Cairnbrae Angus

Cairnbrae Jersey Dairy Cattle Stud was established by the Carson Family 1948.

For 75 years, Cairnbrae Jersey was regarded as having one of the best Jersey herds in Australia, winning multiple awards and most recently being awarded a Master Breeder Award.

Alan and Janine Carson decided to retire from the Dairy Industry and to sell their dairy farm in early 2021. Once they had made the decision they held 5 dispersal sales, the final one in July 2023, closing the chapter and selling the last of the dairy herd.

Alan & Janine, along with their son Tim and wife Jo, decided to purchase acres at Pararparap, only 10 mins from Torquay, and to keep one of the farms back at Irrewillipe, to establish an Angus cattle breeding program. Cairnbrae was born in early 2022.

Cairnbrae Angus is applying the same principles to breeding the best Angus cattle as they did to establish their exceptional Jersey dairy cattle herd.

There are now approximately 150 breeders grazing in the paddocks at Cairnbrae Angus.

Their focus was to seek advice from highly regarded breeders/studs in the Angus Industry to ensure they started with strong bloodlines and genetics that would stand the test of time. To date they have purchased both females and bulls from Texas Angus, Millah Mullah, Merridale Angus, Stoney Point Performance Angus and donor dams from Baldridge Angus from the USA.

Carinbrae Angus’s key criteria is that the herd’s traits all meet strict requirements. They should all have great phenotype, strong heads, good structure (including feet, frame, and body depth) and a balanced EBV focusing on strong growth rates, good EMA, IMF and temperament. To a degree, less emphasis is placed on birth weights as their belief is that, if a cow is bred correctly, they will be able to birth a 40-45kg calf without assistance.

Their breeding program is particularly strict. They seek professional advice from the most highly regarded people in the beef industry to ensure that the dams they breed with will be bred to the most desirable sires from all over the world. AI has allowed a huge selection of Sires to be utilized to ensure the same criteria applies to the Sires as they place on the dams.

Their ET programs are via their exclusive Dams purchased from Texas Angus (the amazing Undine, Torque and Omnia Families), Merridale Angus (The Vicky Family), Millah Mullah Angus (the Abigail Family), Stoney Point Angus (the highly renown Yankee Queen Family) and Baldridge Angus in the USA where they own a donor from the amazing Blackbird Family.

Both Alan and Tim have a great eye for cattle, are extremely passionate about their philosophies and have great belief in their herd.  Their driving aim for the next 5 to 7 years is to be breeding Angus cattle that will improve, and continue to improve, the industry for many years to come.