Brahmans have been the focal point of all breeding activities for the Moody family on Square Post Station since the family purchased the property, situated on the Mingela Range, in the 1960s.
Located between Townsville and Charters Towers, ownership of Square Post, past onto Brian Moody and his wife Ronelle in 2016 as part of a family trust plan.
Mrs Moody said they received good grass rain on their heavily undulating range country at Square Post during the 2020-2021 wet season, but water rain was lacking.
"Our dams and creeks are pretty much dried up. We're relying on underground water at present. Hopefully the rain starts falling again soon. Despite this situation our herd is in pretty good shape. We've just started feeding them a breeder mix in the last fortnight," she said.
It's because of their erratic climatic conditions that the Moody's have continued to keep their herd as pure with Brahman genetics as possible.
"On our country the survivability of the Brahman surpasses all other breeds. They're tough and can handle our fluctuations from one season to the next."
They leave their bulls in with the cows year-round.
"At drafting we shift any cows that snort at me. It's only Brian and I running the operation so a quiet temperament is crucial. Brian does the preg-testing and any empties are also sold through the Dalrymple Saleyards in Charters Towers."
They sell steers through Elders at Dalrymple at between 300 to 340kg and as young as possible.
"We feed them molasses and protein meal to get the desired weight on them as quickly as we can. We've been getting very good returns lately."
To enhance the genetics of their herd the Moody's bought three bulls from the 2020 Gold City Brahman Sale, including one from Callan Solari, XMS Brahmans, Ingham, which the Moody's have been particularly impressed with.
"We've since visited Callan on-property at Ingham and purchased another six bulls. While two of these bulls are full brothers, the great thing about buying from XMS is the diversity of quality genetics Callan can produce. Being a veterinarian, he's capable of AI'ing his own heifers with semen purchased from first-rate bulls. This allows producers, like ourselves, to source quality bulls at a reasonable price, which wouldn't be possible if he was producing his bulls through traditional means."
The Moody's are starting to see calves drop by the bulls purchased at the 2020 sale.