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

In our early days, marbling was our number one, and almost sole criteria.

This has changed a little. As we get older, and in our semi-retirement phase, docility is our number one trait. We want to share our lives with animals who also like human intervention and are relaxed and enjoy their lives at Lake Farm.

Once we get beyond docility, we want ease of calving, good growth, marbling, and confirmation.

Angus cattle have very few calving issues. In our opinion, no cow deserves to have difficulty in calving. Whilst we always have to take care with our heifer calvings, it is so nice to see cows calve easily and without issues. This is a prerequisite with us.

High marbling is still a prerequisite to our long term breeding goals. The bulls we have at Lake Farm still offer marbling in the higher percentiles

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 in our herd. She epitomized docility, and to match, she had 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. We would be so happy if all the cows in our herd were like Jenna. A very special lady!