On The Land
5 August, 2022
Stud vision clearer 12 months on
TWELVE months ago, the 2021 cover girl for the annual Better Beef Open Day, Mandie Scott was figuring out how to run “Millstream Springs Brangus Stud” on behalf of her husband, Dr Brett Scott of Ingham, their four children and herself.
The urban-born South Australian, who trained as a nurse in Townsville, managed the family medical practice in Ingham, was in the middle of raising four children and had never been near cattle in her life, has come a long way since then.
“This year's crop of Embryo Transfer (ET) calves are all dropping at the moment and we are in the middle of planning our next big Artificial Insemination (AI) program of 100 females, which will hopefully result in around 60-70 quality calves being born next April,” Mrs Scott said.
“We have kicked quite a few goals in the year since the last Open Day. Our Rockhampton sale bulls sold better than we had anticipated.
Millstream Springs Bon Jovi (P) (ET), who we thought might make in the vicinity of $20,000, sold to Shamrock Brangus Stud for $32,500.”
The eye-catching 26 month old was described as a gentleman in the paddock, while our second offering, Millstream Def-Leppard, sold to Sue Pickersgill of "Geneva," Theodore, for $16,000 giving us a sale average of $24,000, almost $10,000 above the recorded sale average.
Pleasingly, both purchasers have said they are very happy with their respective bulls and one of them has since been back and bought a second bull from us this year.
There has been a lot of interest in our newly established Speckled Park herd’s ET bulls and heifers, which have sold locally and to buyers as far south as Kingaroy.
All our commercial Speckled Park sale cows and calves were bought by Sunshine Coast producers.
“They have been a good business decision, enabling us to keep ahead of industry trends and we will keep a small group of quality stud Speckled Park, but the Brangus cattle are still very much our main focus,” she said.
“We have installed an air-operated crush this year, making it a lot easier to run our AI and ET programs and we have doubled the number and increased the quality of our calf drop.
“My confidence has grown a lot since the last open day and my vision has broadened considerably.
Back then, I felt like I was drowning under all the decisions and unsure about how to make buyers happy, but now I know where I am going and where I want to be in two years time.
“I have had a few secret weapons though.
A hard-working husband helping to support the growth of the business, a farm manager with a wealth of experience in all aspects of the cattle industry and a three day Grazing for Profit workshop I did in Townsville which got me thinking about my vision and goals,” Mrs Scott said.
