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RECORDING the paddock, feedlot and carcase performance of their cattle and those of their clients provides the Guest family with accurate, meaningful data to make the best breeding decisions in their stud and commercial herds.
Clunie Range Angus, based on 6500 hectares at Wallangra, NSW, and Taroom, QLD, includes about 800 stud breeders, alongside a commercial herd of about 2000 females.
The Guest family focuses on carcase bulls with plenty of length and depth, that can thrive in harsh climates with bulls performing in Queensland, northern and western NSW and the Northern Territory.
"We've got clients in the Territory and they've tracked the performance of our cattle along with other cattle by other studs' bulls and we're at the top in terms in survivability and thrivability, the main profit drivers for that area," stud principal Brett Guest said.
"We supply a number of corporate companies as well as family operations that track every bit of data and we're coming up trumps because of the genetics of the cattle, the management program and breeding principles that we have in our herd."
At the heart of Clunie Range is the commercial production focus.
The Guests have sold to a range of markets, from the Golden Angus branded beef that was exported to Korea for decade, to feedlots and butcher shops.
"We've always been big believers of retained ownership, which lets us follow a carcase through the supply chain," Brett Guest said.
The value in retaining ownership is getting that real world, meaningful feedlot and carcase performance data, so that we can be constantly analysing our sire lines. We have a huge data bank of performance and carcase data on steers and heifers we've sold, which aids breeding decisions to produce good carcase bulls with length and depth to add yield and muscle in our clients' operations.
- Clunie Range stud principal Brett Guest
"Because we sold branded beef into Korea for 10 years we know a lot more about our cattle than most studs.
"We have enjoyed a great relationship with Geoff Willett at Maydan Feedlot and when we had some of our cattle from there killed, they came to the attention of some visiting Koreans. They like our cattle because we had consistent lines of really high marbling, quality meat. We've always marbled well, and regularly get scores of four, five and six, but last year we had a score of nine through Bindaree Beef.
"We retained ownership of our commercial cattle for about 15 years, putting cattle through feedlots to then sell to a supermarket, and we're now supplying to Lennon's Butchery at Inverell. The value in retaining ownership is getting that real world, meaningful feedlot and carcase performance data, so that we can be constantly analysing our sire lines."
Clunie Range supplies six bodies to Lennon's each week, focusing on heifers and aiming for a 220 kilogram to 240kg dressed weight, with better than average muscling and good carcase yield.
The steers go through feedlots, with the Guests retaining ownership where possible, to then sell directly to a customer.
"We have a huge data bank of performance and carcase data on steers and heifers we've sold, which aids breeding decisions to produce good carcase bulls with length and depth to add yield and muscle in our clients' operations," Mr Guest said.
"Our cattle have got the versatility to go into any market, and they're known for their consistency, even in dry times.
"We're blown away by the amount of feedback we're getting from clients, to say it's an awful season, but the cattle are holding up well."