It’s no longer a common breed of cattle seen at Dalby’s weekly sale, but Bevan Walker believes in the reliability and temperament of his Poll Devon cattle herd.
Having bred the cattle for over 40 years, Mr Walker was pleased to see his milk tooth steers go under the hammer during the cattle sale.
His consignment of steers sold to 316c/kg for 425kg to return $1345/head and were purchased by a feedlot buyer.
The Walker family run 180 head of cows on their property called Jaibell near the town of Bell on Queensland’s Western Downs.
“I believe the poll gene in cattle is important in today’s market and also for animal welfare,” Mr Walker said.
“We started breeding this type of cattle in 1972 and now with me getting a bit old these days, it’s great to have cattle with such a quiet temperament, which makes working them in the yards a lot easier.”
The summer season has been patchy at the Walker family’s Jaibell property with some green grass, but Mr Walker noted that follow-up rain is desperately needed or the pasture will quickly dry off.
“We have received 45 millimetres of rainfall this year,” Mr Walker said.
The choice to sell his Poll Devon steers was motivated by Mr Walker’s concerns that cattle prices could fall during the second half of 2017.
“I’m selling a few now because I think the price of cattle may start to go down by the middle of this year and if processors drop buying prices then it will lead to lower prices further down the supply chain,” he said.
