Long-term Hereford breeders Geoffrey and Leanne Hartwig, Calrossie, Eidsvold, are highly enthusiastic about the advantages the Angus breed bring to the table and have been using them for crossbreeding purposes for close to 50 years.
In good seasons the Hartwig’s run close to 1000 breeders on the 36,000 acre Calrossie property, as well as nearby Barrington (2500 acres) and Pinevale (3500 acres). They also recently purchased another block, Ercildoune (18,000 acres) situated 60 kilometres south of Tambo.
Geoffrey said a lot of their sale cattle now have Angus content, as they use Angus bulls as a second cross over their Hereford/Droughmaster cows to produce a tougher animal.
“In our environmental conditions, we need a fairly hardy animal.
“We’re still maintaining almost entirely pure Hereford female herd, so we use the Angus bulls to get the black in the progeny.”
The Hartwig’s primarily sell heavy feeders to the market, but also sell a few lighter feeder cattle to Coles and Woolworths, as they “seek cattle with high British content”.
“Lately we’ve been getting our cattle out younger with the seasonal conditions and markets the way they are.
“Most of our heavier feeders weigh in the 440kg to 460kg range and still have their milk teeth."
He said Angus bulls cross exceptionally well with all other breeds, and that their durability and muscling is also great.
“The hybrid vigour with Angus come through very quickly, and their marbling is also very attractive.”
Come sale time, Geoffrey said he always looks for Angus bulls with great type, a good temperament, weight for age, and eye muscle content.
“Big eye muscle content usually goes hand-in-hand with good growth rates and marbling.”
He said he’s been having a great run with Brett Haagar’s bulls from Valorbrook Angus.
“Some of the cows we purchase are chosen specifically for their compatibility with Brett’s bulls.
“We need good bulls for our tough conditions which is what Valorbrook produces. We get his young ones to acclimatise on better paddocks for a couple of years, then toss them into harder country, and we’ve found they adapt very well.”
Geoffrey said one of his main sources of satisfaction that has kept him interested in cattle production through the decades is seeing a particular plan he’s put in place for his herd come to fruition.
“We’re continually improving our genetics to suit our environmental conditions, and it’ll continue to provide a pretty gratifying feeling if we can manage to keep the high market prices where they currently are.”
