He might come from the land of the All Blacks, but Sylvania station co-principal Weldon Percy's cattle world has always been decidedly red.
Growing up in New Zealand, his parents bred stud and commercial Santa Gertrudis at Hawkes Bay in the north island, while his uncle was a leading Angus breeder.
Mr Percy came to Australia as a ringer, working for the likes of Australian Agricultural Company in Queensland and Northern Territory and later attained his fixed wing and helicopter licences to add aerial mustering and charter piloting to the CV.
Consequently, he's seen and worked with many different cattle breeds from land and air, but says bos Indicus - bos Taurus cross and in particular Santa Gertrudis, are what fits best with Sylvania's Pilbara environment and their future beef market vision.
Proponents in that vision are his business partner Martin Blakeman, who has a background in corporate agriculture and mining and with whom he founded Fortescue Cattle Company (FCC) and his WA-born life partner Sarah Johnson.
Together they run the 194,250 hectare station at the head of the Fortescue River, 60 kilometres south east of Newman, which FCC started leasing in 2020.
Mr Percy and Mr Blakeman also founded Fortescue Helicopters 10 years ago with the purchase of an existing business which they rebranded and have expanded to a fleet of 15 Robinson helicopters comprising eight R22s, four R44s and three R66s and three Bel Longrangers.
It employs 25 flying and administration staff and has more than 20 full and part-time pilots on its books, kept busy with aerial mustering, mining exploration, government department and private company jobs.
The Sylvania herd came with an infusion of Santa Gertrudis, Brahman and Droughtmaster genetics and it is on this base that FCC is building as it drives to increase the Santa Gertrudis content.
To this end bulls have been sourced privately from WA studs, Biara, Cundarra and Wendalla and at the annual Biara on-property bull sale at Northampton each April.
Mr Percy said they looked for sires with good carcase characteristics, easy handling temperament, doability and walkability.
While they've been in a herd building phase for the past couple of years, numbers are now at 4000 to 4500 head of cattle which Mr Percy believes is about optimum for sensible protection of their land, while maximising the productivity and profitability of the beef herd.
It's a numbers game, but they are keen to pursue a quality over quantity model seeking to push the value of each animal.
"We are and will continue to be strong supporters of live export and given the world's ongoing demand for protein and affordable protein, I believe it has a long-term sustainable future," Mr Percy said.
"But I think for us, because of our location, our type of country and our type of cattle, financially long-term the domestic market will provide greater premiums.
"If we can run fewer cattle but set a quality standard whereby we get a premium for these animals, it's better for our country, ensures a healthy, sustainable system and is more labour and cost efficient.
"Ideally we hope to target high end consumers and specialist retail outlets where people will pay extra for the right product, unlike live export which is more a commodity market and buyers do not always have the financial resources to pay more regardless of quality," Mr Percy said.
Apart from live export, Sylvania is predominantly turning off steers and surplus heifers to southern feedlotters at about 360 to 400 kilograms liveweight for steers and it's that dual marketing flexibility that their breed type allows them.
"You need some bos Indicus content up here to handle the conditions but Santas, with their higher bos Taurus content, readily fit the domestic trade market as well," Mr Percy said.
"They are pretty sharp on delivering weight for age and also give good weight gain and bone.
"They convert feed well, marble well and have the right temperament.
"And the breed seems to handle travelling south into southern feedlots and colder conditions better.
"Plus, we've found Santas grade better than higher bos Indicus content crosses in regards to hump height in relation to MSA scoring."
Mr Percy said while Sylvania had good grazing country, feedlotting up there, while doable, would be difficult in their circumstances.
The station averages 250 to 260mm annual rainfall which falls mostly in the summer months of February and March.
Stock water is supplemented with solar pumps on what are mostly shallow bores at just nine metres and the water is mostly good quality, although some have a bit of salt, "not uncommon in the Pilbara".
Mineral supplements are not utilised, with cattle being pretty self sufficient in this regard.
"Being at the headwater of several water systems including the Fortescue River and Savoury Creek provides a mix of soil types and range of plant life and allows animals to forage well and manage their own nutrient needs," Mr Percy said.
"We've worked with industry bodies and consultants and done extensive blood and faecal tests as well as soil tests to look for any deficiencies, but did not find any.
"I guess it's a good trade-off because we miss out on a bit of floodplain country through being at the head of the rivers."
A routine procedure for many northern stations, they inoculate for botulism across the herd and also for vibriosis in bulls and weaner heifers.
What's not so routine, they recently completed DNA testing of their herd and will use this data to analyse performance and shape future decisions.
About 20 per cent of heifer weaners are retained annually and Mr Percy sees a day when they may sell drafts of breeder females to others in their region or to Eastern States producers.
Regardless of where they sell their cattle though, at the moment, he like many others is hoping beef prices will kick again.
"It does put a fair bit of pressure on pastoral enterprises and obviously any beef operation when the price drops by more than half like we are seeing at the moment," Mr Percy said.
"But cattle breeding and production is a long term thing and we will be sticking with what we know and what works for us.
"We just have to remain thorough and focused and do what we do well."
