STAN Reed was both legendary Victorian high country cattleman and gentleman.
Although he left school at 13, Stan was a shire councillor for 44 years, lobbied to have power connected to his isolated district and pushed for a secondary school to be built for the local kids.
A natural stockman, Stan was given the pick of his father's Hereford herd at age 10.
His father died when Stan was 19 and he got on with the job of establishing the Melrose Hereford stud in 1948.
When Stan died two years ago, aged 88, he had accumulated three beef farms at Orbost and two at Bonang, in East Gippsland.
His only child, Meryl Reed, a trained nurse, was determined to keep Stan's stud and passion for Hereford cattle alive.
Meryl and her partner, Jeff Beavis, a retired stud stock auctioneer and real estate agent, sold the Gippsland farms and retained 160 of the best breeding females.
They searched for a new base for the stud and settled on Holbrook, in southern NSW.
The 292ha property, Moorak, was ideal, with irrigation infrastructure, Billabong Creek frontage and a secure rainfall.
The couple moved to Moorak in 2007 with 160 spring-calving cows and no bulls.
"We had to slip into gear quickly, buying four bulls from Dunoon Herefords to get us started for the spring joining," Jeff said.
Next autumn, the herd was joined by outstanding sire Mawarra Terminator, a Hereford National junior champion, which they bought for $30,000.
"He was an outcross bloodline for us and we liked his well-set and hooded eyes, colour, balanced conformation and estimated breeding values to suit our program," Jeff said.
Weighing 1200kg, the August-2006 drop bull is sired by Mawarra Nostalgic and out of Mawarra Miss Titania.
"We want our bulls to be a complete package," Meryl said.
"If their progeny have bad feet they can't walk, or their daughters can't milk, then the calves are poor."
Jeff and Meryl quickly added 17 Mundook stud autumn-calving females and 97 Culbara-blood, pregnancy-tested-in-calf heifers to build herd numbers.
With a vision to move to polled cattle, the couple invested in the $10,000 Poll Hereford bull, Kanimbla Kidman, at the Dubbo Poll Hereford National.
The herd then received a genetic boost with 13 ex-donor stud cows from Mundook and Injemira Herefords in 2008.
As the Melrose stud and commercial herd was gaining pace, the district was falling into severe drought.
Last year, Jeff and Meryl made the decision to add a second property, the 283ha Yarranalla, once home to the Lyonbank Hereford stud.
This has enabled them to expand their commercial herd and diversify into trading cattle.
Autumn calvers are run at Moorak and spring calvers on Yarranalla.
Today, both farms run 50 stud and 225 commercial autumn and spring-calving females, with a goal to increase numbers to 400.
"We have also bought a Sprys Shorthorn bull to produce Shorthorn-Hereford steers to give us more marketing opportunities," Jeff said.
"Feedback is telling us the Shorthorn-infused cattle have increased marbling and eye-muscle area.
"We chose Sprys bulls for their superior carcass traits. Hopefully, this will create more competition from steer fatteners.
"We fatten 150-200 Hereford steers, weighing 270-300kg at entry, a year, (up) to heavy trade weights of 580-650kg.
"There are also 120 Shorthorn heifer weaners, weighing 260-300kg, being fattened to domestic supermarket weights."
Twenty-five Shorthorn cows and calves will be split and sold, while 20 Shorthorn yearling heifers will be fattened over winter for a domestic kill.
Currently, Hereford calves are turned off as weaners but in future may be grown to feeder entry weights, or heavy trade weights and sold direct.
Jeff and Meryl had buyers scrambling for their weaners at the Wodonga New Year calf sales.
Their Mawarra-blood steers, weighing 264kg, topped at 207c/kg, while heifers, weighing 231kg, sold to 188c/kg.
The diverse beef enterprise has been matched with high-performance pastures.
Jeff and Meryl added a second centre-pivot irrigator to make use of their 400-megalitre bore licence.
Forty hectares of endeavour triticale was grazed once, harvested for a yield of 2.3 tonnes/ha, and then the stubbles grazed.
"We have sown 70ha of atomic winter-active ryegrass in three paddocks, with two of those irrigated under the pivot," Jeff said.
"The pasture was grazed within six weeks and was stocked heavily at 2 1/2 steers/ha, with daily weight gains of 2.5kg."
After grazing, the ryegrass was harvested as 2500 tonnes of fine, chopped silage and stored in pits as drought reserve.
This was supplemented by 1000 bales of lucerne, fescue, rye and clover hay, 1000 bales of grass hay and 850 bales of oaten silage in pits.
Jeff and Meryl are strict when selecting genetics, and classing their female herd and young sale bulls.
"We are breeding for a moderate-framed, good-milking female with above-average 400-day weight EBVs," Meryl said.
"Her progeny must have the flexibility to meet the weaner market or to be grass finished to heavier weights. The female needs to be feed-efficient, to fit with these unpredictable seasons."
The couple has selected four weaner and one yearling bull for sale this year.
"We use visual appraisal, looking for tight sheaths, balanced conformation, coat colour, muscle, softness, hooded eyes, good feet and shoulder placement," Jeff said.
Once a bull passes the appraisal, it will then be tested for serving capacity and semen quality.
"We are concentrating on building a reputation with our commercial cattle first, as there are a lot of studs out there," Meryl said.
