Why we choose Red Angus

When Ross first started farming with his father and brother at 15 they were breeding Black Angus. Ross noticed that the few reds that showed up in the herd were in the top 10% of the herd for growth and condition. In about 1973 they decided to put more Red Angus genetics across the herd and introduced a Red Angus bull from the old Jillangolo Red Angus stud in Victoria (Frank Pearson’s stud). Happy with the results from the Jillangolo bull, shortly afterwards they bought another Red Angus bull from Emu Vale Red Angus in Tasmania. At the time the family also experimented with some Murray Greys but decided to stick with the reds. At the time Red Angus were bit of a novelty too. In 1979 they bolstered the herd’s red genetics using artificial insemination from Australian sires. From this Australian artificial insemination we got the cow L216, a superb cow who founded our exceptional cow line including Tronar S3 and Tronar Westwood W11. Ross went out on his own in 1982 focussing on Red Angus and registered with the Red Angus Society in 1995.

Red Angus cattle have done us well. Our reds have a beautiful temperament and a great stretch of EBVs. We also think reds do better in our hot climate and light sandy soils and believe more station owners up north would do well to put some Red Angus over their herd. Black Angus breeders also tell us they think their reds maintain their condition better than blacks regardless of climate.  We hear that in America Red Angus fetch higher prices than Black Angus at sales and predict the same will happen in Australia when the market realises the positive Red Angus carcase traits—Australia’s small number of Red Angus breeders consistently win carcase competitions against strong competition from other breeds with larger pools to select from.