The winning ways of Cloverside Murray Greys

Cloverside Murray Greys has achieved a lot in its short six years of existence, especially considering most cattle studs are intergenerational.

Kaitlyn Wilton and Shaun Lovell have cattle spread across multiple locations around southern Tasmania, including at Government House.

One of those locations is just outside of Westerway, right on the borderline of the Derwent Valley and Central Highland municipalities.

Kaitlyn and Shaun’s four-year-old daughter, Darci, especially likes this location, mainly because there is a swing attached to a tree in the cow paddock she can use.

When frolicking in the paddock, Darci will swap between playing on the swing – with her parents on either side pushing her – or patting the Murray Grey cows.

While Shaun grew up on a farm at Bothwell with parents who used to run a Murray Grey stud, Kaitlyn did not come from an agricultural background.

“Before I went to the school farm at Bridgewater High School, I didn’t really have an idea of what I wanted to do,” she said.

“I went through all my high school years showing cattle, and then through college, I had the opportunity to show for different studs around southern Tasmania.”

After Shaun and Kaitlyn got together, the couple wanted to buy some land and start their own stud.

“I ended up getting the opportunity to show for Rob and Christne Wilson from Wynyard at Wiltshire Murray Greys,” Kaitlyn said.

“When they were wrapping up, we basically had the pick of their herd and were able to buy some quality females from that stud.”

Shaun said they intended to buy two Murray Greys from Wiltshire but ended up purchasing five.

“I already had that family history with the breed, and then being able to have the opportunity to go into someone’s herd and pick their best was a blessing.

“It’s not like going into a sale where you’re buying a stud's lesser animals.”

Several of the cows from the Cloverside Murray Grey stud are currently frolicking on the lawns of Government House.

Kaitlyn’s former ag teacher, Jackie Brown, and Shaun’s uncle, Stuart Cordwell, let the pair know of the opportunity there.

“They said the Governor wants quiet cows to keep the lawn at Government House in check,” Shaun said.

“We jumped at the opportunity because it's not just great marketing for us, but the entire Murray Grey breed.”

The pair met with the Governor before she agreed to let their cows take residence at Government House.

“The heifers that go there are generally our old show team, so they’re nice and quiet,” Shaun said.

“The Governor really enjoys them, so she takes the grandkids out there and gives them oak leaves to feed on.”

Shaun’s day job is as a supervisor at Frontline Electrical, while Kaitlyn is planning to return to work next year when Darci starts school.

“The cows sort of look after themselves; it’s just a matter of keeping all the different paddocks tidy,” Shaun said.

“But the big thing is the travel between the places, along with fencing and odd jobs around the place.”

All the extra travel and hard work the couple are doing is starting to pay off following their stud’s success at Tasmania’s agricultural shows this year.

After winning four ribbons at the Burnie Show to kick off the competition season, Cloverside Murray Greys won the Supreme Exhibit with its junior heifer Zephur V3.

“It’s a big achievement for a junior to get up over a senior cow early in the show and then go up against the champion male,” Kaitlyn said.

At the Scottsdale Show, the stud took home four ribbons before taking out the supreme exhibit at Deloraine – this time with its bull Vinnie V2.

The couple said it was their best show season since starting Cloverside in 2019.

“Each year, the quality of our calves is improving more and more,” Kaitlyn said.

“We’ve had multiple comments from people saying how well our cattle are going and how much better they are getting each year.”

Shaun said the cows' genetics were behind their success at the shows, with the stud utilising advances in AI to enhance the quality of its cattle.

“Since we started, we’ve always tried to target pairs and groups of three to show a consistent line of cattle, rather than just having one outstanding animal.

“Also, we are learning how to show cattle better.

“We’ve already got good cattle to start with, but we are getting better at prepping them for the shows.”