Bonney Downs
Bonney Downs Station, located 110km south of Marble Bar in the Pilbara, has for the last four years integrated the station with properties in the northern agricultural region. The station runs a cow/calf operation and for a number of years has focused on genetic improvement and weaner quality, by using a mix of Santa Gertrudis, Shorthorn and Droughtmaster bulls. Each year the station trucks around 7,000 head down to their Enneabba finishing farms run by Dan Young who prepares the cattle for various markets. To do this, Dan places enormous emphasis on handling, both in and out of the yards and using his horses. The other part of the equation is Easybeef.
When visited in early November, Dan was busy putting the tail of this year’s arrivals through the feedlot. A meticulous cattleman, Dan measures everything and gave details of his success using Easybeef which has been an integral part of the farm’s operation for the past four years.
“When they arrive we grade them and background them until they are about 260kg before going into the feedlot on Easybeef”. We prefer to sell at a weight of 320 kgs or better, depending on the market. He said, “this mob of 1007 are the tail. They cost $2.40 per head a day to run and I expect them to gain an average of 2kg per head across the herd per day. With Easybeef, if you’re not getting 2kg a day growth, something’s wrong! It might be flies or something else but if they’re not putting on 2kg a day (on Easybeef) I know something’s wrong.”
Dan also mentioned he had an earlier mob through the feedlot during Spring that averaged 2.4kg gain per day. “The conditions were perfect” he said.
Milne Feeds have spent a number of years developing the Easybeef pellet which is simple to use and 100% safe, so clients get the performance that they need, without having to ever worry about acidosis, swollen hocks or hot feet. EasyBeef is a product that can help the pastoralist or the southern cattle producer to value add their own livestock as minimal infrastructure and equipment is required to feed cattle. So before selling your weaner to someone else who will them make the additional returns from finishing it, give some consideration of using EasyBeef to capture this additional value for yourself. If you have any questions or would like to place an order, please call Milne Feeds on 9351 0700
