Alto Herd
For a long time there has been a large Angus population around Caramut, the breed being recognised as good doing cattle, on grass and under diverse conditions.
Angus were the obvious choice when establishing our own Calrossie herd with cattle purchased from Mrs Gwen Kelly in the 1970's.The traits of the traditional Angus give us the best returns: fertile, easy calving, sound conformation and well fleshed cattle that do on grass under commercial conditions.
In 2005 the Alto Stud was established to breed registered animals of the traditional type for ourselves and for breeders also looking to that easy calving, more moderate, square type of animal.
We value the cows role in the farms profitability, and concentrate on breeding for good maternal efficiency and low production costs.
This 120 ha property is on the volcanic basalt plains in Western Victoria with a (once?) 26" av. rainfall. The average stocking rate is 18 dse/ha.
Running a self replacing herd of 90 breeders and unless the season is 'very mean' all hay is produced on the property. Cows autumn calve and are often weaned in September to enable us to close up paddocks for hay.
Once a cow has established her credentials she will be here for many years
Heifers remain for herd replacement and some are sold as breeders.
Selected bulls are available for sale after, much scrutiny on the sire and dams performance, their own quality, performance, conformation and temperament.
Now in 2020 the herd consists of cattle that are increasingly infused with the Native Angus genetics.
2015calves off the 2 year old heifers weightsBulls av. 336kg at 231 daysHeifers av. 283kg at 228 days
We are convinced that Native sires make heifer calving truly easy.
A lot is invested to produce a good heifer and she must have a live calf at two year old and longevity in the herd to maximize return on both genetics and dollar investment. Ease on the heifer and the cattleman is important. Choosing genetics that fit our aim for easy management and genuine easy calving in the heifer mob has been vital for the future of this herd.
