Angus breeder stakes his claim

It has been a rapid rise through the industry for high-end Angus breeder Tim Wilson.

Go for gold:Angus breeder Tim Wilson on one of his three Gippsland farms. Picture: Dannika Bonser

GIVEN Tim Wilson became a large commercial Angus breeder only about four years ago, he has had a charmed entree to the industry.

Tim farms 385ha across three Gippsland properties at Labertouche, Mirboo North and leased land at Lardner, with a herd of 1100 purebred Angus, including 420 breeders.

All the meat is sold to high-end brands, including Coles grass-fed Graze label, as well as Greenham’s Vintage and Bass Strait brands, which both require stringent audits for accreditation, including humane animal husbandry.

Just this year the 42-year-old and his Labertouche property were featured in a full-length cooking show, Farm to Fork, alongside a MasterChef cook.

In addition Tim runs a small flock of 30 White Dorpers, value-added and sold to a hatted Warragul restaurant.

While luck has played a small role, the former agronomist said the success was down to sound farm management, which sees him run stock at 32 dry sheep equivalents/ha.

“My approach is to maximise every blade of grass: push the maximum level of production through new variety grasses, a correct fertiliser program and grazing management, without damaging the environment,” Tim said.

“I need to run at maximum capacity to afford to own the land.

“Because we put the effort in to get the best quality, we’ve got to get extra value for what we produce.”

TREE CHANGE

TIM grew up in Melbourne but a family connection to the land saw him study agricultural science at Latrobe University, after which he jackarooed in the West Australian Kimberley region for a year before becoming an agronomist, including at Landmark and Wrightson Seeds.

In 2012 he became a farm manager on the Labertouche property, which at that time was running a commercial Angus herd, and was fortunate to buy the property in 2016, with his mother Ann.

The deal with the former owner is unique, with Tim buying the land and young stock, and the former owner retaining ownership of older cows, leasing them to the business and selling them over time.

“It’s a fantastic method to take over a farm without selling the genetic potential of the cattle,” Tim added.

He said his agronomy experience had underscored his own farm management.

The cattle are grass-fed, with no grain. Tim tops up with supplementary feed every few years, despite recent dry conditions.

Labertouche’s annual average rainfall is about 1050mm, but in past years it has dropped to about 750mm.

“When you run at 32 DSE (/ha) it’s a different risk scenario and it doesn’t take long to mow through the grass and conditions like drought can start earlier than other areas,” he said.

“In some ways the dry has helped us. We haven’t had really wet winters, which turns everything, especially the feed, into mud, while we’ve had spring rains which has ensured continued growth.”

GRASS CLASS

A PASTURE renovation program runs across three years on each renovated paddock and improves, on average, about 50ha, starting with a summer crop of rape, millet or sorghum, followed by annual ryegrass and clover, and then a new perennial variety.

“I look for a late flowering rye-grass variety, with high production, high sugar content and with a novel endophyte — NEA2 seems to work well in our environment. This improves pasture longevity, animal health and performance (it is found only in perennial, long rotation and a few hybrid rye-grasses).”

Tim applies high doses of fertilisers at critical periods, including 1kg of phosphorous per DSE and 2kg of potassium per DSE, and trickles nitrogen blends into the system to push growth rates at critical times.

He uses the farm’s high stock grazing rate to maximise pasture produced, as well as silage cuts to manage excess growth in spring, keeping grasses in their vegetative phase late into summer to ensure better-quality feed and more quantity.

“I run the pastures like a dairy farm,” Tim said.

“I don’t stick to the three-leaf stage but manage silage and hay cuts to manage excess grass to bring on more and better quality grass.”

On average he cuts about 1500 bales of hay and silage, adding that 230mm of rain in January had ensured “not just a good season, but an awesome one”.

“So far this year we haven’t had to feed out, the grass is that green and growing in February.”

MOB MENTALITY

STOCK are rotated in an eight-week program, with cows divided into small mobs of around 40.

The cattle genetics were inherited from the property’s previous owner, based on heifers from Moyne Falls in the Western District three decades ago.

Since that time Tim has introduced bloodlines from Innisdale and Wattlewood Angus Stud, chasing a med­ium-framed, easy to maintain cow.

Tim has entered cattle into Lardner Park’s steer trials to compare his animals’ performance against others, under the same conditions, and see where improvements can be made, such as intramuscular fat, eye muscle area and growth rates.

Cattle are joined twice a year for a spring and autumn calving, using bulls only and with plans to artificially inseminate to better synchronise calving in coming years.

As a young start-up Angus producer, Tim said he was fortunate to work with both Coles and Greenhams, with direct sales able to reduce “unnecessary” costs.

About 280 a year are sent to Coles Graze program, including steers aged 20 to 22 months at 500-550kg, and heifers at 22-24 months at 450-480kg. They are sent in lots of up to 40 through the year, ensuring they meet the grid specifications.

Greenhams takes up to 100 head, including older cows at 600-650kg and heavier steers at 650kg.

Both those programs require that Tim’s property and herd management are strictly audited, while Tim is also EU accredited. Greenham’s Never Ever program, for instance, has a high focus on animal welfare and is the first program to require pain relief to be administered at castration, marking and horn removal. The program is also the largest lifetime traceable supply chain of its kind in Australia.