Angus cattle run deep for Roe family at Beermulla-based farm.

Fourth-generation farmer David Roe farms side-by-side with his three sons, Will, Lewis and Fred at their Beermullah-based farm, Benalong.

The property is spread across 1903 hectares of land owned by the Roes and an additional 660ha on a lease property.

After virtually starting from scratch when the conditional purchased land was taken up in 1950 by David's father Bruce and his brothers, the Roe family have proven that they have evolved for the better.

The family has built an enterprise that is regeneratively driven by changing and experimenting with their farming methods to find the best fit, and it shows.

The Roe family motto is that giving back to the land ensures there will be somewhere for future generations to raise their children and continue to farm.

Benalong is home to an 860 head, self-replacing Angus female breeding herd, along with 30 adult bulls and 30 yearling bulls running in conjunction with the family's 1150 crossbred ewes joined to Poll Dorset sires.

The Angus breed was introduced at the property in the early 1960s and has continued to improve its breeding genetics to this day.

"The breed is always evolving," David said.

Lewis said they aimed to breed moderately framed, quiet, fertile cattle that have a sound structure and very good feet for the wet country.

"The Angus breed suits a lot of different markets," David said.

Artificial insemination is a key driver in improving the family's Angus genetics, along with retaining some home-bred sires.

With more and more AI being introduced to the herd, the family tends to choose quality genetics from the Australian Beef Sire directory each year.

"We are using more Australian bulls nowadays, we used to use mostly North American Angus genetics," David said.

"We've found the Australian sires perform better here and we have noticed they are more consistent."

Benalong aims to purchase two to three carefully selected bulls a year.

Most of the bulls purchased have come from Ardcairnie Angus stud, Guilderton (previously Kojonup), Koojan Hills Angus, Manypeaks, and Coonamble Angus stud, Bremer Bay.

When selecting bulls, a combination of visual appraisal and estimated breeding values are considered.

"We look for balanced EBV figures," David said.

"We want bulls with a carcase EBV that will breed both replacement females and steers to suit the lotfeeders."

A mid-range birthweight bull is also a perfect fit in the breeding program to cover both heifers and cows.

The AI synchronisation program for the heifers commences in mid-June, with 180 heifers inseminated on July 1.

The mature cows have heat detection patches applied on June 22, and are inseminated accordingly as they come into heat naturally for five days.

On day six the balance is given one shot of prostaglandin and inseminated as they come on heat from days six to 10.

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"This method allows us to confine the cow AI to 10 days and do the insemination ourselves, because we are all trained to do so," Fred said.

The bulls will then go in to cover the heifers and cows, separately, in the first week of July, forming a breeding period of six weeks with the heifers and 10 weeks for the cows.

"The cows are mostly run in age groups of around 50 cows, as we single mate, so we can identify the progeny's sire," Fred said.

"We currently have 16 mobs of cows and they will get a bull each.

"It means we have to watch the bulls closely in case of any breakdowns."

The Roes admitted they would like to join the heifers a month earlier than the cows, but it is difficult if they are joined later, because the farm can get very wet in June for marking.

"We have also had problems with grass tetany in the past," David said.

"Joining the heifers earlier makes it more difficult to maintain their condition."

The fixed time AI program for the heifers has closed their calving period and most heifers now calve within the first four weeks of the calving period.

Last year, the herd's conception rates to the AI was 50 per cent for the heifers and 70pc for the mature cows.

"We had a mob of 55 second calvers who had their first calf to AI in 2021 and 100pc of that mob conceived naturally to a bull in 2022, proving the theory behind fixed time AI and getting them to calf early as a heifer really does work," David said.

"We have been focusing on our fertility genetics too," Lewis said.

If any of the female's pregnancy test empty or don't rear a live calf they are sold as culls to Borrello Beef at Gingin.

The first week of April kicks off the calving season at Benalong, with the heifer's calves usually making the first appearance.

Post-calving health treatments take place in mid-May at calf marking where they will receive a B12 and selenium, NLIS tag, management tag and ear mark.

All the cows are freeze branded, and any missing tags are replaced, and they are treated for parasites as required.

"All AI calves and first calvers are tagged at birth with a management tag and we record their birth date and dam," Lewis said.

"As they have three forms of ID, it makes management and recording easier."

With low stress stock handling being practised regularly by the Benalong team, three weeks are set aside for weaning.

Taking place in early December, 250 calves are yard weaned at a time and trained over five days.

"They go through the yards every morning, and it sets them up for life," Lewis said.

The youngest of the Roe family, Fred, said that they are starting to look into weaning ratios.

"This is done by dividing the calfs weaning weight by the cows weaning weight," Fred said.

"We would ideally like to run a 650kg cow and wean it's calf at 350kg."

The mature cattle are also annually vaccinated at weaning with Ultravac 7in1 which includes Leptospirosis.

The family has recently ear notched every cow and bull to be tested for BVDV or Bovine Pestivirus and identify any Persistently Infected (PI) animals.

"We didn't find any PI animals in the herd and this way when we sell our heifers, we can guarantee they are Pestivirus free," David said.

All the Benalong steer calves are sold post weaning in December mostly to Kalgrains feedlots, but have also supplied Kylagh at Tammin and Ucarty at Dowerin in the past.

"We aim to get the steer calves to 320kg average liveweight by weaning," Lewis said.

"We used to retain them and grass-finish them, but we sell them earlier now and run more cows.

"The top 180 heifer progeny are then selected as replacements for future breeding," Lewis said.

"We will offer a second draft of approximately 120 Benalong Angus breeding heifers on AuctionsPlus in March," David said.

The remaining heifers are sold to lotfeeders or grass fatteners at the property for the trade sales.

With technology being the way of the future, the Roe boys are embracing it and using it to improve their farming efficiency.

They have recently purchased cameras for water monitoring and farm security.

"It is a time and money saver and so far, and in the short time we have had them, we are finding they are very helpful," David said.

Agriwebb is a farm management software program and app that is used daily at the property.

Agriwebb records livestock management and treatments, seeding and fertiliser applications, livestock sales, records inventory on hand and calculates grazing DSE rates.

The Roes also use it to complete the farm's National Vendor Declarations.

"Although the app is only as good as the information entered, once you do, it syncs to everyone else's device," Lewis said.

"It's very convenient to have all that information on your phone and available all the time."

As an example, Fred said if he wanted to check when a mob was last treated he could check through the app which was a major time saver.

"It is also really good for recording our stocking rates," he said.

"One of the paddocks last year had a DSE of nine and this year it is up to 12," Lewis said.

"That's a 33 per cent increase and it vindicates the expense in re-pasturing a paddock."

The Roes believe in pasture trials and seeing what grows best.

"We have customised our own mix of various ryegrasses and clovers," Lewis said.

"We've sown Persian clover with the long used Balansa on the heavier soils on the property and it seems to be performing well," Fred said.

David also said Will, Lewis and Fred planted Fescues four years ago.

"The Fescues give us green feed in autumn, and they stay green for longer in late spring," he said.

"They keep the soil together and have improved the carrying capacity in those paddocks, if managed correctly," Lewis said.

This year, the Roes have teamed up with Barenbrug Agriseeds at Benalong to trial a variety of new annual ryegrasses, clovers, serradella and perennials.

"We sow 350ha of new pasture each year," Lewis said.

A total of 80ha was cut this year for meadow hay.

Fred also said they grew the meadow hay in the wetter paddocks as they preferred to winter graze the dry country.

"We aim to have 1500 rolls to feed out during the autumn," he said.

"I have also trialled silage this year, to provide a higher quality feed source for the heifers."

Benalong has long practised rotational grazing, although with smaller mobs than most.

"We have put a lot of effort into making smaller paddocks throughout the farm, to accommodate the rotational grazing with single bull mobs," David said.

"At the moment, we have 132 paddocks that are about 20ha each, with each mob of cows rotating around four paddocks at an average stocking rate of 10.5 DSE.

"This way, it works out that the cattle spend about a week in each paddock in the growing season, before they are moved.

"Running the cows in smaller mobs means we can keep track of all the different sires' performances," Lewis said.

Conservation is also a key aspect of Benalong, with a total of 33 areas of native bush and replanted areas fenced and protected throughout the property.

Each year the family plants 1000-1500 native trees, comprising Marri, Eucalyptus Rudis, Melaleuca Rhaphiophylla, Melaleuca Teretifolia, Melaleuca Viminea, Acacia Saligna, Casuarina Obesa and Banksia Attenuata.

"The trees act as a wind barrier for the stock in winter and shade in the summer, and will hopefully help our carbon account in the future," David said.

All up, 265ha of fenced native bush and trees are excluded from grazing to conserve Benalong and ensure that the Roe family can continue its farming legacy.