A decision to diversify the commercial production from Yulgilbar Station is an exciting one for new manager Brett Ellem, who started here as a ringer 15 years ago and took on the role of head stockman four years later at the age of 24.
"The commercial component has always been the background of the operation," he says, admitting a love for cross-bred.
Hereford bulls over Santa Gertrudis females to produce firsts cross progeny made the most sense, given the ready access to genetics from Yulgilbar's Santa Gertrudis stud and to Hereford bulls from Yarram Park at Willaura via Ararat, owned by the Baillieu family and connected through marriage to the Myers, owners of historic Yulgilbar on the Clarence.
The sires from Western Victoria took the transition to the Upper Clarence in their stride.
"Treat them right the first season and they don't look back," said Mr Ellem. "They're fertile and the hybrid vigour created by crossing the two gene pools has already proven its worth."
Mr Ellem pointed to last month's results in the Royal Queensland Show's paddock to palate competition, where Yulgilbar won the overall pen of six (100 Day) with Hereford/Santa recording an average daily weight gain of 3.262 kg. They won highest individual weight gain with 3.59kg, and took top honours in the pen of six (70 Day) with Santa Gertrudis recording an ADG of 3.186kg.
"It's important for us to be commercially relevant," he said. "It gives people a reason to buy our bulls. It makes me proud to be able to compete on the open market."
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Mr Ellem said the commercial operation worked in well with the stud enterprise, with the latter demanding that the operation "keep pushing forward".
The Hereford/Santa cross works well into central Queensland where they're ability to put on weight comes back to a natural doing ability. However, Mr Ellem says he believes there are new opportunities to come from southern buyers, with the cross able to produce winning domestic cuts, as shown in the Ekka results.
Steers are sold as growers or feeders with sales arranged out of the paddock through preferred agents George and Fuhrmann.
"They're no trouble to sell and they go to good repeat clients and new buyers from Central Queensland to Victoria including local buyers.
The first cross females from White face and Bos indicus are valued as "the ultimate mother", says Mr Ellem, exhibiting fertility and milk along with a strong maternal trait. Calves from this cross are very consistent in colour with a lack of hump to the point that Santa sires can be put to them effectively.
However, Yulgilbar plans to put Angus to its Hereford/Santa females to produce the "super baldy" with perhaps 10 to 12 per cent Bos indicus content; a black animal with broken white face that is adapted to fit anywhere in the market, from ideal feeders to terrific breeders.
"This program is opening the doors to something different for people to buy from Yulgilbar," says Mr Ellem.
The new venture will not take away focus from Yulgilbar stud, with 80 bulls offered this year while there remains a need for pure Santa Gertrudis blood to produce all the commercial crosses.
However, the reality is drought, fires and flood have reduced the herd from around 600 breeders five years ago to 400 today.
During the 14 days in late 2019 that fires ringed the 35,000 acre station 50 stud cows, all of them springing, succumbed and died leaving a hole in the genetic program.
"We need to get our numbers back up post fires and we need to focus on breeding cattle to suit the commercial market," says Mr Ellem.