2008 Sale and beyond

We had a very successful day on 29th January with 58 penned of the 62 catalogued, selling 34 on the day and more have been sold since. We were glad to be able to help some clients through the mating season with replacement bulls.

Other news

Rainfall

For the fourth year in succession, we had the first rain on 1st April and were fortunate to have one and a half inches in the gauge. A couple of 3mm falls since then followed by warm weather had us wondering what was going to happen but this last couple of days have seen about 10mm fall which has put a smile on our faces – it’s always a nerve-wracking time after that first rain! By the end of June, we were copncerned about the dams, but four inches in July filled them up - and gladdened our hearts! Then August was unusually dry - less than half an inch; as we write on 29 September, we've had just under one an da half inches, with the hope of more to come in October!

Calving

Heifer calving wasn’t due to start until April 24th, but, as always, there are some early ones so we have five calves on the ground from five heifers, one commercial and four stud and all AI calves. We gave all the "B" heifers a chance at AI last year as we’d reduced numbers after the de-stocking in 2006. Cows weren’t due to start until 12 May but they started a day or three early and finished mainly mid July, with a few stragglers after that.

The ‘C’ bulls and steers are in one mob and the ‘C’ heifers in another and all looking OK at this stage. We've done their grazing a little differently this winter, with longer rest/recovery periods, and that's produced some interesting interim results. We'll keep you posted!

Bull power

We have purchased two bulls this year as a means of increasing the genetic pool for Ardcairnie Angus. One from Koojan Hills by Landfall Ventura Y225 and the other from Te Mania by Te Mania Yearling Y300 who is a son of S A F Focus of ER. Both came home and settled in to life at Maybenup. Both are now out with a mob of cows/calves as are the six homebred 2006 born bulls we are using this year - Ardcairnie B24, Ardcairnie B32, Ardcairnie B34, Ardcairnie B50, Ardcairnie B59, and Ardcairnie B211 - photos of some of them on our Bulls page. We single-sire mate for the first couple of cycles, then join one mob to another, removing one bull as we continue bulking up. Often means a little bit of DNA typing of the calves to ensure we have their Dads correct, but that's fine.

Pregnancy testing and surplus PTIC females

Heifer pregnancy testing is set for 23rd October; cow pregnancy testing for 17th November. As we have decided to maintain our breeding herd at 400, we will crunch numbers after that ands should have some PTIC females for purchase after 17th November. If you are interested in purchasing some, please contact Elders Kojonup on 9831 1088 (Paul Keppel and Jamie Hart), or us on 9831 0401.