64 BUSINESS
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 7 2024 THEWEEKLYTIMES.COM.AU
BULL BUYING GUIDE
AUTUMN
Improved market raises hopes at
sales in early January, includ- ing drafts with Mandayen gen- etics. “It’s good to see our gen- etics are doing a great job for our clients and those clients are getting rewarded for the hard work they are putting in,” Damian said. “A lot of repeat clients (at the calf sales) are coming back and buying their cattle each year so they must be perform- ing.” Established 29 years ago, Mandayen had one of the big- gest Limousin breeding herds in Australia and continues to be one of the most successful with bull prices consistently topping sales around the coun- try. Ten years ago, the Gom- mers diversified their opera- tion and began breeding Angus cattle to help meet cli- ent and industry demand and Angus now make up a bigger portion of the enterprise. There are 140 Limousin breeding cows and 450 pure- bred Angus cows. The Angus herd is predomi- nantly based on Millah Mur- rah bloodlines and a portion of Coolana Angus. “We focused on a stud we wanted to build on and Millah Murrah has been a leader at
the forefront of the industry so it gave us a great female foun- dation,” Damian said. The majority of Mandayen clients are local to South Aus- tralia but bulls are sold to Vic- toria, NSW and Queensland. “We try to breed a good, functional well-structured Angus with plenty of muscle but still having that softness and maternal side too with good milk and fertility,” Dami- an said. “Our clients supply dom- estic markets, backgrounders as well as feedlots and that is the good thing about Angus, they are versatile and can be used in such a wide variety of markets. “The Limousins are a little different and are more suited to the vealer market or super- market trade – that is where a lot of clients market their cat- tle and most are straight off their mum as a milk calf.” The Mandayen Limousin genetics were originally found- ed on Wulfs Limousins in the United States and with the purchase of the Ramornie Limousin herd at Holbrook, NSW, to help increase num- bers. “They have been good, hon- est cattle and the right type. We try to outsource genetics
FIONA SHEEAN
T he depressed state of the cattle market late last year had the Gommers family from Mandayen Lim- ousin and Angus stud at Keith, South Australia, concerned about the upcoming bull sell- ing season but their hopes have lifted in the past few weeks. “We didn’t know what to expect two to three months ago but heading into this year with the way the market changed so rapidly, it is great to see the rise in prices,” stud principal Damian Gommers said. “There is a lot more confi- dence in the last six to eight weeks and we hope to see more positivity going into the bull sales.” At Mandayen’s annual sale last year, 30 Limousin bulls reached a top of $31,000 twice and averaged $12,800, and 75 Angus bulls topped at $28,000 and averaged $13,700. Damian, who farms with wife Mandy and their three children, isn’t expecting to see such highs this autumn but re- mains hopeful, buoyed by the strong prices paid for Europe- an and European-cross cattle at the Western District calf
each year but it is getting more difficult to find them due to a decrease in breeding herds,” Damian said. When selecting cattle, Damian said structure and temperament came first, fol- lowed by phenotype, muscle and softness. The Gommers
were also mindful of birth weight while keeping an above average growth rate, and fo- cused on scrotal and carcass Estimated Breeding Values, particularly eye muscle area. The breeding herds are both AI’d, followed by mop up bulls, and are run in separate mobs
with Limousins calving in May-June and Angus in spring. An ET program is also run with 150 recipient cows. Depending on seasonal conditions, weaning is conduc- ted in December-January for the Limousin calves, and Angus in March. The Gom-
MORE WEIGHT, MORE MUSCLE
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