OPPORTUNIST would be a word that describes Karridale beef producer Tony Mostert best.
Raised on a dairy farm in Redmond with his three brothers, livestock and the land have always been a way of life.
Tony has always taken advantage of the many work opportunities that have come his way since graduating from Denmark Agricultural College in 1987.
He has managed various cattle stations and run a contract mustering business in Queensland and the Northern Territory.
Tony has been heavily involved in the local feedlot industry, gained an advanced diploma in animal production science through the University of New England, New South Wales, managed one of WA’s leading Murray Grey studs and in 2008 purchased a property where he and his wife Kathryn now own and run 200 beef breeders on.
“I’ve never been one to get fenced into a corner,” Tony said.
“I like to keep my options open and jump at chances when they arise.”
Versatility has been the key to Tony’s success, not only in the workforce but also in his Murray Grey and Angus herd.
The Mostert’s enterprise consists of 198 hectares, plus 445ha, which comprises six lease blocks.
Tony said this number could vary from year to year as they are always on the look out for more local land to increase stocking rates and grow more pasture on.
The herd is based on Monterey Murray Grey and Monterey and Mordallup Angus genetics.
Having managed the neighbouring Monterey stud for six years, the Murray Grey breed has become a firm favourite of the Mosterts and 100 greys and 100 blacks currently roam the paddocks.
Tony said he liked his females to earn a living.
“It’s only Kathryn and I and our properties are spread out, therefore our cows must have the do-ability to maintain themselves in tough season,” he said.
“I appreciate all breeds, there is good cattle in all of them however the Murray Grey and Angus seem to be more adaptable in harsh conditions and are very marketable.”
The Mosterts have a self-replacing herd and annually keep 15 to 20 heifers.
“We had a great niche market for the Murray Grey heifers but this has changed since the mining boom as a lot of lifestyle farmers have sold their small properties,” Tony said.
Fortunately as this market disappeared the Angus breed has grown in popularity.
“The marketability of the blacks is second to none,” Tony said.
For the past 15 years the Mosterts have sold mated heifers in specialty female sales.
This year they offered 15 Angus and Murray Grey rising two-year-old heifers in the Landmark Specially Selected Female sale at Boyanup last week (January 10).
They were sired by a Monterey bull and are due to calve on February 14 for a 10-week period.
Leading up to the auction the sale heifers, along with the replacements, are run on a low-lying, irrigated lease property in the Karridale area.
“When selecting replacements I like to see good conformation, body constitution and depth of pedigree,” Tony said.
“I am a firm believer in strong female bloodlines and I like to see good history behind them.”
This is the main reason the Mosterts have stuck with Monterey and Mordallup genetics over the years.
“We know their bloodlines and the longevity of their females,” Tony said.
With this in mind they select two to three bulls annually from both seedstock businesses and once again look closely at the females family line, believing that they are the engine room to breeding success.
All females are run in age groups and breeds and the bulls are joined on May 1.
“We would prefer to be mating in February but we hold back so our rising 2yo heifers meet the calving criteria at sale time,” Tony said.
“The positive to calving in February is we start supplementary feeding at the same time so we’re able to check them regularly.”
The smaller weaner heifers that are not selected as replacement or for sale are kept and sold directly to the processors as 18 month-old yearlings, often alongside their steer counterparts.
Last year the Mostert’s yearlings steers averaged 275 kilograms dressed weight, graded extremely well and returned the best market price possible.
They went directly to Woolworths and this season’s yearlings have already been signed to Harvey Beef.
With the genetics in the two breeds only getting better and a restricted dressed weight curfew of 280kg, Tony is considering the export market.
Although the Mostert’s lighter vealers are kept on and sold as yearling the following year, approximately 60 head are sold straight of their mothers at eight to nine months of age.
“The first draft of 35 head averaged 242kg dressed weight and returned 540c/kg when they were sold directly to Woolworths,” Tony said.
“Our bigger vealers get too heavily penalised if we hold onto them and sell them at 18-months-old.”
Karridale is known for its high rainfall area but the pastures don’t always last as long as the seasons can be short.
Tony said last year was the worst year for supplementary feeding cattle.
“It was very frustrating,” he said.
“We had a pretty good start but it got too dry and then quickly got too wet and cold.
“We made approximately 1500 hay rolls and had to feed out 25 per cent more hay then previous year.”
Due to good herd management the Mosterts got out of it OK and their cows are in good condition for now.
Along with breeding beef cattle they also sell approximately 500 meadow hay rolls annually to cattle and horse producers in the local district.
“We sell meadow hay and a little bit of oats here and there,” Tony said.
“But last year we had to put a halt on it as we got worried we weren’t going to have enough for ourselves.
The Mosterts only sold 250 rolls and put an extra $20,000 towards supplementary feeding their females.
Tony said they were a month off selling a number of their females but the season turned around thankfully and enough pasture was cut.
Tony said they decided to concentrate on selling their yearlings a little earlier in October to ease the stocking rates.
“There’s always uncertainty with lease properties, with the majority of the land in Margaret River marked for land development,” he said.
“We like to keep our options open and we are tedious in making sure we have enough hay to carry us through the season and all lease land is paid in advance.”
The Mosterts run a single breeding unit to two hectares.
“We could be more stocked but if we had another bad year we would really scramble,” Tony said.
They try their best to concentrate on utilising the spring flush in November through to December as the quality of dry feed just doesn’t last in their area.
“If you were to run three year-old steers or dry cows in this area the feed might last longer but not if you’re growing cattle and try to feed highly productive females like us,” Tony said.
With last spring looking so bleak, the Mosterts decided to plant a summer crop on their 130ha property, which was purchased in February 2017.
They have already renovated 55ha of the land and have now sown in 15ha of millet and cow peas.
“We planted it in early November, in the middle of hay season and it’s looking very promising,” Tony said.
“We are looking at turning it into silage, which should ease our feed worries.”
From year to year the Mosterts like to keep their options open and hopefully over time as they increase their workforce, more possibilities will present themselves and their enterprise will only grow.
