Berthong Pastoral's gain from hybrid vigour

The medal winning team consisted of five Angus/Limousin steers which had and average MSA Index of 64.536.

These steers averaged 16.6 millimetres of P8 fat and 8.2mm of fat on the rib, with an average eye muscle area of 86.8 square centimetres.

Yielding an average of 57.56 per cent, three of the steers qualified for the Riverine Premium Beef brand.

Berthong Pastoral Company is a mixed dryland farm with cropping, sheep, and cattle, which are all Angus/Limousin with genetics from Mandayen Limousin, Brinkley, SA, and Rennylea Angus, Culcairn.

Berthong's Andrew Crawford said he generally supplied grass-fed cattle directly to Teys but occasionally sent cattle to the feedlot.

"We wanted to take the opportunity to get the feedback and see how they are going for them in the feedlot operation," Mr Crawford said.

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When entering the competition, Mr Crawford expected the cattle to do well in the carcase side of the trial and the team ended up finishing in 11^th for the section.

"We didn't expect to get second in the meat quality, but we thought they would do alright," Mr Crawford said.

"It is an interesting bit of feedback overall since it is not just one steer, having the five steers gives you a bit more of a range."

Using the Limousin and Angus helped brought some hybrid vigour.

"There is a bit of complementarity between the Angus and the Limousin and carcase and performance," Mr Crawford said.

"We have a commercial operation and the focus is grass-fed beef so we are not just looking at feedlot performance.

"The comparison of growth to other breeders and carcase to other breeders is always helpful whether you are feedlotting or doing the grass-fed operation,"

Mr Crawford said there were also other aspects that he focused on, such as calving ease, which doesn't show up in a feedlot trial.

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