Success with Brangus bulls over crossbred cattle at Monto

Karen Hockey and her partner Gordon Ogle run a 450-500 breeder herd over about 2700 hectares, and they began buying Red Brangus bulls eight years ago.

The Hockey family had successfully used Santa Gertrudis bulls over Brahman cows for many years and were very happy with the line of cattle they were producing.

"These breeds have given us a good foundation for our herd and improved our breeders substantially," Ms Hockey said.

They decided to change genetics when their operation moved from bullock to steer production about eight years ago, which better suits their conditions and market.

Kolonga is now using Red Brangus bulls over the crossbred herd, with the aim of further increasing fertility and growth rates.

"The fertility has increased, and they're a bit quicker finishing - it's not the big, raw-boned beast that we used to love years ago, but it's what the market is asking for," Mr Ogle said.

The increase in fertility is helping to rebuild the herd, which had been reduced with drought, quickly.

"At the moment the rate is about 85 per cent at weaning, which has been a combination of focusing on improving our land and using dry lick to supplement," Ms Hockey said.

"This has seen a big boost in productivity. The Brahman and Santa Gertrudis cross gave us a terrific base to cross Red Brangus bulls over and we have had great results."

Data is beginning to be used in bull selection more effectively, with Ms Hockey looking at Breedplan figures and semen test results, along with structure.

They've been clients of Peter and Kristine Dingle at Redline Brangus for many years, and a big part of the attraction to the Eidsvold stud was the strong focus on data.

The consistent line of Redline bulls has led to more consistency in the Kolonga herd.

"It'd be good if more Red Brangus studs used data, because it gives you the most accurate prediction of the progeny and fertility," Ms Hockey said.

"I recently did a three-day buying better bulls course and that has started to direct our purchases when it comes to bull selection and also given me a greater understanding of EBVs (estimated breeding values)."

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Ms Hockey and Mr Ogle are also in the process of establishing a small red Brangus stud, and plan to have an emphasis on data, particularly around semen testing.

"The semen morphology and motility results are really important, and now we're semen testing all our bulls in the commercial operation more consistently," she said.

"We just got results back for my own bulls, and one will be going, because we can't afford to run bulls that aren't producing calves."

The switch to Brangus has paid off, with good feedback from cattle buyers.

The couple usually keeps steers to about 400 kilograms, but some will be sent at lower weights to allow them to maintain the breeder herd if the drought conditions continue, which Red Brangus allows them to do as they can be sold at a younger age for a premium price.

Steers are generally sold through the Monto saleyards, and heavier cattle go to straight to the processor at Biloela. Recent strong prices include 740 cents a kilogram for bullocks.

"We can get to those weights pretty easily if we get the rain," Mr Ogle said.

"They're very growthy cattle, but we had to get the red Brangus in them to help them finish quickly.

"We like the large frame, and the meat yield of the Brangus - that's what makes the money.

"Nearly everything goes to a feedlot somewhere, and buyers were telling us years ago that our cattle had too big a frame - the feedlots needed 400 days to fill them out and it cost them too much money with the bigger framed cattle.

"Now, we are breeding moderate sized calves that are finishing quickly, and a couple of the buyers have said that we're going the right way, breeding cattle that suit the market.

"A lot of people stay with the same breed for decades, but you've got to change with the times - it's all about dollars and cents now."

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Along with a major change in breeding direction, the couple has been working on pasture rejuvenation, adding new species including Dolichos lablab, which has been a lifesaver, improving the soil and allowing them to produce high quality silage.

"It's mostly native grass, but there's a lot of old cultivation on the creek flats where we're growing the dryland lablab," Mr Ogle said.

"We started growing millet for hay last year, and the lablab, but because lablab takes 10 to 12 days to dry out, we're making silage from it and feeding it to the weaners.

"We've noticed with the silage they don't waste as much and we found we didn't use as much hay as in previous years. This has been a trial this year, but we are happy with the results".

"We're also supplementing the bullocks with silage and grain, and we think we'll do a lot more hay and silage next year to continue this. This has been an advantage in the dry conditions."

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While it's been a big help managing feed gaps, the biggest benefit of the lablab is the added nutrients in the soil.

"It's self-mulching and puts a lot of nitrogen back into the soil," he said.

"That was the primary reason we planted it and in the paddocks we've had lablab planted in, we don't even have to work the soil."

Having a small hay and silage production is helping the couple manage the dry seasons.

Their area is still drought declared, but water is the biggest problem.

"It's always good to have extra silage and hay, because you don't know what the weather's going to do," Mr Ogle said.

"We're not too bad, but we've worked on a lot of water infrastructure with new bores which has paid off.

"Karen recently put another two bores down when surface water was critically low, getting help with one through the water infrastructure subsidy, which was a big help."

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Ms Hockey said the production wouldn't have survived without that help and cattle would have had to be sold.

"We had already put some other bores down four or five years ago in previous drought conditions in other paddocks, which have been a huge advantage. It's priceless to have a reliable water supply.

"The surface water is disappearing very quickly in our area due to the weather conditions, but the underground water has sustained us."