THE first thing to burn on Frank and Shirley Phillips' farm at Castella, near Kinglake, on Black Saturday was the fodder.

"We thought we had fared really well even though 60 round bales of silage had been burnt, but on the Monday night the fire came up from Chum Creek and from that time on for the next two weeks it burnt in the farm and in the forest all around us," Shirley said.

The couple run a stud, Elite Blonde d'Aquitaine, with 25 to 30 prized breeders alongside a quarry on about 100ha between Kinglake and Healesville.

From the highest part of their farm, small unburnt pockets of bush below are a constant reminder of the Black Saturday bushfires that terrorised their business, property and livestock.

"Every day we would return to the property in the hope that it (the fire) had finally got sick of us and gone but this was not to be," Shirley said.

Most of the grass on the property burnt and so the couple returned daily to feed and tend to their 70 Blonde d'Aquitaine cattle.

"We couldn't just throw the gates open - the front fence was burnt and so we had to keep a close eye on them," she said.

They continued this routine until the arrival of spring and new pasture growth.

Now, the couple is reflective about their experience.

They say the character of the Blonde breed made dealing with the fires and the challenges of the past year that little bit more manageable.

"We never once found them galloping around the paddock. They were very casual about the ash, flames and falling burnt debris and generally relaxed," Shirley said.

"Our cattle have not shown any setbacks from their experience.

"The cows have dropped their calves without any assistance and the calves are going well.

"The heat of last summer, the stress of the fires and the following harsh winter demonstrates the hardiness and temperament of the breed."

Blonde cattle were introduced to Australia in 1976 and have increasingly been recognised for good temperament, heavy muscling and small fine-boned calves with rapid growth.

Most of the stud's clients are commercial producers seeking terminal sires to produce B-muscle vealer calves from an British-blood base.

Elite Blonde calves were regularly achieving weaning weights of 400-500kg at just eight months of age, Frank said.

"The best weight we've has was 874kg for an eight-month-old Blonde-cross calf, sold at Pakenham," he said.

The pair acknowledge it can be hard to change perceptions, but maintain Blonde bulls have much to offer commercial beef producers.

"Blonde bulls improve the calibre of the cattle you're growing," Frank said.

"They are proven top feed converters.

"To be profitable today, you've got to make the most of every advantage."

Elite Blonde d'Aquitaine will offer two-year old stud bulls and 18 to 28 month-old commercial bulls as well as young heifers privately this autumn.