Ingham-based cattle and cane producers Lach and Penny Thomson require high-grade Brahmans to suit their country which is why they've been investing in bulls from the Rockhampton Brahman Week Sale (RBWS) for 15 years.
Lach and Penny live on Kallanda Station, west of Ingham, with their children Will, Holly, Grace and Meg, and his father Ross. The family also own two cane farms at Upperstone.
The family purchased the 27,700ha property, which is predominantly hilly to undulating Ironbark forest country, with native grasses, in 2004.
The Thomsons pure Red Brahman breeding herd resides on Kallanda, which is where they also fatten steers to 320kg to 330kg dressed, mostly as two-tooth's, which are then sold into the live export market or to the JBS Meatworks in Townsville. They also fatten steers on their Upperstone blocks.
"We used to sell our weaners as feeders steers, but for the last five years we've been finishing them ourselves on a molasses ration," Lach said.
He said for the last three years they've also been breeding 20 to 30 herd bulls a year which are grown out at Upperstone and sold from out of the paddock as two-year-old's to producers from across the region.
"The bulls are bred on forest country and grown out on the coast so they acclimatise well wherever they go."
Brahmans were the choice from the start for the family for use on Kallanda.
"They can handle the harsh conditions here especially when it gets dry, they're easy to finish and fatten, and they hang up pretty well."
Although they lost some cattle, cane, and fencing during the February floods all in all Lach said they've had a "perfect wet season" on Kallanda.
"We received close to double our usual 700mm of rain from November last year through March 2019. We currently have a big body of grass and while there isn't a lot of protein left in it now, it provides good roughage with lick supplementation."
He said they control mate from December to May and calves are weaned between June and July.
"We preg-test all dry cows during the weaning muster, and we cull cows that reach 10 years of age to JBS. Cull heifers are speyed by Penny and sold into the live export market or to JBS as well.
"We join 150 to 200 hundred heifers a year to bulls we buy at the RBWS."
"We've gotten our fertility rate to 74 per cent which is pretty good for our country. I think fertility is 95pc nutrition as we've found that we get a lot more calves from our breeders when it gets dry by feeding them the molasses ration."
Lach said they been attending the RBWS since they purchased Kallanda and usually buy six bulls per year from studs including Kandoona, Yeoman, Wandilla, Muan, Palmvale, Kariboe Valley and Ooline.
"We like to buy bulls from studs that also run commercial operations, as they usually have a similar focus to us, such as breeding young bullocks."
He's found that the vendors usually save their best bulls for the sale.
"There's always a vast selection of sires to choose from. You also get good value for money in comparison to some of the other sales.
"The bulls we've purchased from the RBWS continue to provide us with quality herd bulls, steers and heifers. There really is no substitute to having good genetics flowing through your herd."
Lach said at sale time he looks for structurally correct sires with good width, bone, and a tidy sheath.
"Above all else, we favour calm, quiet bulls."
He said one of their current goals is to increase the number of herd bulls they're producing.
"We look forward to breeding quiet, functional herd bulls off grass that will go straight to work for northern beef producers."
