From Brahmans to Droughties: Mulgrave Pastoral's $73k bet on the future

Mulgrave Pastoral's Darryl Baulch put his money where his breeding philosophy was on day one of the Droughtmaster National Bull Sale, securing a line of eight bulls and completing his bull order on Tuesday, September 16.

The purchases - totalling $73,000 and averaging $9125 - will return to the family's Nebo block at Strathfield, where the Baulch family has been running cattle for more than 60 years.

Mr Baulch said they had been making a conscious effort to transition their breeder herd from Brahmans to Droughtmasters since they first started buying Droughtmaster bulls from the national sale a decade ago.

"We're trying to get all Droughtmasters in our herd," he said.

"We had Brahmans and Bahman cross cattle before that, but the droughties will outdo the Brahmans in money at the end of the day."

Day two of the Droughtmaster National Sale continues on Wednesday, follow the rolling coverage throughout the day.

Although they still work on a grid system and fattened bullocks, Mr Baulch explained the move was shaped by evolving country and management.

"Brahmans could walk the distance and survive, and we used to have a lot of ticks when I was a kid," he said.

"Now we've got more water, we don't have to walk them as far, and a lot less ticks, so we can make a change."

With more water access across the property and a reduced tick burden, the Baulchs were free to pursue a breed that offered a different kind of value proposition, with the transition well underway.

"We've still got some Droughtmaster cross breeders, but we're slowly working our way there," Mr Baulch said.

When it came to sire selection, Mr Baulch preferred not to overcomplicate things and said that estimated breeding values and morphology didn't come into consideration as much as phenotypical traits.

"I'm just chasing good Droughtmaster bulls with length, depth, and plenty of rump," he said.

This year, he said, the buying was within reach.

"I thought prices were quite reasonable," he said.

"We managed to buy the ones that we wanted, which made for a good day."

The bulls will be used across both mature cows and heifers, fast-tracking the shift to purebred Droughtmasters.

"We breed our own heifers, and we're trying to generate more Droughtmaster cattle as we go," Mr Baulch said.

"We'll use some of these bulls on our first-calf females because we find they have pretty good calving."

Headed back to ironbark and gum flat country, the new additions will go out this season to produce the next generation of bullocks for Mulgrave Pastoral.

"Twenty years ago, it was a different process totally, but now it's about turning them off quicker and younger," he said.