BUSINESS 67
THEWEEKLYTIMES.COM.AU WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 7 2024
BULL BUYING GUIDE
AUTUMN
family affair at Hooppell’s stud Tony Hooppell with some of his Limousin
cows and bull calves on his Rochester property. He runs about 50 stud Limousin females
alongside a smaller herd of Simmental cattle.
making it difficult to have cat- tle walking in and out to yards for AI programs. The sires selected were a pure apricot French Limousin bull from the Talana stud in Queensland, and an Austra- lian pure sire from the Chateau stud near Wangaratta. “These bulls have really worked for us and we have some exceptional cattle with muscle and softness coming through,” Tony said. The Hooppells sell bulls pri- vately in the paddock, and like to grow them out to 18 months to two years. “We like to get a good 20 months on them and we have an autumn and spring calving so we always have bulls com- ing in,” he said.
has become a family affair. They built the herd using arti- ficial insemination and em- bryo transfer technology and it was highly influenced by 100 per cent pure French Limousin genetics. Tony said it was butt shape and muscle power that buyers still had on the top of their list when inspecting Limousin bulls, and the French genetics gave their cattle that appeal. “People are still drawn to that big butt and really defined muscle pattern in the bulls and the traditional French genetics really gives you those heavily muscled calves, although sometimes they don’t carry as much fat cover,” he said. The challenge for the Hooppells has been to retain the muscle while adding soft- ness and fleshing ability, as well as focusing on tempera- ment, calving ease and using homozygous genetics to nat- urally produce polled cattle. Tony said the European
cattle market had changed and while once it was centred on milk vealers sold straight off dairy-cross cows at a young age, more Euro sired calves were now being weaned and grown out and fed for the heavy domestic market. “You now have more Euro- pean calves being grown out on grass or grain so you can’t have animals that get all leggy and don’t fatten,” he said. He said the Limousin breed as a whole had made big im- provements in the past decade in terms of adding finishing ability and producing a quieter animal that was easier to calve down and handle. “There has been a lot of good work done by all Limous- in studs in getting their stock right and suitable for a range of markets,” he said, adding it was a reason why Limousin, Sim- mental and Charolais sired calves were strongly supported at this year’s big weaner sales. The Hooppells have now
started to blend some Austra- lian Limousin genetics into their herd, and in the past two
years have purchased two stud sires, due in part to all the flooding in the Rochester area
was the price you could get for European heifers compared to the traditional British breeds (which can get discounted on shape and fat issues).” When contemplating a stud enterprise the Hooppells also looked at the regional supply of European bulls, and what their own passion was. “The Limousin was always a favourite and there wasn’t many studs near us, and at the end of the day I’ve always said have the breed of cattle you want to go and look at every day,” Tony said. The stud was founded in the names of Xavier and Ethan, partly as a way to future proof the 404ha farm by adding a high value breeding element to the mix of cropping, lambs and finishing steers. Today the property’s beef enterprise revolves totally around the stud cattle, and Tony admits he has become quite passionate about gen- etics, and Carlshrue Limousins
Le Martres Poll Limousin Stud
40 Apricot, Black & Blue Bulls with traditional Limousin body shape, marbling and 'BIG Butt's"! NEG carcase assessed. Photos and videos available. In addition, selected heifers & steers will be for sale.
Annual Bull Sale
Friday 1st March, 2024 @ 1pm
Inspections from 11am On property auction supported by AuctionsPlus and phone bidding
Le Martres Governor (G70)
Leon Martin: 0428 577 138
James Brown: 0419 333 295
'Rosemont Farm', 136 Rosemont Road, Tabletop via Albury, NSW W: lemartreslimousins.com | E: leonmartin@lemartreslimousins.com
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