Good pastures prove key to profitability for the Loane's

Beautiful red cattle at Dunroan Shorthorns, Latrobe, provided the perfect backdrop and a handy example of livestock breeding success for the Profitability from Pastures Field Day held last Friday.

With a focus on achieving profitability in Tasmanian pasture systems, from conception to carcase, the field day was facilitated by Tasmanian Shorthorns with participants coming from as far as King Island to soak up the knowledge from industry experts.

Property owners Phillip and Richele Loane and their 21-year-old daughter and livestock manager Emily opened up their saleyard facilities for the day.

The Loanes have 490ha that not only supports a herd of around 350 shorthorns, including 180 breeding cows, but also grows poppies and potatoes, cauliflowers and peas for Simplot.

Phillip can trace the breeding of shorthorns on his family farm back to the 1890s and it was his grandfather who first registered the stud in1953.

“My family has been breeding and showing shorthorns for more than a century, but even with all of that experience a day like this reminds me of how we can all learn and grow and that there are some things we all tend to forget over time,” he said.

Shorthorn Beef breed development and project manager Emily Perkins, based at Wagga, flew in for the event to bring the state’s beef cattle breeders up to speed on the national commercial female improvement program, a non-breed discriminative program to allow commercial producers to generate a genetic evaluation system on their females and their herds through the use of  genomics in combination with international genetic solutions out of Colorado in the US.

“Producers can test their female population within a herd and determine what the genetic potential of those animals are, based on their DNA,” she said.

“We think that commercial breeders are looking for a genetic solution that is cost productive but allows them to make better decisions about their breeding herd.

“Cross breeding with a shorthorn animal in lots of production systems opens up market opportunities for cattle based on the carcase attributes and fertility of the shorthorn breed."

Ms Perkins said no other breed in the beef industry matches shorthorns for their mothering ability and combined with their carcase attributes, growth for age and ability to turn off a highly valuable carcase animal at an earlier age, they complement other breeds in the beef industry.

“They offer a really good alternative for a cross-breeding program. In the northern part of Australia they’re really growing in popularity where they’re utilised to lift pregnancy and weaning rates in herds and whether they’re mixed with angus or brahmans their adaptability to the environment makes them very versatile.

“I take my hat off to the breeders down here, there’s really good genetics that come out of here that come back to the mainland into production systems and Tasmanian shorthorn breeders are really enthusiastic about their product and what they're trying to achieve.

“They’re commercially focused which I think is the key to any breed society and what they're actually looking for.”

Also presenting on the day were Craig Dwyer of Apiam on fixed time AI and condensing calving, Kym Sutherland of Beachport Liquid Mineral on utilising minerals to improve conception rates and weaning performance, David Findlay of Zoetis on technology and tools to assist with measuring performance, Will Edmunds of Elders on feed options for dryland and irrigation systems and Mathew Bosworth of JBS on grass finishing programs require.