For third generation beef producer Malcolm Beresford, having an easy doing, fertile and productive cow herd is the key to profitability on his 2,500 hectare property “Bonyvilla”, east of Biggenden.
“We introduced Limousins into the herd 23 years ago,” Malcolm recalls. “Back then the cows were generally a Simbrah base, but had come from Brafords and Herefords before that.”
“As soon as the Limousin cross calves hit the ground we knew they were too good to be just a terminal calf, so we kept some replacement heifers.”
The Beresford’s now run a commercial herd of 300 cows, with all cows having a Limousin influence ranging from 25% to 75% content. Red Braham bulls are used over the high content Limousin cows and Limousin bulls over the more Braham types.
“Plenty of people will tell you that Limousins are only a terminal sire, but of all the breeds we’ve been involved with over the years, Limousins are outstanding maternal cattle and well
suited to our sort of country,” Malcolm said.
“They have calves that hit the ground small which means calving problems are all but non-existent and then they explode with growth thanks to the milkability of the Limousin cow.”
The Limousin cows have also proved themselves to be well adapted to the low phosphorus, coastal type country that the Beresford’s operate in.
“The Limousin cows handle the conditions as good, if not better than any other breed we’ve used,” Malcolm said. “They have without a doubt improved the fertility of our herd whilst at the same time improving our overall profitability by adding muscle and growth to our cattle.”
All steers and surplus heifers are finished in the on-farm feedlot, which they generally enter at around 300kg. Steers and heifers are both fed for the domestic trade market with a target carcase weight of between 250 and 300kg.
