Hereford farmer of five decades has his say on the best way to breed cattle

A lifelong Hereford breeder has given his two cents on how to breed the best cattle.

Tim Hutton, Nigretta, has been breeding traditional Herefords for decades at his late father John Hutton's property at Cheviot Hills, Penshurst, and now just outside Hamilton, since 2016.

Mr Sutton said he loved the breed and they would always be on his property during his lifetime.

He runs 200 cows on just over 600 hectares of prime Red Gum country.

Back at Cheviot Hills, he runs 400-500 cows.

The cow herd goes back to some Shorthorn foundation stock with Hereford bulls used for years.

The Huttons started out buying bulls from the now dispersed Golf Hill Hereford stud, Shelford, and then over the years, bought about 100 bulls from the also dispersed South Boorook Hereford stud, Mortlake.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the family travelled north to purchase more bulls at the Devon Court Hereford stud, Drillham, Qld.

"We just literally went for length, stretch and spring of rib," Mr Hutton said.

"With the [grazing] quality down here, the beef was just laid on."

In more recent years, he had used Yarram Park and Glendan Park sires.

When it came to picking bulls, Mr Hutton opted to use his experience over estimated breeding values.

"Throw the catalogue to the shithouse for a start," he said.

He said any breeding data should be used as a guide mechanism for bull selection, but it was not the be-all and end-all.

Instead, Mr Hutton used a three-tick system.

"Walk into a pen and if you like him, give him a tick, if you don't like him, give him a cross, and you just forget about him," he said.

"Then you'll go around again and you'll reckon 'he's probably a three ticker'."

When a few dozen bulls are narrowed down to three or four and only one or two are wanted, that's when the real stockmanship comes in.

Mr Hutton said the farmer should look at the bull's weight for age, whether it had hooded eyes (to protect against injury or pink eye), the length of their snout (for optimum grazing) and the length of the bull's body (for the best carcase).

Going off this, the bull buyer should give the shortlisted bulls one or two 'pluses' and then you have your pick.

"Then you may look at the figures but there's no figures because they're all estimates," he said.

"It's just another technique to suck in the unknowing, the bloke that doesn't know his stock and he's relying on the stud breeder to present him with the bulls."

His approach was arguably working well with his 200-cow herd of Herefords now extremely uniform, with great length and shape.

Mr Hutton was so keenly attuned to what makes good cattle that he was able to spot females with shorter snouts or poorer feet from a distance and was adamant that no replacements would be kept from these.

Perhaps the biggest strength he had bred into his cattle is their docility.

He said the Hereford was miles ahead of the Angus when it came to their ease of handling.

He claimed Angus cattle were louder and more difficult to manage, traits he had selected heavily against for decades.

"I like the Herefords because they're quiet," he said.

Back in the day, when he weaned 400-500 calves a year with dogs, docility was a major factor.

"Anything that went at the dog, back in the yards, it was separated," he said.

"If anything stirred up, they'd be straight back in the yards and drafted out and those cattle were never seen again."

He said he still did this every year and any cattle not making the docility grade were out the gate.

"That way, females will teach their calves," he said.

"If they're stirry, the calf will be stirry.

"But if they're not stirry, the calf won't be."

Mr Hutton insisted that dogs must be used on cattle as that's how they were managed at the abattoir.

"If they're not used to dogs, they get stirred up and then you get dark cutters and that's what the abattoirs don't want," he said.

Cows calved in autumn and steers were traditionally turned off at 2.5-years-old, at the end of their second spring.

"If you've forgotten to book them in, they could well and truly go over 400 kilograms dressed," Mr Hutton said.

"They were big bullocks with the two springs on them."

He also took his own approach to calving heifers.

"I don't calve until they're three and a lot of people say I'm mad," he said.

"I'm on my own and I just don't want that hassle of having to pull multiple calves and all the rest."

Mr Hutton suggested calving cows at two was "cruel".

"I don't think the cow develops and I think the calving at two puts that heifer under enormous pressure for rejoining."

He had a rejoining percentage for heifers of 93 per cent or more.

"I look after them and they're a year older," he said.

"They are bigger and I think you collect it at the other end when they're either dry or cast for age and they're 800kg.

"I think they do last longer as well."

Mr Hutton said there was "absolutely" still a market for Hereford beef and refused to follow the crowd to Angus.

"Angus have been very, very clever in their manipulation of the market so good luck to them," he said.