Farm Weekly

Boosting production, profits with Belmont Reds

Seifert Belmont Reds stud principal Ian Stark and Elders agent Robert Murray with the 2020 sale bulls, available in the July 30 sale, on property and via AuctionsPlus.
Seifert Belmont Reds stud principal Ian Stark and Elders agent Robert Murray with the 2020 sale bulls, available in the July 30 sale, on property and via AuctionsPlus.

This is advertiser content for Seifert Belmont Reds.

RUNNING a stud operation under strict commercial conditions allows Seifert Belmont Reds to produce genetically superior tropically adapted cattle that can perform in all environments.

The Queensland stud is the largest breeder of registered Belmont Reds in Australia, producing about 150 sale bulls annually, for clients in Queensland, the Northern Territory and NSW, and the stud is JBAS7 Western Australia-eligible.

Ian Stark and wife Jeanne Seifert run about 1200 stud breeders and 500 commercial crossbred breeders across more than 12,500 hectares, focusing on high performing cattle with phenotype that matches genotype.

Pushing the boundaries of performance places pressure on all genetic traits of economic importance especially fertility, tick and parasite resistance, meat quality and yield, temperament and polledness.

"Our survival of the fittest breeding philosophy means we produce genuinely unpampered and low-input-cost, commercially relevant tropically adapted genetics for Northern Australian conditions," Ms Seifert said.

Environmentally adapted hardy, fertile, cows produce profit-generating bulls.

Using Seifert Belmont Red genetics can increase profitability, with the moderate framed fertile breeders able to get in calf early, every year, and early puberty bulls can be used from at 13.5 months of age, at a rate of two per cent.

"Younger bulls give you more bang for your buck and they have a longer working life, and short sheaths mean breakdowns are rare," Mr Stark said.

"They are never treated for tick or fly (except to clear to clean country) to maintain the highest natural resistance."

Lot 12, SEI190125.
Lot 12, SEI190125.

Exceptional heat tolerance, a sleek red coat, moderate frame, and persistent foraging and walking ability, makes them extremely drought tolerant and ideal for northern Australia, including traditional Brahman areas.

"Naturally calm, polite cattle that don't need special handling, are safer and easier to work in the paddock or the yards, gain weight more readily, and produce fewer dark cutters," Mr Stark said.

"MSA carcases deliver higher premiums, and polled cattle save time, weight-loss and life-loss, from dehorning.

"Each of these traits is economically valuable, and fortunately you do not have to pay extra for them when they are already fixed in the genes. In our bulls all these traits are in one convenient, heritable, genetic package and will be passed onto their progeny."

Lot 3, SEI190541.
Lot 3, SEI190541.

These versatile and heritable traits make Seifert Belmont Reds an ideal choice for commercial producers seeking to breed maximum hybrid vigour and low maintenance, profitable first-cross steers and heifers.

On offer in the stud's July 30 sale are 62 polled bulls and select pregnancy-tested-in-calf heifers.

More than 82pc of the bulls are in the top 40pc for profitability on the Export Steer Index, and more than 60pc of them are in the top 20pc for profitability on the Domestic Steer Index.

"This is where phenotype meets genotype, with the lead of the bulls over 800kg by sale day and representing the high growth genetics sought by many breeders," Ms Seifert said.

"At the same time there is great selection of low and average birthweight bulls ideal for heifer joining, and in a class of their own are the curve benders that are both low birth weight combined with high growth.

"There is muscling, marbling and supreme fertility traits and every bull is polled, including 11 homozygous (PP) polls."

Lot 20, SEI190243.
Lot 20, SEI190243.

The sale will be held on-property and online via AuctionsPlus.

All bulls are Breedplan recorded, DNA sire verified, DNA poll/horn verified, semen tested for morphology and motility, live carcase scanned, fully vaccinated with 5in1, against tick fever, vibriosis and BEF, and are PI negative and JBAS7 WA-eligible.

Buying bulls early in the season, is a good idea as it gives bulls time to adjust to their new conditions especially since semen quality is sensitive to sudden changes in a bulls environment like transport, cold or hot weather, or changes in feed, Mr Stark said.

"This is why it is good practice to buy bulls well ahead of when you are going to use them.

"Producers should be buying the best bulls they can afford, because when you buy a bull in 2020, his first calves will be born in 2021, and his first daughters will calve in 2023 or 2024, and his last calves will be born in 2026 or later and his genetics will still be in your herd into the 2040s, so choosing the right genetics to increase productivity and profitability is not a short-term decision."

For more information on the sale, contact agent Robert Murray, Elders Rockhampton, on 0419 644 813, Ian on 0439 632 113, or Jeanne on 0427 632 113.

Lot 21, SEI190811.
Lot 21, SEI190811.

This is advertiser content for Seifert Belmont Reds.