Hereford and black baldy cattle are ticking the boxes on weight gain, carcase quality and temperament for one of the premium suppliers to the Coles GRAZE grass-fed brand.
Gippsland grass finishers Gary and Samantha Owen finish 1500 British bred steers and heifers a year for Coles GRAZE and receive no price differential between the breeds.
After a decade of finishing cattle for the grass-fed brand, the couple has been impressed with the Hereford and Hereford infused cattle’s early maturity, quiet temperament, finishing ability and carcase quality of MSA compliance, fat cover, yield and eye muscle area.
They are specialists at optimising pasture growth to achieve average daily gains of up to 2.5kg in spring to finish at 280kg carcase weight with 4mm of rib fat.
As third generation farmers, Gary and Samantha trade as Budgaree Beef, at Budgaree, and also operate a 300-cow dairy herd and a herd of 30 Hereford breeding females supplying weaners for the grass-fed enterprise.
Last year, the black baldy weaners from the breeder herd finished at 280kg carcase weight at just 16 months.
Set in a 900mm rainfall zone, the 810ha property ranges from light grey, sandy to deep red soil types supporting high performance Italian ryegrass pastures. In 2007, the family expanded the dairy business to include beef.
“Our main target is to supply Coles GRAZE with grass-fed beef and, apart from winter months, we send 48 head a fortnight but this increases to 48 head a week from January through to June,” Mr Owen said.
“We have a resowing program where our pastures are renovated every year, and any paddocks damaged from wet weather are oversown in the autumn with Italian ryegrass.”
Grazing management focuses on strip grazing behind a single electric wire and moving the steers and heifers every one to two days to fresh pasture. Winter rotations are 40 to 60 days and spring down to 15 days with excess pasture cut for pit silage for the summer-autumn feed gap.
Soil tests determine the fertiliser regime but it is mainly super potash, ammonium sulphate and a strategic use of nitrogen applications through winter and early spring.
Mobs of 200 to 250 cattle are introduced to pastures at 2400 to 2500 kilograms of dry matter per hectare and are moved once the pasture reaches 1300 to 1500kg DM/ha, resulting in average daily gains ranging from 1.1 to 2.5kg depending on the season.
“We aim to finish the cattle as fast as we possibly can to an average carcase weight of 280kg,” Mr Owen said.
Mrs Owen said the cattle were sourced either direct from preferred suppliers, AuctionsPlus or the Hamilton, Bairnsdale, Wodonga and Mountain Calf sales.
“Because we have a turn off carcase weight of 280kg, we have a small window of movement and the hardest part is to source the right shaped cattle that will perform for us,” she said.
“As we buy and transport our own cattle, most of them are bought off farm, through AuctionsPlus or from repeat suppliers.”
The couple select yard weaned, moderate framed and early maturing Hereford, black baldy and Angus steers and heifers of 330-350kg liveweight.
They have been impressed by the weight gain and finishing ability of the black baldy due to the heterosis or hybrid vigour.
“As we have cattle go through the yards once a week, we can monitor closely what groups are doing from the various farms and provide that feedback to our suppliers,” Mrs Owen said.
“More suppliers are wanting to know how their cattle perform on the carcase feedback, particularly the MSA grades.”
Mr Owen said the cattle need to be yard weaned and have a quiet temperament to enable them to socialise quickly and gain weight.
“For the Coles GRAZE program, cattle have to be declared grass fed while a small percentage goes to the Greenhams Never Ever program where they have to be grass-fed and antibiotic free.”
Hereford steers being finished on high performance ryegrass pastures at Budgaree Beef for Coles GRAZE. Image Jessica Owen
