Queensland Country Life

Temperament, quality and integrity key in the Ben Nevis Angus production

Ben Nevis Angus stud principals Stu and Erica Halliday.
Ben Nevis Angus stud principals Stu and Erica Halliday.

This is advertiser content for Ben Nevis Angus.

TOP quality, herd-improving yearling bulls are on offer in the annual Ben Nevis Angus sale on September 9.

Stud principals Stu and Erica Halliday have 70 young sires available, suitable for any production, and ready to work.

The Ben Nevis stud is recognised as the premier supplier of yearling bulls in Australia, and one of the country's leading Angus studs.

Erica has spent her whole life around cattle, with her father, the late Bruce Steel, establishing the stud in 1947 when he returned from World War II.

"My whole life my family have lived and breathed Angus and I learned everything I know about cattle from my parents," she said.

"This included all the traditional ways of selecting for quality including the power of cow lines, the importance of a good head and muzzle, skin, constitution and type."

When Stu and Erica took over the reins of Ben Nevis in 2013 they combined his veterinary skills and knowledge of animal nutrition and reproduction with Erica's knowledge of genetics.

"The result is a herd with the structure of old fashioned quality injected with the latest carcase genetics to target the premium quality brands both here and abroad.

"What we value most is temperament, quality and integrity."

The Walcha stud specialises in yearling bulls with good temperament, strong growth and marbling, that are ready to work in any climate.
The Walcha stud specialises in yearling bulls with good temperament, strong growth and marbling, that are ready to work in any climate.

For the past few decades Ben Nevis Angus has focused on yearling bulls, which allows clients to use the latest genetics available sooner, and also limits the risk of breakdowns.

"More than 30 years ago we started selling yearling bulls to our long-term clients when we ran out of two-year-olds. Now they insist on them," Erica said.

"They have proven less incidence of breakdown and longer working lives, giving our clients more calves and less dollars per calf.

"Bulls were meant to work as yearlings and if they aren't they start a culture of fighting and riding each other in the mob because they are sexually frustrated.

"As they are growing and working as yearlings they can look a little ragged after the first year but they don't require special attention - just a good paddock and a dose and pretty soon they are handsome devils again and our clients get an extra drop of calves for their effort."

Targeting growth, fat and consistent - not excessive - marbling has allowed our clients to be right in the pocket for this lucrative market and given them the flexibility to target other premium markets like the branded beef trades domestically, MSA (Meat Standards Australia) and the growing middle market in China.

- Ben Nevis stud principal Erica Halliday

Using yearling bulls is paying off for Ben Nevis and their clients, who have recorded strong pregnancy rates and produced exceptional progeny, with great temperament.

"The most overwhelming feedback we get is how easy the bulls are to work and handle," Erica said.

"We are most pleased with this because it's our number one priority after dad was nearly killed by a cow 20 years ago.

"Life's too short to not enjoy your cattle and while animals are always unpredictable we do our best via the way we work and select our bulls to make them easy to manage for our clients.

"Working first as a yearling is a critical factor in this."

Ben Nevis bulls are performing for clients in a range of climates, from central Australia to outback South Australia, to northern Queensland and right down the east coast.

Those clients also producing for a range of markets, which is made possible by the stud's strong focus on carcase quality, as well as on-farm performance.

"Our specific market target for the past 20 years has been the Japanese B3 market and we have never needed to sway from this," Erica said.

"Targeting growth, fat and consistent - not excessive - marbling has allowed our clients to be right in the pocket for this lucrative market and given them the flexibility to target other premium markets like the branded beef trades domestically, MSA (Meat Standards Australia) and the growing middle market in China."

Seventy yearling bulls are available in the on-property sale on September 9.
Seventy yearling bulls are available in the on-property sale on September 9.

On offer in the September 9 sale, beginning at 12pm, are the top 120 heifers from the family's commercial herd, followed by the bull sale, featuring 70 bulls, ranging from 12 to 18 months.

Among the sires represented are the hugely popular Baldridge Beast Mode B074, known for his growth, carcase traits and calving ease, and the first sons of Ben Nevis Newsflash, who sold for $24,000 last year, along with a run of Rennylea J474 sons that have exceptional intramuscular fat figures.

"More than two thirds of the sale bulls are draft are suitable for heifers," Erica said.

"There's a lot of talk about heifer bulls this year as producers look to rebuild after drought, and statistics show that yearling bulls less likely to get hurt, but also less likely to hurt heifers."

The 2020 Ben Nevis sale includes sons of popular sire Baldridge Beast Mode B074, the $24,000 Ben Nevis Newsflash, and Rennylea J474.
The 2020 Ben Nevis sale includes sons of popular sire Baldridge Beast Mode B074, the $24,000 Ben Nevis Newsflash, and Rennylea J474.

The Hallidays are recovering after drought themselves, and are currently experiencing their best season in years.

"We have, like a lot of people been through the ringer the last couple of years starting with a mini cyclone, ending with a bushfire and rounding out with the two worst drought years on record," Erica said.

"We had 400 cows on confinement, 600 cows on agistment and we weaned the calves down to six weeks of age.

"Given this, the bulls have shown how tough they are and have thrived since the drought broke on oats.

"We are delighted with the way they present and hope that those people who haven't had relief yet get it soon."

For more information on the stud and the upcoming sale, including photos and videos of all sale lots, which will be online by August 10, visit the Ben Nevis Angus website or AuctionsPlus.

This is advertiser content for Ben Nevis Angus.