INTERNATIONAL interest in the Droughtmaster breed increased as a South African producer keenly watched the Esk Droughtmaster feature show on May 25.
Mike Fitzhenry, from Eastern Cape, South Africa, said producers in his country looked for a medium-sized animal that was a little shorter on the legs, had good muscling, and could tolerate varying weather conditions.
The Simmental and Charolais cattle breeder is a keen Droughtmaster advocate.
"We're trying to get the breed going in our country, which isn't always easy with all the channels you have to go through," Mr Fitzhenry said.
At the event he said he decided to look into Droughtmasters after he saw cattle bred by the South African stud Vryburg Droughtmasters, operated by Johan van der Nest.
"His cattle had a lot of Droughtmaster influence; we saw them and we were very impressed with them," he said.
"We bought about 20 in-calf females from him a year ago and they have calved and recalved again. Hopefully our numbers are going to grow quite quickly and we will continue using that bloodline until we can get semen or embryos from Australia."
The South African Droughtmaster industry is in embryonic stages, with producers crossing them with Beefmasters and other breeds.
The first genetics were introduced to South Africa in the 1990s by Vryburg stud Droughtmaster breeder Johan van der Nest. He said at the time that he was impressed by the high Bos Indicus content, slick coat and exceptionally muscular bulls.
Droughtmaster Australia CEO Neil Donaldson said Australian seed-stock producers would now be able to sell semen and embryo packages into South Africa.
"We've been working on that for quite a few years and they're finally starting to come to a point where things are developing into final stages and having a breed society over there," he said.
