Central Queensland bullock breeders aim big

Alana and Scott Moller and their three children, Mykenzie, Zarah and Addison, have been based at their 20,630 hectare property west of Clermont for 20 years, breeding and fattening Droughtmaster bullocks for the Japox market.

In the past few years, they've been sending more of their grass finished bullocks to the live export market in Vietnam.

The Mollers herd consists of 2200 head at their Star of the Hope property and 400 breeders at their Aramac breeder block, Myrtle Farm.

While they've experimented with cross breeding in the past, Mr Moller said they were more focused on breeding purebred Droughtmaster cattle.

"The Droughtmaster breed is universal, in terms of the variety of markets they can sell into," Mr Moller said.

"They're a breed designed to make good bullocks, survive the extreme dry and wet conditions that we get here in central Queensland."

Mr Moller said they cull heavily on temperament and purchase the majority of their bulls from out of the paddock or at the local saleyards.

"We don't spend a fortune on bulls and we aim to purchase bulls from out of the paddock, that way they're not heavily fed on grain and come straight into the paddock to work," he said.

"We seek out bulls that have good temperament, mostly polled, whilst presenting good weight for age, growth and carcase traits."

The Mollers have been selling into the live export market out of Townsville, aiming to sell heavy HGP treated bullocks at around 600 kilograms.

"The Japox market is suitable for our operation as we breed and fatten bullocks," Mr Moller said.

In the past, they've been able to get 280-320c/kg for their bullocks through live export.

Depending on the market and availability of grass, they also offload bullocks and feeder heifers, around 350kg, into JBS Rockhampton and Dinmore, as well as a few head of cull cattle into the local saleyards at Clermont.

They also support the Clermont Show sale and Clermont Beef Expo sale, putting in a pen of 10 bullocks almost each year.

"It's a family tradition to support these community events and we also look to donate cattle for the charity sale events," Mr Moller said.

"It's a tough competition entering your cattle into these highly contested cattle competitions, as we have so many great producers in the Clermont region and surrounds."

Between October 2022 and April 2023, Mr Moller said their property recorded 40 inches of rainfall, above their annual average, which is about 21 inches.

"The rain thickened the grass on our property and we were able to retain quite a large number of our breeder herd," he said.

"It enabled us to catch up on our breeder numbers as we heavily destocked during the dry years."

Mr Moller said their country was starting to dry off heading into winter.

"While this season has been good, last year was one of our better years," he said.

"Since November 2023, we've only recorded 12 inches of rain."

They've also put more fences in at Star of the Hope, which has allowed them to rotate their breeder herd more frequently and their pastures are spelled often.

"We've noticed improvement in our grass cover," he said.

They have also ploughed 1800 acres and planted pasture legumes such as seca stylo and forage sorghum, which Mr Moller said had allowed them to increase their carrying capacity.