How Gary McAinch went from being the 'spare man' to stud principal
As a 17-year-old, Gary McAinch would spend hours each week on the Lester family's farm at Foster.
"I was their spare man," Mr McAinch said.
"I carted their hay and was there full-time when Bruce Lester did his national service in the late 1960s.
"I grew up and spent 15 years at Yanakie.
"Dad had a dairy farm and then I used to work off-farm with the Lester family."
When the family opted to disperse their Mundook Hereford stud in 2008, Mr McAinch was also undertaking a change in direction.
"It was at the same time I was exiting out of dairying, so I was looking for a new challenge," he said.
It led Mr McAinch and his wife Jill to purchase 78 cattle from the dispersal sale.
"I was shocked after I bought the cattle at the sale because the family came up to me after I bought them and offered me the stud prefix, Mundook," he said.
"They expressed they wanted to keep the name going and I thought I had a good relationship with the family, so it was something nice I could do to carry on their legacy."
Genetics in the stud date back to the original cow line introduced almost 70 years ago.
The stud was relocated to Wandana at Sarsfield, a 75-hectare property overlooking the Nicholson River in East Gippsland, after the acquisition of the cattle.
At the same time, the McAinchs purchased bulls from other studs including Warringa, Karoonda, Bowmont and River Perry and have subsequently added a selection of females from Dunoon, River Perry and Banemore since 2008.
Stud cattle are bred and grazed at Wandana, which is now based entirely on an artificial insemination program, and on a 40-hectare property near Dumbalk a handful of bulls are joined to stud cows.
The stud sells five to six bulls each year through the Gippsland Performance Herefords sale, an auction that takes place each spring and offers the genetics from five Gippsland-based Hereford studs.
"The group's aim is to have bulls in the top third of the breed," Mr McAinch said.
"We're focused on carcase and performance, and the five breeders are very committed to that belief.
"We tend to pick only bulls that fit that criteria."
Mr McAinch said he felt there were too many "below-average" bulls offered for sale.
"There are far too many bulls sold under breed average for full performance; sometimes we are our own worst enemy," he said.
"The potential for Herefords is enormous, especially in crossbreeding.
"That stands for both Angus breeders that are using Hereford bulls and Hereford breeders using Angus bulls over the older and lower-genetic animals to create that hybrid vigour and terminal cross."
Another Gippsland stud, Warringa Herefords, is also located at Wandana.
Warringa is run by Bill and Minnie Kee.
"I've had caretakers and managers there and then I got into a partnership with Bill six years ago," Mr McAinch said.
"We've developed our partnership, and we are both likeminded in that we like to stay up-to-date with new technology."
