CATTLE are a passion project for fifth-generation Boyup Brook producer Chris Barron and his family.
More specifically, his interest is in breeding elite, traditional Angus cattle on his 129 hectare family farm Norwood Estate in the Boyup Brook shire, which was settled by the Barron family in 1898.
“We used to have some of our land planted to vineyards but we got out of that in 2008 and now have the opportunity to work on breeding a high quality herd of Angus,” Chris said.
“I’ve wanted to get into Angus cattle since I was a boy but the opportunity never arose until recently.
“I really enjoy the cattle work and the breeding side of things, but have a construction company in the city so I’m more of a hobby farmer at the moment.”
The family’s second drop of 60 calves are currently on the ground.
“We could potentially get to 120 breeders maximum but next year we plan to mate 80,” Chris said.
“I think if you’re under 200 breeders most people would say it’s a hobby, wouldn’t they?
“Certainly behind most farmers in this district we’re pretty small operators.
“We’re still on the build but it is a slow process to go in the direction we want to because we want to focus on particular traits.”
Chris said his version of fun was sitting up at night reading through bull catalogues.
“I’m sure my wife thinks I’m a weirdo,” he said.
“But I find it interesting because there’s so much science behind cattle breeding now.
“I think it’s a fantastic time to be a cattle producer and there is plenty of valuable information out there for people like me to sink their teeth into.”
The cattle on Norwood Estate were based on Diamond Tree bloodlines.
“We’re now using our own bull which is an excellent Little Meadows bull,” Chris said.
“What we really like about him is that he’s a son of Coonamble Elevator.
“Elevator is obviously a pretty well-known bull and in my opinion Coonamble is one of the best studs in WA.
“We’re really happy we’ve got some of his genetics and the Little Meadows bull is delivering the goods.”
Chris said at a recent weighing of eight-month-old calves they averaged 380kg liveweight.
“We’re pretty happy with that,” he said.
“I think that shows the strength of Elevator’s genetics in terms of exceptional growth and power.”
Chris said one of the main traits he was focussing on within the herd was docility.
“I really think it starts with docility,” he said.
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“The last thing we want with kids around the yards and on the farm is to be dealing with mad cattle.
“The next key trait for us is fertility, then growth.
“There’s currently a lot of focus on low birthweight cattle for less problems at calving which I understand.”
Chris said medium-framed cattle, rather than larger frame cattle, seemed to be more popular which he understood when it came to the economics of beef per hectare.
“We’re a bit more interested in creating a larger style cow – something more like the traditional Angus,” he said.
“We’re fortunate in that we don’t have to get caught up in the hardcore economics as we’re small-scale, and instead can focus on trying to produce that traditional Angus which I think people may want to come back to one day.”
When it comes to creating his ideal herd, Chris said he was diving in head-first with embryo transfer and artificial insemination programs.
“We sourced embryos from Raff Angus, Yarra Creek, Tasmania, this year for our ET program so we do have a few stud embryos going as well,” he said.
The ET program is about helping establish a depth of breeding quality within the herd as quickly as possible.
“I want to have more say in the genetics and be able to create my type of cow,” Chris said.
“The Raff Angus are a very successful herd with some of the best Angus show cattle in Australia in the past 50 years.
“While they still have excellent marbling and all the right features, they are definitely a more traditional style of Angus.”
Chris said they had power and size but retained the softness he wanted.
“Andrew (Raff) has been really helpful,” he said.
“We’ve had six out of the eight embryos take and can’t wait to have them on the ground in April.
“Going forward we intend to do an ET program every year.”
Chris said they also ran a complete AI program.
“We took a collection from our Little Meadows bull and all of the cows and heifers got a double AI except for those in the ET program,” he said.
“We did a manual back-up with the bull and so the result is that every calf (except for the ET calves) will be his which will help us breed a nice even line of females.
“I’m really interested in incorporating more of the science of breeding wherever I can.
“We will continue to buy more embryos and start to get a few different female families going.”
Chris said he was lucky to have some good mentors to get him started.
“Dick Hall from Golden Arm Genetics, Margaret River, does all our AI,” he said.
“Tony Golding, Little Meadows, Dardanup and also Andrew Raff from Raff Angus, have all been so supportive and helpful with what we’re trying to do.
“With their guidance we’ve started off well and are already looking forward to the next drop of calves so we can continue building our herd in the direction we want to go.”
