Profile: How the Elsom sisters starred their own Hereford stud

Grace and Emily Elsom are the new kids on the Hereford stud block, driven to be successful breeders of whiteface cattle.

They may be new kids on the whiteface block but genetics run strong for the Emigrace Hereford stud.

Grace and Emily Elsom’s love of Herefords was sparked by their parents commercial operation at Macarthur and the fire was fuelled further when they started showing cattle with their school.

“We really liked showing and we already had a passion for Hereford cattle,” Grace said.

“It was a natural progression to think about creating a stud as we needed to have registered animals to show.”

While showing may have been the initial impetus to move into a registered herd, the young duo have found a passion for breeding high quality animals and their vision has been backed by their parents David and Michelle Elsom.

The herd was created using genetics from Bowmont and heifers have also been bought from Kanimbla and Wirruna.

Emily and Grace Elsom from the Emigrace Poll Hereford stud at Macarthur have a strong love of whiteface cattle.

Sires are bought exclusively from the Injemira stud, with four key bulls used: Injemira Redford J006 M122; Injemira Wildfire P021; Injemira Fortune M152 Q034 and Injemira Kickstart P093 R153 which has now been named as a super sire in the breed.

At the Injemira sale at Holbrook, NSW, this year, the Emigrace stud bought two bulls at $70,000 and $40,000, demonstrating the family’s commitment to quality.

Those bulls will now be part of the Emigrace artificial insemination program to fast track genetic improvement within the herd.

While Grace and Emily only started the stud five years, they have juggled school and beef breeding to build up to their current herd size and calved down 20 cows in autumn.

And in a coming of age, they opened up their beef herd earlier this year as part of the region’s Beef Week.

“It was a big step when we opened for beef week for the first time, and it was really rewarding to sell some bulls,” Grace said.

“These bulls went to commercial producers in the local district so it was great to see that they recognised what we are aiming to achieve within our stud.

“We are going to open up again next year and will have more bulls for sale then.”

There are clear goals for the Emigrace Hereford stud.

While they love showing cows and all that goes with it, Grace said the dream was to produce commercially focused animals, with “good industry relevant estimated breeding values”.

“We want to increase breeding female numbers with good quality genetics,” Grace said.

“We also hope to be able to sell bulls to both repeat clients and new buyers as our stud numbers increase.

“Ultimately, we would like to produce homozygous Poll Hereford stud sires which could lead the industry forward.”

Showing stock, which both the girls love, will not take away from the strong commercial focus for the stud, which is reinforced by their parents own operation.

“We like to show as it promotes Herefords to the general public and shows how passionate we are about the breed,” Grace said.

“We attend the Hereford youth expo each year and it has been really good for us as we want to learn more about the Hereford industry which we have found really interesting.”

Grace said it was exciting to be involved in the beef industry.

“Genetics are constantly changing and we need to be an industry that focuses on data, but at the same time, we need animals that have a good phenotype and good grass finishing ability, which is why we love Herefords,” she said.

“We also love the breed because of their good temperament and fertility.

“Add to this that the breed is suitable for range of markets, suitable for a range of climates and that the breed is suitable for using within cross breeding operations, and it shows we have a breed that is really relevant for today’s beef industry.”