For the Mungallala-based Handley family Droughtmaster bulls have proven to be an ideal fit in their organic crossbreeding program for more than 20 years.
Rod and Libby Handley purchased their first Droughtmaster bull at the inaugural Roma Droughtmaster Bull Sale back in 1998 for use in their operation which trades as Andromeda Cattle Company.
With their children, Anne, Charlie and George, Rod and Libby run their 3000 head organic certified herd, including 1600 breeders, across three properties and combined 65,530ha of country.
The family live on Eddington in Mungallala, where they background and fatten, nearby Mount Elliott, which has been in family since 1911, is the primary breeding block, and the Handleys purchased Warrawee, Chinchilla, three years ago, to expand their fattening country.
Rod said forest country dominates Mount Elliott, while Eddington features improved Brigalow and Box coverage, and Warrawee is comprised of improved black clay melon-hole country.
"As we haven't received any rain of note since April, our entire herd is being supplementary fed lick and organic dunder," he said.
In their program the Handleys predominantly join Droughtmaster bulls, and few Red Angus sires, back over their Droughtmaster x Charbray x Red Angus females.
They put their bulls in the paddock on December 1 which then come out at weaning time in May.
"The appeal of the Droughtmaster-cross is that we're producing quiet flat back progeny with hybrid vigour, rapid growth rates and good bone and frame.
"We aim to kill steers and cull heifers at 500kg for entry into the Oakey and Grantham organic markets."
To continually improve the quality of the calves produced in their program the Handleys frequently source sires from the Roma sale.
"It's a very handy sale for us as it's close by so we save on freight costs, and we've noticed that the overall quality of the bulls offered has improved in leaps and bounds over the years."
At the 2018 sale alone, the family bought eight bulls for an average of $5500.
"These bulls are just starting to drop calves for us now. They're all doing a good job for us, we haven't had any dramas with them."
Rod said he specifically looks for bulls with high eye muscle area and fat scores in the double figures.
"We've had trouble meeting the fat specs over the past couple of years, so we're trying to lay more fat onto our cattle before we kill them and we look for bulls with an EMA of 125cm sq.
"Our other main priorities are that the bulls have to be polled, have a great temperament, and stand on great bone."