Renewed focus on maternal traits in Angus herd rebuild at Gloucester

Mr Mackenzie established the Macka's Australian Black Angus Beef branded program in 2015, and supplies steers to the brand and heifers to regional restockers.

Macka's Pastoral was also the first producer to sign up to Angus Australia's new Angus Verified system launched in March, which targets commercial producers, and it's been a big drawcard for his calves already.

"The platform gives credibility to the breed and the commercial producer, which gives a purebred production like ours differentiation from crossbreeders or other Angus breeders that don't use registered sires," Mr Mackenzie said.

The first 84 steers from the program, sold at Gloucester saleyards in April, sold from 532 cents a kilogram to 559c/kg, for returns of $1750, $1900 and $1950 a head.

The Macka's business, which includes Mr Mackenzie's sons James and Jack and his father Bruce, is based on six properties near Gloucester and two in the Port Stephens area, running about 3500 commercial Angus breeders. They hope to build numbers again, to about 5000 breeders in the next few years.

The Mackenzies have become known for their high quality replacement females and last year sold unjoined heifers for $2130 on AuctionsPlus.

"We're in a position where replacement heifers are providing a great return, on top of the branded beef, which gives us a more balanced approach to the business," Mr Mackenzie said.

"I think we will always now be able to offer a good number of females, especially being Angus verified, because our buyers know the genetic background of the females.

"We can give the buyers an indication of where the sires come from because we group our sires together. They also know that we're purchasing only top quality bulls."

Genetics have been sourced from local studs Curracabark and Knowla, as well as Peakes, north of Barraba, Sugarloaf at Dungog, Bathurst-based breed leader Millah Murrah and Heart Angus, Tamworth.

The family had particularly good growth rates with Heart bulls in this year's weaners, and Heart stud principal Chris Paterson was among the buyers at Gloucester.

"For the 2020-drop Angus weaners we had a mob of Heart bulls at Woko Station which is just north of Gloucester and they performed extremely well for us, so we'll be going back," Mr Mackenzie said.

"The weight gain in calves was noticeably higher in their mob than some of the others."

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Growth is just one of the traits he selects for, along with carcase and maternal attributes.

"We've obviously been very focused on carcase quality since we started the beef program," Mr Mackenzie said.

"But as we've matured we've realised the strength of our herd is in the females, so we went on a buying spree to find bulls that would strengthen our herd, so in the next couple of years we'll be taking those commercial breeders to another level. With every bull, we look at the history of the maternal side, and the females have to produce a really good quality heifer or bull every year."

While the Mackenzies prepared well for drought, they still had to spend $750,000 feeding the commercial breeders, but it's decision they would make again.

"We weren't willing to risk losing the generations of hard work, so we chose to feed them. We destocked 150 of our 300 best heifers and culled bulls, but we kept all our good cows with the success of our operation is down to the female side."

Having the stronger focus on maternal traits has also paid off with COVID-19 and its impacts on the branded beef program.

"The branded beef job has been tough, with drought, fires, COVID-19 and the China suspension. We've got 12 international markets, and we're taking it slow and steady, but our goal for 2021 is to move about 500 head a month."

Data is also playing a bigger role on farm, with the family trialling a daily weight gain program with the Optiweigh system, and taking DNA samples of cattle to be recorded with the Angus Verified RFID tags.

"We've also introduced QR labels (through a program with Aglive and Meat and Livestock Australia), which will link buyers to the NLIS details, the Angus Australia website, and it'll tell the story of that animal.

"Data is definitely more of a focus for us, because we're really passionate about showcasing Australia beef on the world stage, and traceability is a big part of that."

ANGUS producers wanting to clearly market their cattle as Angus-sired are taking advantage of Angus Australia's Angus Verfied program.

Commercial supply chain manager Liz Pearson said the program had been well-received across the supply chain since it was launched three months ago.

"There are currently a few thousand animals verified in the program and as people look to start marketing their feeders closer to the end of the year, we expect that number to rise significantly," Ms Pearson said.

"We have been contacted by numerous Angus producers, agents and lot feeders looking to better understand how the program works and value it can add to their operations.

"'We have also encountered calls from non-Angus producers who are considering moving from other breeds into a commercial purebred Angus breeding program to have the ability to grasp the benefits of Angus and the extra endorsement of Angus Verified."

All members of the Angus Verified program are listed on the Angus Verified Producer List, which is available only to collaborating Angus Australia partners who are purchasers of Angus cattle, leveraging a competitive advantage in securing premiums for members, Ms Pearson said.

"Angus Verified ensures that black-hided Angus imposters are not sold as Angus, leading to greater integrity, confidence, and trust throughout the supply chain, particularly between the producer and the buyer.

"Angus Verified cattle are also eligible for exclusive Angus Verified tags which have already proved their value in a public auction selling platform, clearly identifying Angus Verified cattle to possible buyers and sending a clear message to the market that these cattle are purebred Angus and the buyer knows they are going to get what they pay for."

All Angus Verified cattle's RFID are recorded in the Angus Australia database, which can be checked at any time, and the program will also be used on AuctionsPlus and StockLive online selling platforms with RFIDs of listed cattle automatically checked with the Angus Australia database.

"As long as all animals in the lot are Angus Verified, they will carry the Angus Verified logo within the online sale catalogue, further differentiating producers Angus Verified cattle from the pack."

Ms Pearson said Angus Australia was confident that producers with commercial purebred Angus breeding programs will embrace Angus Verified

An exciting step for the program is potential opportunities with Angus Verified-only weaner sales, with agents in NSW and Western Australia keen to run specialised sales.

"For too long black hided cattle that are not Angus or only carry a small percentage of Angus have been passed off in the marketplace as purebred Angus or traded on the Angus name," Ms Pearson said.

"This distorts not only the market price and any Angus premiums, but also puts further pressure on the supply chain paying for one thing and getting another."