Texas Angus defies drought to come out a winner

BEEF FARMER OF THE YEAR 2018: PERFORMANCE, even in the harshest of seasons, is the Mayne aim for one of Australia’s most successful beef cattle studs.

Many hands: Farming is a family affair for Ben and Wendy Mayne of Texas Angus (left) and (right) with their children Will, 14, Rosie, 16, and Lachie, 12. Picture: Rachel Sherman

PERFORMANCE, even in the harshest of seasons, is the Mayne aim for one of Australia’s most successful beef cattle studs.

Despite experiencing the devastating effects of drought during 2018, Texas Angus – owned and operated by Ben and Wendy Mayne on 2105 hectares at Warialda in northern NSW – notched up perhaps its most successful year yet.

In a remarkable feat, it took out two of the nation’s biggest carcass competitions and, at its on-property production sale, defied a drought-led industry downturn in demand by selling bulls for a whopping $11,580 average.

If that is not enough, the Maynes’ cattle and land have held up better than many others in the harsh conditions thanks to a strong focus on animal and soil health involving, among other things, minimal chemical inputs.

“We are big believers that this is why our cattle do so well … it’s not just the genetics — they can adapt so much better because they are right on the inside,” says Ben, 47.

Texas Angus comprises about 600 registered cows and sells 200 bulls a year to a growing client base spread from Tasmania to central Queensland.

About 140 bulls are sold at an on-property sale in July and Ben says the past three sales in particular have been “massive” for the stud, peaking at an average of $12,535 a bull for 127 bulls in 2017. Last year’s sale exceeded all expectations given the drought, with 138 bulls averaging $11,580, a result the Maynes attribute to their recent carcass competition success.

At the industry-lauded Beef Australia competition in Rockhampton last May, Texas Angus cattle took out the biggest class of 492 entries. Four months later the stud won the champion pen and individual in the NSW Royal Agricultural Society’s Beef Challenge.

It was the fourth consecutive year the Maynes had won a broad ribbon in the NSW RAS competition with their champion pen returning a profit of $1120.19 a head – a whopping $835 more than the competition average.

It’s this type of bottom-line result that makes Texas Angus the worthy winner of The Weekly Times Coles 2018 Beef Farmer of the Year.

WINNER Beef Farmer of the Year 2018

TEXAS ANGUS, Ben and Wendy Mayne, Warialda, NSW

ON FARM: BEN AND WENDY MAYNE