It was at the ripe old age of 13 that Henri Deans first developed his passion for Angus breeding, a focus that remains unabated to this day for the now 29-year-old.
Mr Deans, along with his partner Maretha Potgieter, and his parents Leon and Christa, run an Angus herd in the Barossa.
Mr Deans is also the farm manager for Damien Gommers, Mandayen Angus, and Limousin stud at Keith, where he bought a block just before Christmas in 2023.
The majority of Mr Deans herd is currently situated on The Bluff property, though most of his stud herd will be transferred to Keith.
Rocky, undulating country dominated the Deans' land on the Bluff, which received 120 millimetres in November last year, after a dry August to October period.
While he first established his stud, Shea-Oak Rise Angus, in 2007, it was four years ago that Mr Deans program has started to gain momentum.
He got his first case of Angus fever when he was a youngster when he was parading on the show circuit.
"I decided on Angus for their commercial appeal, ease of calving, and growth. On the stud side, the options for breeding and marketing Angus are more or less endless, domestically and internationally," he said.
Wearing his Mandayen manager hat, Mr Deans conducts an AI program annually in spring as well as five rounds of ET per year.
"We're are continually flushing cows year-round. I've also begun flushing cows and putting embryos into my Shea-Oak Rise herd as well."
He said Mr Gommers has helped him build up the Shea-Oak Rise, with a strong Mandayen influence.
"I've also bought heifers from several studs, along with cows from Glatz Black Angus and donor cows from Millah Murrah, which formed the foundation of the herd I have now," he said.
The top end of Mr Deans bulls are sold through the annual on-property Mandayen sale, with the balance sold privately.
Mr Deans said he's striving to get the phenotype and structural soundness of the Mandayen and Shea-Oak Rise herds in balance.
"For this reason, I'm very much orientated to buy bulls with a strong pedigree, type and structure. I'm also trying to attain bulls with favourable estimated breeding value figures. I'm pushing hard on the carcase-related EBVs to produce smaller-framed cows for conception ease."
To help with this process, Mr Deans utilises the Agriweb livestock management and treatment software and the water monitoring system, Observant.
"I'm also conducting genomic testing on all animals in both herds to get a better handle on individual performance and to make better-informed breeding decisions."
