OUR BREEDING PROGRAM

Our breeding program is actually pretty basic.  We are looking for four things:

Ease of calving:  Cows should be able to calve unassisted, with little trauma. The only time they might need help from us is if the calf is not presented correctly.

Growth: An animal that grows quicker, will also finish quicker.

Marbling: Marbling is the single biggest influencer in eating quality.  Cattle are raised to be eaten – so why wouldn’t you want this?  Marbling requires good feeding, but also marbling genes in the animal’s makeup.

Docility: If animals are relaxed the eating quality will be better.  But bad docility can affect others in the herd, and also be potentially dangerous.  We cull for poor docility

Marbling is most definitely the number one trait we breed for. Carcass, growth etc. are also right up there. But docility is incredibly important to us. We want nice, happy cows, who don’t get stressed (and therefore stress the other cows).

We are confident that the best steaks come from relaxed animals, but our desire for docility is well beyond simply the eating quality, We genuinely want our animals to be relaxed and enjoying life on Lake Farm. The more docile the animal, the better chance we have of achieving this goal.

High marbling is the prerequisite to our long term breeding goals.

There are many influences that affect beef eating quality – but the single biggest influence is from marbling. Marbling is the small flecks of fat that reside inside the steak (not the fat on the outside of the steak). When the steak is cooked, this fat melts and enhances the flavour profile. Once the fat is melted, the result is meat that is more relaxed, more tender and more succulent.

This is Jenna – one of the first registered Angus cows from our herd. She epitomized docility, and to match, she has outstanding growth, outstanding carcass, and when she was scanned for marbling – was in the highest percentile.

She was here for 14 years, and gave us so much pleasure. She started to prolapse, and we have to get the vet to put her out of her misery.

Jenna – we miss you so much!!