Black To The Future

Much like in the United States black cattle reign supreme in the Australian marketplace. For the past two days we've had the opportunity to speak with some seedstock producers in Australia who raise Black Simmentals and Angus cattle.

The group at Webb Black Simmental.

The first breeder we met was Webb Black Simmental on Friday. They are located just north of Melbourne and market around 50 head of bulls each year. The Webb operation started six years ago when Phillip Webb decided to get into the cattle business after working as a realtor in Melbourne. He had been raised on a family farm, so this was a bit of a coming home for him.

In Australia the Black Simmental breed has not been widely accepted, which has left an opportunity for expansion into this growing market. Because of the success of the Angus breed at the supermarket producers have shifted to breeding black hided cattle. However, there is limited selection in Australia for cattle that will perform well on grass and in the feedlot that are black hided other than Angus cattle.

This old Simmental was a little cold and wet.

Webb's objective is to market the Black Simmental breed to producers who are using primarily Angus genetics, but they would like to get into some northern Australian herds composed of Bos. indicus cattle as well. This will help those commercial producers capitalize on hybrid heterosis, giving the cattle the increase in carcass yield while not sacrificing quality or hide color.

On Saturday we visited Lawson Angus which is just south of Seymour and also just up the road from Webb Black Simmental.

Lawson Angus offered a unique perspective for the K-Staters because much of the genetics that have been utilized in their program date back to the Gardiner Angus Ranch in Ashland, Kansas. It also didn't hurt that one of our group members is Grant Gardiner. The visit allowed Grant and Harry Lawson, managing director, the opportunity to meet and catch up each other up on their operations.

A good looking Angus yearling bull.

This past year the Lawson family hosted their 42nd Annual Production Sale, where 200 bulls and 130 females were marketed. The family has over 2,000 head of Angus cows on various stations across the country, including Western Australia where Lawson Angus has just started breeding cattle in the past few years.

Cattle from Lawson Angus are marketed all over Australia and even in Russia. They also hope to get more cattle marketed to Australian cattle producers in the north, similarly to what the Gardiner Angus Ranch has done with the Southern Cattle Improvement Project in the United States.

                

Something similar about both Lawson Angus and Webb Black Simmental is the use of American genetics to help improve their herds. Both producers also use Expected Progeny Differences and Expected Breed Values to determine genetic merit.

Posing for another group picture at Lawson Angus.

Well, now that we've seen what the black cattle of Australia have to offer it is time for our group to see some red hide. Over the next few days we'll visit a Shorthorn seedstock producer and a commercial Hereford operation.

Until next time, happy trails!