr Thomas has been buying bulls from KO Angus stud manager Tim Lord for as long as the breed has been in the mix on East Rossgole.

"KO Angus is renowned for its focus on maternal traits and high-quality female base. This aligns with our philosophy of continuous improvement in the females because we need them to conceive and wean a calf consistently every year.

"Tim uses the best genetics available worldwide and he has a vast knowledge of his product. KO Angus only offers it best bulls to their clients at their sale.

"Tim has consistently delivered bulls suited to our program and we have confidence in the genetics as the herd has improved significantly due to the availability of a variety of solid-performing bulls that have been sourced from KO."

Mr Thomas said KO delivers diversity in their draft of sale bulls every year.

"We need bulls that deliver fertile cows that have moderate birth weight calves, and we know that by attending the KO sale we'll come away with a really nice heifer bull and some fine herd bulls suitable for older cows.

"These bulls have excellent EBVs and really suit the type of animal we are looking to produce on a consistent basis."

He said over the past couple of years he has relied on Mr Lord's knowledge when deciding on their purchases due to being unable to attend the sale in person because of COVID-19 and drought.

"We have predominantly bought online, based on the EBVs in the catalogue, a conversation with Tim, and the video footage.

"We haven't been disappointed. KO Bulls are value for money.

"The KO genetics have given us cattle that efficiently convert feed into meat, which for us is the most important trait throughout the red meat industry."