AT FIRST glance they look like an Angus, but their big rounded backsides soon indicates the presence of European genes.

Tom Lawson and Chris Davison call them Stabilizers, although their pedigrees are a complex mixture of Angus and the German Gelbvieh genes.

    AT A GLANCE
  • What: stabilizer bulls
  • Why: new breed
  • Where: Yea
  • Report: BRIAN CLANCY

At the Paringa Livestock auction at Yea earlier this month, the first offering of 23 Paringa Stabilizers sold to a top of $9000 and achieved an impressive $4166 average.

Chris, from Freshwater Creek near Geelong, developed the Stabilizers under contract to Tom's Paringa operation.

For more than two decades he has been a stickler for the development of composite cattle breeds.

"If the pig, poultry and sheep sectors can profit from a pooling of genes why can't the cattle do the same?" Chris asked.

Tom and Chris are both adamant Australian breeders can learn from the experiences in the US, where the Leachman Cattle Company has developed its own Stabilizer or multi-breed composite combining a blend of Red Angus, Hereford, Simmental and Gelbvieh.

The Leachman claim is the Stabilizer combines the fleshing ability, marbling and moderate size of the British breeds with the muscle, milk and growth of the European breeds.

But rather than go for multi-breed composite, Tom was happy to stick with the Angus-Gelbvieh combination.

Although the horned Gelbvieh means golden cow in German, the Americans have developed a polled black Gelbvieh.

Most of the sires of the Paringa offering were by proven high-performance US black sires.

Tom said they had stuck with the Angus because the breed in Australia was miles ahead in performance and market demand.

"It's one thing to introduce heterosis (or hybrid vigour) for improved growth and muscling but you cannot afford to risk those traits which the Angus is noted for," Tom said.

He sees the Stabilizer as a maternal sire for crossing with an Angus cow for replacement breeders.

"Those breeders, if you want to maximise the heterosis, can be crossed back to a terminal sire such as an Charolais," Tom said.

He said the strong sale interest showed Stabilizers were regarded as an alternative to the Black Simmental or the Angus-Simmental cross.

Chris said cattlemen would have to embrace composites if they wanted more efficiency in their herds.

"When diesel rises to $3 a litre and super to $1000 a tonne and you are still getting $1.80/kg for your cattle, the only ones who will survive will be the efficient cattlemen," Chris said.