Apelt family achieves MSA excellence via genetics, nutrition

Perfecting stock nutrition and genetics has been a winning formula for this cattle farming family in Queensland’s Western Darling Downs.

A multi-pronged approach to farm management has meant the Apelt family’s Collingwood Pastoral Company in Queensland’s Western Darling Downs has almost tripled in growth in the past two decades.

Developing properties to improve pasture and cropping potential as well as access to water is something Rod and Kylie Apelt have perfected but zeroing in on stock nutrition, genetics and eating quality is what set them apart in the 2021 MSA Excellence in Eating Quality Awards.

They achieved an MSA compliance rate of 99.9 per cent and average MSA Index of 62.03, winning the Most Outstanding Queensland Producer (Band 1) category.

The couple, who farm with their son Tori and his wife Kaitlin, took over Rod’s family farm between Tara and Moonie, Queensland, 18 years ago but have since added another nine adjoining properties, including Collingwood, bringing their holding to 9500 hectares.

They have another two properties in the Maranoa region, bought in 2016 for breeding purposes.

The mixed operation includes 6000ha of broadacre crops from wheat, forage sorghum, oats and barley to hay and pasture seed.

Kaitlin, holding daughter Adelaide, Tori, and his parent’s, Kylie and Rod Apelt, run Collingwood Pastoral Company near Tara in Queensland, where they produce cattle and crops. Picture: Supplied

MARKET OPTIONS

The Apelts used to only trade cattle but 15 years ago began breeding and now join up to 1200 Santa Gertrudis and Angus each year, turning off about 1000 homebred calves annually.

They also continue to trade up to 2000 cattle as seasons permit.

Stock is all European Union accredited and either sent to feedlots or fattened and sold direct to end-users such as Coles and Woolworths.

“The cattle we breed you can market them anywhere - we don’t want to be locked out of a market because of genetics or style,” Rod said.

“We try and breed a beast that any feedlot would be happy to have – that has the bone and structure and genetics that if you have to take it through to fattening, it has the capacity.”

The Apelts run 35 to 40 bulls and have a strong emphasis on growth rates so genetics play a big part in selection.

“The F1 calves are what we are chasing and what we like,” Rod said.

“They have the best growth rate but we have pure Angus and pure Santa Gertrudis as well for marketing purposes. We do find, in a tougher season, the cattle with the Bos indicus or Santa infusion in them, do hold on better.”

They use Yulgilbar Santa Gertrudis stud from Baryulgil, in northern NSW, and a range of Angus bulls including Double D – paying up to $15,000.

Rod selects for good temperament and phenotype, physical structure in feet and reproductive areas as well as reasonable figures for intramuscular fat and eye muscle area.

MSA carcass feedback, while allowing the Apelts to benchmark their business against others around the state, has also been a useful tool when selecting genetics, allowing them to tweak breeding where necessary to ensure cattle consistently meet MSA targets for eating quality.

FORAGE FOR NUTRITION

Cows are set stocked and run in mobs of about 100 with carrying capacities averaging one breeder for every four hectares on improved pasture and one for every six hectares on natural grasses.

The cattle are fed on high quality pastures. Picture: Supplied

Cattle are generally fed on high quality improved pastures of Rhodes, Buffel, Creeping Blue and Bambatsi, native Blue Grass as well as forage crops, and provided a molasses based liquid supplement Molafos if necessary.

Up to 8000 tonnes of silage is produced each year for extra nutrition. Water is mostly accessed from bores and dams.

“The improved pasture varieties are specifically bred for Queensland conditions,” Rod said.

“They grow a lot more bulk than the native grasses and respond quicker. You get more stocking capacity out of them.”

Breeders are joined in mid-spring, and pregnancy tested for calving in March-April.

Empty cows are fattened and sold, and the equivalent number of heifers are retained as replacements.

In the past, weaning has been conducted at six to eight months but a trial using supplementary pellets this year was successful and going forward the Apelts hope to wean earlier with the new system at four to six months, followed by bunk feeding.

FUTURE FEEDLOT PLAN

The cropping program rotates from summer to winter with their biggest focus on wheat. It is planted in late April-May and typically harvested in October-November.

Oats, barley and chick peas are also part of the winter cropping program, while forage sorghum is part of the summer crop.

Cereals are planted at 50kg/ha via direct drill and conventional sowing.

Winter cropping yields average 2 tonnes/ha but can vary widely.

“Depending on the erratic Queensland rainfall, yields can be anywhere from 1.2 tonnes/ha to 4 tonnes/ha-plus over winter and summer is similar between 2-2.5 tonnes/ha,” Rod said.

There are no defined seasons when it comes to rainfall, which averages 600mm annually but generally falls in storms throughout the calendar year. Temperatures also vary widely from small frosts over winter to above 40C in summer.

Wheat is the main focus of the cropping program, but oats, barley, chickpeas and forage sorghum are also grown. Picture: Supplied

The Apelts have aerated fixed grain storage on farm so are able to store grain to maximise price returns.

They sell to a variety of places including feedlots, export markets and domestic users such as chook and pig farms.

Going forward, the Apelts will value add their grain in their own feedlot, having had a development application approved this year for a 15,000 head feedlot at Collingwood.

“It is a green-field site so we will make the feedlot from scratch but it will be accredited and give us better marketing options,” Rod said.

“It will be a good drought and management tool because you have the cattle on your property but actually have them off your property.”

The feedlot will be an integral part of the future direction of the business to maximise production and profitability through infrastructure development and better work efficiencies.

“I enjoy developing properties,” Rod said.

“It’s a lot of hard work but I enjoy making something of them. We have grown a lot over the last 16 years and have seven full time employees plus part timers.

“I always had a goal and desire to have a go but I wouldn’t ever have thought this would happen. You just have to go with it as the opportunities arise.”