The Woodard family, Tualka South, Taroom, have been offering first-rate females at the Ray White Livestock Brangus Commercial Female Sale since the sale began in 2011.
This year will be no different, with Bruce and Leanne Woodard and their sons Neil, Ben and Rowan, having produced 130 high quality Brangus heifers specifically for the sale, which acts as a curtain raiser for the ABCA Rockhampton Brangus Sale.
The Woodards, who're well known for the bulls they produce in their Bonox Brangus stud operation, conduct the majority of their commercial activities on 8095ha of leased land on Coorada.
"We're currently running 400 pure Brangus females in one paddock which are joined with homebred bulls and bulls sourced from other studs including from the Rocky Brangus sale," Bruce said.
He said it's due to their rough mountainous forestry country that the Brangus is the best breed for their needs.
"Their toughness is crucial for our productivity, especially in the dry. And their suitability for all market types is a big benefit as well."
Bruce said after the calves drop on Coorada they're brought to the home block Tualka South, where they're sold as weaners off their mothers.
Tualka South has been in the Woodard family for 25 years and they also own a smaller property, Sandy Creek, which is primarily used to grow oats, and in better seasons hay, to feed their paddock bulls.
Bruce said weaner steers are sold on an annual basis to Bill Speed, Brig-O-Doon Cattle Company, in Taroom, usually at 280kg.
"This year, due to the dry, we had to sell them on to Bill at 200kg."
He said besides decent falls in March, they've missed out on any decent rain over the last 12 months.
"Most of our weaners have never seen green grass, and we're now at the point where all of our cattle are being fed with the molasses-based supplement M8U."
Bruce said he wishes they could keep on a lot of the females they send to Ray White commercial sale
"We've sent a lot of good heifers there over the years as we simply don't have the space to keep them here.
"We've always had good results from the sale, as producers who're just starting to introduce the Brangus breed into their operations and are looking for some handy heifers, are happy to pay a premium for them.
"Hopefully we'll get some rain soon so we get back to business as usual. In the meantime we'll just keep continually trying to improve the article we're producing in both arms of the business."
When Bruce and his sons aren't managing the commercial and stud herds, they're out on neighboring properties doing contract fencing and mustering work.