Limousin Cross Calves Bring Premiums at Port Fairy

Mick Coffey and his wife Jacinta have used Limousin bulls for eight years and find their progeny easy to finish.

The Coffeys, at Toolong, north of Port Fairy, turn off 170 Limousin cross vealers each year from 486 hectares, which they sell through the Warrnambool sale yards.

They have successfully used Limousin bulls over F1 Angus-Friesian cross females for eight years after they stopped using Simmentals.

The area recorded seven poor springs in the 90’s and the Coffeys found it difficult to finish their Simmental cross calves.

They decided to try a Limousin bull and bought their first from Ron Quinn, Creswick, after recommendations from neighbours and having seen the quality of Mr Quinn’s vealers in the sale yards.

Mr Coffey said the Limousin cross calves finished better during the same poor seasons.

"When they didn’t have much weight and you wanted to hold them a bit longer, they didn’t lose condition", he said. "They held their shape and continued to put weight on. There were times when I didn’t think there was enough feed but they did very well."

The seasons have been kind to the Coffeys for the past three years and this has coincided with impressive prices for cattle across the board.

They sold vealers for $840, or 200 cents a kilogram liveweight at Warrnambool in February - their highest price.

They now have six Limousin bulls and Mr Coffey buys bulls from the paddock so he can observe them in their natural setting. He also prefers to buy them at 18 months of age.

"I’ve seen a lot of bulls put in sales where they were the tail end of the yearling crop," he said.

"I like to buy them young. It relates to the vealer, they need to be good at a younger age."

He looks for an athletic bull with good muscling in the rear and the hips, size, narrow shoulders and a narrow head and a good back, which he classifies as important as a good rump.

"Females are bought at the F1 sales at Warrnambool and Camperdown and are run in mobs of up to 40.

They are rotated through eight paddocks - each paddock receiving a week’s break.

Pastures comprise strawberry clover, ryegrass and some phalaris.

Vealer prices are still healthy and Mr Coffey said the season has been kind, with plenty of carry-over feed from the summer and a mild autumn so far. And although Limousin cross calves have shown their ability to finish in poor conditions, the Coffeys will happily accept a good season.

Western District vealer producer Mick Coffey, Toolong, north of Port Fairy, with Brian O'Halloran stock agent Anthony Mahoney
in February when Mr Coffey sold Limousin cross vealers to 200 cents a kilogram liveweight.

From Stock & Land