INVESTMENT in the Charolais breed and producing commercially relevant cattle has paid off for the Millner family of Rosedale Charolais stud, with four of their crossbred teams finishing in the top 10 of the NSW Beef Spectacular Feedback Trial.
Setting a benchmark as the first entrant in the competition's 13-year history to take out both the overall grand champion team as well as second place, James Millner, entered under Rosedale Livestock Partnership, Blayney, was humbled to receive the accolades during Friday's presentation dinner held at the Wagga Wagga RSL club.
The mixed pen of five Charolais/Angus steers scored a total of 730 points from a possible 1000 to take out the top spot on the podium, and receive a $6500 speed drafter from National Stockyard Systems Pty Ltd.
Consistency is what had the champion team on top, with the group placing first for induction, third overall for feedlot performance with 250 points and 16th overall for carcase on 380 points.
Only 1.5 points behind was Mr Millner's second team of Charolais/Angus steers which scored 728.5pts.
But the Rosedale reign did not stop there with James' parents Michael and Jenny, entered as MJ and JL Millner, Milthorpe, receiving fifth and sixth overall on 711pts and 708.5pts, respectively.
Rosedale Charolais had previously won the trial in 2013 - the first year they entered the competition.
The Millner's consistent high placings this year was similar to 2014 when they had three teams in the top 10.
Profitability is also where their cattle excelled, with James' teams placing first and seventh and Michael's teams also finishing within the top 20 teams.
CHAROLAIS HISTORY
The Rosedale stud was established in 1969 by Michael's parents. It now operates across 1619 hectares (4000 acres) of land in the Blayney region.
"We imported some full French Charolais semen from England and AI'd [artificially inseminated] some Shorthorn cows," he said. "I was in year 10 then."
"My mum read an article in a country magazine about this breed of cattle. The Charolais were very popular in England at the time in 1967 or 1968, and it was around that time that the Charolais, Limousin and Simmental all came in (to Australia)."
James said Rosedale was home to the first Charolais calf west of the Blue Mountains.
"We paid $11,000 for a Charolais female, Sundowner Ranches Honor, from New Zealand in 1972 and bought it over from there, and we had the first calf here (at Rosedale)," Michael said.
"$11,000 was probably a lot of money then. She was the second cheapest heifer in the sale, but for type she was probably the best.
"She was a good cow because her second calf was a bull we called Rosedale KB and we used him in the stud for about 4-5 years and he left a lot of good daughters. He was one of the more modern Charolais."
Life-long commitment and investment in the Charolais breed has established Rosedale as one of the leading studs in the country.
"We've been involved in Charolais since the start," Michael said. "My parents were some of the original breeders, and I've been involved with it all my working life, as has James."
"Mum and dad [Michael and Jenny] have invested most their lives into it," James added.
The Rosedale stud stepped away from showing cattle in 2015, with highlights prior to this being winning the Hordern Trophy at the Sydney Royal Show in 1995, when Michael joined the RAS council, and 2009.
SCALE OF OPERATIONS
The Millner family runs around 300 stud Charolais cows and 500 commercial British cows as part of the Rosedale enterprise.
"But if you include everything there is probably 1500 commercial cows (across Milthorpe, Coonamble and the block at Geurie managed by James' brother Robbie)," they said.
"They're nearly all Angus, Red Angus, Shorthorns and the odd black baldy."
Generally, the Millner's commercial calves are targeted at feedlots or the Coles supermarket trade.
"If going to feedlots we are targeting a 450kg plus weight, and for supermarkets it is up to 550kg," James said.
The Rosedale operation is predominantly a spring-calving (August/September) aimed at avoiding the brutal Blayney winters, while they also have a percentage of autumn calvers.
"Our focus is on producing high performing, sound, balanced bulls for the commercial market," Michael said.
CROSSBREDS SOAR
The first and second placed pens were all out of commercial Angus cows and by Rosedale Charolais bulls used in the Millner's commercial herd.
"I only had 15 steers to choose the teams from, I went 430 kilograms and above drafting them on weight and then type. They were only 12 to 13-month-old calves going in," James said.
"Previously I have put purebreds in, but they were all first-cross steers this year... I find the composites marble better than the purebred Charolais."
The steers were bred similarly to the composite Charolais/Angus bulls offered in their 2021 sale.
"My observation of James' cattle is they didn't win any of the early awards, but they did everything pretty well," Michael said. "They were consistent even in their weight gains (average 2.04kg/hd/day, above the trial average of 1.69kg/hd/day)."
Similar to the two top teams, Michael's fifth and sixth placed teams with predominantly Charolais/Angus with some out of black baldy females.
"Ours were a few earlier June-drop, heavier calves," Michael said. "We lost 15 points at the start from them being too heavy.
"One of the beauties and frustrations of the competition is that there are so many unknowns.
"You try and rank steers when they leave here about how they will do and how they will hang up. But there are a lot of unknowns, and it is a bit of luck."
COMMERCIAL DEMAND
Rosedale Charolais will host its 33rd annual on-property bull sale in March, where they will market 60 Charolais bulls and 30 composite bulls.
The Millner family chose to introduce the composite offering in recent years to meet demand from some of the grass fatteners that want to produce that small percentage of European blood in their cattle.
"Some of our clients have been doing it for 20 plus years," Michael said.
"Even some people that haven't used Charolais before use them as an introductory step, and they get more comfortable with the European breed," James said. "There is commercial demand for them, and that is why we do it."
The stud puts a lot of commercial pressure on their bulls, running them as one big mob giving them all equal treatment and opportunity.
"That way the cream truly rises to the top," James said.
"In the old days we were selecting our better yearlings and they were going to shows, and it wasn't a fair comparison. Now we put them on an even playing field and it helps."
Having Charolais you need to have growth for age otherwise the breed isn't relevant, James said.
"But you also have to have your finger on the meat quality pulse. So we have a balanced approach.
"We are actively selecting for marbling with scanning, and we carcase scan all our bulls and heifers in the stud, and over time there is definitely a trend of improvement, getting better."
TRIAL SUCCESS
Rosedale has proven commercial performance in several Australia's biggest independent feedlot trials including the Beef Spectacular trial, the Australian National Field Days (ANFD) steer competition, the RAS Sydney Royal Beef Challenge, and the RNA Paddock to Palate.
Highlights include winning champion domestic pen in the 2019 RNA Paddock to Palate, followed by reserve champion export team (HGP-free) the following year.
They have won the ANFD trial three times, and both Rosedale and its clients' cattle have excelled in the RAS Sydney Royal Beef Challenge winning either grand champion domestic or export team over the years.
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