Calf welfare crucial to success

Although by no means a large-scale producer, his fondness for cattle production using Droughtmaster bloodlines has shown him something special within the breed.

"They are very good mothers," Mr Piggott said.

"You'll see it every day - there'll be one or two older cows sitting with 12 or 15 little ones and they'll stay with them all day."

He said the older cows would even change shifts, allowing the others to go off and feed. This 'cattle creche' has become a natural defence against the significant wild dog problem on his property, Hawthornden, about 25 minutes north of Gin Gin. Although the spelling is the same, Mr Piggott and his wife Jo-Anne are not related to the other Droughtmaster-breeding Piggott family at Aldinga Park, Rolleston, something they often get asked about.

His interest in calf welfare is also helping Mr Piggott snare a premium at sales. He sells mostly through the Biggenden saleyards.

Mr Piggott describes the property's 800 hectares (2000 acres) as light coastal, phosphoros-deficient country, which limits its fattening ability. With this in mind, he's tailored his operation to produce 250-300kg weaners, slightly larger than other producers would do.

A key point of difference is his avoidance of pulling calves straight from their mothers and forcing them onto a truck.

The Piggotts take the time to work with the weaners, tailing them out and separating them prior to heading to a sale.

The extra finishing touch has so far proved an eye-catcher to cattle buyers, with Hawthornden cattle regularly featuring in the top 10 per cent of prices paid on sale day. Beyond this, it's also a safety consideration.

"I think you've got a responsibility to at least try," Mr Piggott said. "If you take calves straight off their mothers they can be proper ratbags," he said.

"There is potential there for some pretty horrific accidents."

Weight gain is the aim of the game at Hawthornden and, although Mr Piggott upholds his admiration for Droughties, he isn't deterred from crossing if necessary.

His use of a 5-Star Senepol bull over his females has resulted in an output boost.

"Those calves just seem to grow out a bit quicker," he said.

He's now looking to try a Charolais bull as well.

"We're in it for the weight gain.

"The honey-coloured calves sell pretty well. The quicker they can put the weight on the better," he said.

"At the end of the day it's all about kilos, and how quickly you can get those kilos on. It's dollars in the bank.

"If you can put a calf on the ground in three months that weighs 20kg more than his mate in the paddock next door, then that's the way you're going to go."

It was almost a predetermined step for Mr Piggott to go with Droughtmasters.

"I've always liked them," he said.

Mr Piggott bought a line of maiden heifers from Phillip Carr, Glastonbury, after buying the property in 2010. From here, he has bred his own females to run with bulls sourced from the Vitwood and Billabong Droughtmaster studs. The herd consists of about 220 breeder females, although it could handle more.

They've continued to work on property infrastructure with a particular focus on improving fencing layouts, utilising laneways to their advantage. That's meant pulling up and altering some fencelines to correct some "ridiculously small" paddocks. Pastures consist of Rhodes grass and seca stylo, with some substantial coverage of Wynn cassia.

"The temperament of the Droughtmaster cattle never ceases to amaze me. My wife can walk up to some of the cattle in the paddock and basically pat them and scratch them," Mr Piggott said.

"We haven't had any problem cattle here. Probably comes back to spending time on your weaners, tailing them out."

THE pain of not having enough water is usually front of mind for many commercial cattleman. Having too much can cause some sleepless nights.

Previous owners of Greg Piggott’s property Hawthornden had the forethought to invest in water infrastructure. The property now boasts 20 dams, two bores and troughs along the western paddocks. But, as Mr Piggott says: “We’ve probably had too much water.”

It’s location close to the Kolan River and Monduran Dam saw it go under water in the 2010 floods and then again in 2013. The Piggotts’ house was spared but a substantial amount of their fencing was washed away.

“It was a shock to me. Stoney Creek came up from a trickle to over 20ft deep, and the old bridge over the Kolan River went under by 30ft. It came up from a trickle to over 20ft deep. It went way over the bridge,” he said.

Mr Piggott recalls the 2013 flood as the worse of the two. He said during the heavy rain he could hear the steel flood gates clanging as the water rose, until it abruptly stopped. His inspection the next morning showed they had been swept away. “It was all gone – the 16mm cable gone, all the iron – it just took it and put it in the state forest,” he said.