Shorthorn cattle had been run on the property, ‘Broughton Park’ for many years prior to an extensive up-grading program, which began in the 60’s and continues today. The first registered calves were recorded in 1966. A good many selected female lines where added during the 70’s and 80’s from eight dispersal sales of prominent herds, all around Australia and from other special production sales. Numerous top sale prices were paid including an Aust. record for females. Further elite families have been added since, including the introduction of both local, and imported embryos from Canada & the U.S.A.

From the outset females were selected for conformation, breeding performance and soundness. Since then has been added the more rigorous selection pressure criteria of fertility, calving ease, mothering ability and longevity. The herd has been recorded in Breedplan since its inception and was one of the inaugural Group Breedplan members. All calves, including females, have been scanned for EMA & Fat depth since 1990, and for IMF% since 1998.
The result is a very efficient and productive breeding unit, with Broughton Park becoming one of the breed’s most pre-eminent performance herds for $Indexes, Growth, EMA and IMF traits whilst retaining high calving ease.

Adhering to the axiom, “a sire is only as good as the weakest link in his pedigree,” the stud’s
policy has always been, to use the best sires available. This has necessitated paying an Aust. record high on several occasions to procure the desired sire. In more recent years this has led to extensive A.I. and to a lesser degree, E.T. programs. A strong belief also, that “any stud is only as good as the next drop of calves,” has us continually evaluating young sires displaying superior potential.

Show Ring

The stud has a strong commitment to exhibiting at the Royal Adelaide Show each year, as much if not more for breed promotion rather than stud promotion. Shorthorns always feature very strongly in Adelaide, both numerically and in the Interbreed awards with Broughton Park being a major contributor. B.P. has enjoyed outstanding Adelaide Show success, having been most successful Shorthorn exhibitor numerous times and twice the most successful in overall beef cattle section, including the breeds last feature show year, along with being runner up to most successful exhibitor on many other occassions.

Sales

Broughton Park has been the most successful exhibitor and seller at Naracoorte for the past decade. In the past ten years , the stud has produced five Grand Champions and four Reserves, along with the top priced bull on six occasions (including the current record of $15,500) and topping the averages in six of those years with teams of 8 or ten bulls.

In recent years B.P. prefix bulls have sired seven Dubbo Champions, two Reserve Champions and four sale toppers for other vendors. During that time, Broughton Park have sold 35 bulls to $18000 for an average of $7000, including six class winners and a Senior Champion of its own. In 2006 a new Australian record of $75,000 was established by a son of BP Millennium T22 (P).

The previous Kojonup sale record price of $23000 was attained in 2001 for a B.P. Rodeo Star Q59 sired, Trevino bull.

The greatest endorsement of Broughton Park genetics however, has come from Australia's leading pastoralists, feedlotters and meat processors. Many of B.P's clients are amongst JB Swifts most valued suppliers, whilst T & R Pastoral - South Australia's largest feedlotter, processor and exporter - has purchased more than 50 bulls for their northern pastoral properties in recent years.