CURRENT
We approach the breeding of our cattle with an open mind and are continually looking at ways to improve the overall quality and efficiency in our herd. We believe as we look to the future of uncertain economic times, rising production costs and changing weather patterns we may need to change our paradigm on the way we think in the seedstock industry and ensure the cattle we breed will keep the commercial cattle industry sustainable into the future.
The purchase of White Kangaroo station (5600ha property, west of Bowen QLD) has seen a considerable expansion of the Fairy Springs herd. This expansion included the acquisition of a grey Brahman female herd, and we are now applying our breeding principles to these females to produce a larger volume of red and grey herd bulls. These bulls are produced under northern Australia conditions under a relatively low-input system.
Emphasis has been placed on polled cattle over the past 15 years, when we recognised the benefits of poll calves on labour and welfare at branding time. The polled foundations in the stud were made back before poll became popular, and we had to source sires which were going to produce sons exhibiting strong carcass attributes. We now see the benefits of many years of balanced trait selection with a poll focus, with a high frequency of the poll gene in the herd. A number of our bulls we have retained for within herd use are PP sires (carry no horn gene), producing only polled or scurred calves.
The breeding objectives of Fairy Springs have been developed with a strong focus on traits which are of economic importance to the northern commercial industry. This industry covers such a large area of the country, and the profitability of the beef business in the north requires animals which are efficient and adaptable. We see value in the low mature weight, low maintenance cow, which can produce on a low quality diet. The lower the maintenance requirement of the cow (the less nutrients she requires to maintain herself), the more nutrients she has left over at the end of the day for her reproductive requirements (conceiving, carrying and feeding a calf). This is dollars in the cattleman’s pocket. There is more value in a moderate cow that has a calf every year, than a big flashy cow that can only produce a calf every second year when control mated. We now know that lactational anoestrus (the ability or inability of a cow to cycle while lactating) is highly heritable. It is also a highly profitable trait, as a cow that can go in calf while lactating will keep within a 12 month calving interval, and produce a calf every year. We now select sires with consideration of his dam’s calving records and her ability to conceive while lactating, as we know that this profitable trait will be passed on to his daughters, and his son’s daughters.
We place strong emphasis on udder conformation, as we see it as a highly heritable trait. All Fairy Springs cows are udder scored at calving. When selecting replacement females, the udder score of the dam is consulted, and only females with a dam udder score of 3 or less (of 1-9 system).
Artificial breeding in our operation is limited to an AI program with heifers. We are open to using embryo transfer in the future, and recognise the value in ET with cows that have had a proven calving record over a number of years. We have greater confidence in a natural breeding program, where females and sires must breed and rebreed under natural conditions. Year in, year out. The commercial industry requires animals to breed under natural conditions, and we feel that this is the best way to ensure that we are providing animals which have the ability to do so.
RECENT YEARS
Recent years have seen considerable expansion of the Fairy Springs stud and commercial operation.
The most significant purchase for the stud in recent years was at Charters Towers in 1998 where the bull, Huonfels Jacob Rio was purchased. This red polled sire with predominately American bloodlines has crossed extremely well with Australian bloodline Fairy Springs cows. The progeny of Jacob Rio dominated the red offering at Brahman Week 2002-2007, achieving top red average three years in succession. 2002 saw the sale of Fairy Springs Beaumont topping Brahman Week at $55,000, achieving overall top priced Brahman bull sold in Australia that year. Fairy Springs genetics now feature regularly in prominent stud pedigrees in domestic sale catalogues each year, and have been exported to the Philippines, Thailand and Namibia.
HISTORY
The Fairy Springs stud was originally formed in 1967 by the late Percy Streeter and wife Shirley, who concentrated on mainly red Brahmans, but a small grey herd was also run.
In the early years the stud was run at "Fairy Springs" at Calliope. Foundation sires were purchased from leading studs such as Cherokee, Burnside, Avondale, and Wairuna, and the genetic strength of these bloodlines is still evident in the herd today. Following the division of the stud in 1985, Eddie and Debbie Streeter took over ownership and the stud was moved to the Monto district in 1990. The herd had consisted of both red and grey breeders for some time, however this move saw the dispersal of grey females and a focus on breeding quality red stud cattle.