Angus cattle are pushing into one of the most extreme grazing environments in the country, the hot and arid Southern Rangeland pastoral regions of central Western Australia.
The black-coated crossbred calves being turned off by pastoralists who have traditionally run high Bos indicus content herds are not only bringing premiums of as much as 80 cents a kilogram, they are opening doors to new markets outside of live export.
There have been some good successes with Angus bulls over Santa Gertrudis, Shorthorn and Droughtmaster herds in the past few years, WA agriculture and pastoral consultant Alan Peggs and Angus seedstock producer Chris Metcalfe reported.
"The view has traditionally been that Angus content meant cattle wouldn't survive the Southern Rangelands but we see Angus going very well around Alice Springs, which has a similar environment with buffel grass, the same rainfall and temperatures," Mr Pegg said.
"There has been experimentation with Angus into the Southern Rangelands over the years but in the past few years there have been far more success stories than failures.
"And the benefits are very significant, enough to really drive the interest in giving it a try.
"Angus/Droughtmaster cattle are attracting a 20 to 30 cent a kilogram premium in WA over the typical Bos indicus cattle.
"But the other advantage is it opens markets other than live-ex. It gives pastoralists the opportunity of targeting graziers and feedlots in southern parts of WA."
Mr Metcalfe, who with his brother Tim and parents Richard and Christine, runs Metcalfe Pastoral and the Koojan Hills Angus stud at Manypeaks on the south coast of WA, said he supplied one bull to an operation near Leonora three years ago.
Half a dozen bulls went the next year and the last load was 15 head.
"This is country that was heavily run with sheep and they have smashed the perennials so now it's basically salt bush and poor quality grasses, with a 200mm rainfall average, although that can be way lower at times," Mr Metcalfe told delegates at the recent National Angus Conference in Tamworth.
He said the Leonora pastoralist, who runs 3000 to 4000 breeders, was looking for good feet and a bit more leg - an animal that can carry itself over the saltbush country.
"He sends calves to South Australia at 200kg, and can get a premium on a black, slick coat of as much as 80c," Mr Metcalfe said.
"It's still a work in progress for us but it's promising."
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The Metcalfes run a mixed enterprise of cattle, sheep and cropping over 7000 hectares.
It was a Murray Grey operation before Koojan Hills Angus was purchased from Angus legend Lew Smit in 2015.
Today, they have a 2200 head cow herd, which includes 500 registered Koojan Hills Angus cows, a registered Murray Grey herd as well as a 1500 head commercial herd.
They also run a 1500 head Dohne ewe flock, mating them to White Suffolk rams to target the prime lamb market.
Metcalfe Pastoral supplies 2000 grassfed steers and heifers to supermarkets, primarily Woolworths, along with 150 to 170 bulls each year.
For the supermarket job, they target Meat Standards Australia accreditation, grassfed, hormone-free, 215 to 315kg carcase weight at 17 to 19 months and 3-18mm fat.
In their stud herd, the Metcalfe's utilise artificial insemination and embryo transfer programs to accelerate genetic gain.
Mr Metcalfe, who was part of the 2021 cohort of GenAngus Future Leaders Program, appeared on a panel of Angus breeders from around the country at the conference in Tamworth.
The versatility of the breed was a key point of discussion.
The depth of Angus genetics, along with consistency and reliability, was underpinning the ability of his family's operation to grow, Mr Metcalfe said
"We want to be running more and more cows so we can't have calving issues but at the same time we need the calves we get to hit market specs," he said.