Herd Profile
Breeding Objectives
The principle aim at Broughton Park is to provide client satisfaction through sound performance of all sale stock. This is supported with a guarantee of fertility and soundness on all animals sold for breeding.
The stud aspires to produce well balanced, sound, structurally correct and fertile bulls of moderate frame (av. score 7 - 8) with above average muscling and performance whilst retaining the age old Shorthorn qualities of fertility, calving ease, feed efficiency, marbling and docility. Together with longevity, all stock are bred with the expectancy of being able to achieve these goals on grass.
These criteria guarantee that most of our clients receive premiums in the lucrative EU and long fed Export markets.
Herd Profile
The Shorthorn herd is one of four major enterprises conducted on the property Broughton Park, situated 180km north of Adelaide in South Australia’s fertile Mid North. The property consists predominantly of undulating heavy soils in a strong sheep grazing and cropping area with a 450mm winter rainfall pattern. Shorthorns were originally chosen as an easy care / easy management breed to compliment the other enterprises whilst providing maximize returns for minimum cost and effort. This criterion is even more important 50 years on and remains the primary goal of the principals.
The stud currently joins approximately 140 - 150 registered breeders each year. Ideally, somewhere in the vicinity of 40-50 of these are A.I.’d, with the balance joined to three proven senior sires with a couple of junior bulls under evaluation, following up on the A.I. program.
Of these, usually 20-30 females that measure up to our own selection criteria are offered as breeders, either on property or at the Bundaleer Invitation Female sale in October. Many of those females have gone on to produce high caliber Naracoorte & Dubbo sale bulls and Show stock.
The retained breeders are calved down from autumn to spring. This is done to make optimum use of available paddock feed with a minimum amount of supplementary feeding. It also gives a broad spread of ages to suit a wide cross section of bull clientele, from a diverse range of environments. Artificial insemination also seems to contribute to a broader calving spread!
With other enterprises demanding priority at certain times, we have found it is impractical, inefficient and unnecessary to weigh calves at birth. Unfortunately, estimated birth weight EBV’s extrapolated from growth figures have proven to be a very poor indicator of calving ease. Of much greater benefit, is correct sire structure and controlled pre-calving management. Through good sire selection and non-registering of the odd assisted calf, high calving ease is pretty much taken for granted in the herd.
All calves have been performance recorded since the inception of Breedplan, and have been scanned for EMA & Fat depth since 1990, and for IMF% since 1998. All progeny are frame scored and bulls are also measured for scrotal circumference. Client feedback data from feedlots is continually monitored and evaluated and that information has provided major endorsement of our current breeding program as well as providing guidance for the near future.
The principle aim at Broughton Park is to provide client satisfaction through sound performance of all sale stock. This is supported with a guarantee of fertility and soundness on all animals sold for breeding.
The stud aspires to produce well balanced, sound, structurally correct and fertile bulls of moderate frame (av. score 7 - 8) with above average muscling and performance whilst retaining the age old Shorthorn qualities of fertility, calving ease, feed efficiency, marbling and docility. Together with longevity, all stock are bred with the expectancy of being able to achieve these goals on grass.
These criteria guarantee that most of our clients receive premiums in the lucrative EU and long fed Export markets.
Herd Profile
The Shorthorn herd is one of four major enterprises conducted on the property Broughton Park, situated 180km north of Adelaide in South Australia’s fertile Mid North. The property consists predominantly of undulating heavy soils in a strong sheep grazing and cropping area with a 450mm winter rainfall pattern. Shorthorns were originally chosen as an easy care / easy management breed to compliment the other enterprises whilst providing maximize returns for minimum cost and effort. This criterion is even more important 50 years on and remains the primary goal of the principals.
The stud currently joins approximately 140 - 150 registered breeders each year. Ideally, somewhere in the vicinity of 40-50 of these are A.I.’d, with the balance joined to three proven senior sires with a couple of junior bulls under evaluation, following up on the A.I. program.
Of these, usually 20-30 females that measure up to our own selection criteria are offered as breeders, either on property or at the Bundaleer Invitation Female sale in October. Many of those females have gone on to produce high caliber Naracoorte & Dubbo sale bulls and Show stock.
The retained breeders are calved down from autumn to spring. This is done to make optimum use of available paddock feed with a minimum amount of supplementary feeding. It also gives a broad spread of ages to suit a wide cross section of bull clientele, from a diverse range of environments. Artificial insemination also seems to contribute to a broader calving spread!
With other enterprises demanding priority at certain times, we have found it is impractical, inefficient and unnecessary to weigh calves at birth. Unfortunately, estimated birth weight EBV’s extrapolated from growth figures have proven to be a very poor indicator of calving ease. Of much greater benefit, is correct sire structure and controlled pre-calving management. Through good sire selection and non-registering of the odd assisted calf, high calving ease is pretty much taken for granted in the herd.
All calves have been performance recorded since the inception of Breedplan, and have been scanned for EMA & Fat depth since 1990, and for IMF% since 1998. All progeny are frame scored and bulls are also measured for scrotal circumference. Client feedback data from feedlots is continually monitored and evaluated and that information has provided major endorsement of our current breeding program as well as providing guidance for the near future.
