JOINING cows twice a year has a few extra benefits for the Hurley family.
It not only gives cows and heifers a second chance to get in calf before they are culled but also gives the Hurleys scope to pay more money for bulls.
"If I buy a bull worth $12,000 and I use him twice a year and he produces 80 calves for that year it is actually not that expensive," David Hurley said.
"But if you only had one joining and half that number of calves it would not be as cost effective."
David farms at Dargo in the Gippsland high country in Victoria and works closely with daughters Dianna and Rosemary and son Kevin who all run herds of their own but share bulls with their father.
David runs about 400 Angus cows and 100 heifers, producing weaners for the annual mountain calf sales at Omeo in March and the blue ribbon opening spring store sale at Bairnsdale in August.
The calves are yard-weaned and sold at 10 months. The Hurleys regularly hit prices near the top of the market and attract repeat buyers for their stock.
To produce good-quality weaner steers the Hurleys select bulls with good 600-day weight Breedplan figures but are careful to ensure birth weights are not too high.
They have bought bulls in the past from a range of studs but have always gone back to Banquet Angus at Mortlake, which has consistently met their needs for the past 10 years.
The Hurleys buy from two to four bulls each year and have paid up to $16,000 at Banquet in the past. They usually average between $8000 and $10,000.
When selecting bulls they use Breedplan figures only as a guide and put more emphasis on physical composition, preferring bulls with a wider, masculine head, medium frame size, good feet and hair.
"I like the New Zealand bloodlines because they are not as big as some of the American ones and seem to have a better constitution," David said.
"They are not as leggy, have more muscle, a medium frame and more hair, which is good here in winter."
They have also found the Banquet bulls to be quiet and easy to handle.
And while he chooses bulls that will produce top weaner steers, one of David's main concerns when buying a bull is herd improvement and what that bull will do for his heifers over the next 10 to 15 years.
"To get good heifers, in my opinion, is hard," David said.
"You have to put a lot of work into them to get the frames right ... I like my heifers to have a nice square butt shape and a wide pelvic area so they have no calving problems."
The Hurleys have always yard-weaned calves and have found if the calves are carefully managed they don't slip in condition.
They generally yard-wean for a week on hay, silage, pellets and a good water supply before slowly introducing them to a crop.
