After incessant drizzly weather over the last few weeks the rain held off to give a perfect day for the Blonde Farm walk at Neil and Don Burton’s Durnbond property on Friday the 9th October. 

A large crowd took advantage of the fine weather to attend and hear presentations on the commercial advantages of the Blonde breed and the intensive grazing management practices used by the Burton family to improve their farm’s profitability.  There was also the opportunity to view the impressive cross bred calves produced by the Burtons which were sired by Blonde bulls and compare these to British breed crosses. 

The day was opened by WA Blonde Society president Gerald Bergsma (Amaroo Blondes) who outlined the history of the Blonde breed and the breed features which make Blonde d’Aquitaine cattle efficient cattle when used in a cross breeding situation.

Having just returned from visiting a number of Blonde studs in France, Gerald explained that Blondes were a major player in the French beef breeding industry and was the 3rd largest breed in France. French butchers are prepared to pay a premium for Blonde sired cattle due to their high dressing percentage and carcass yields.

Profitability of any beef operation starts with a live calf. Blonde sired calves are born easily due to their long slender shape and develop their muscling after birth. “It is typical to see Blonde sired calves develop their impressive muscling at about 2 to 4 weeks of age”, Gerald said. “Easy calving means less management and vet costs, quicker recovery for the mother post birth, thus allowing her to get in calf more easily for the next season”.

Blonde sired calves grow rapidly with weaning weights on well managed first cross cows ranging from 400 to 500kg producing carcass weights in excess of 230kg. A Blonde sired baby beef will typically dress 2% higher than most other breeds meaning a producer selling direct to butcher on today’s prices receive an extra $28 on a 400kg weaned calf.

Feed efficiency is another breed feature with Blonde sired cattle requiring less kilograms of feed for a kg of weight gain. Feed trials conducted at the Vasse Research Station demonstrated that young Blonde bulls needed only 5.3 kg of feed ration to put on 1 kg of weight compared to figures of 6 to 7 kg per kg of gain in many other cattle breeds.

This high feed efficiency makes Blonde cross calves a very attractive option for feed lot operators, meaning less finishing costs on the back of higher returns due to rapid growth and high carcass yields.

Farm manager Neil Burton then gave the attentive crowd an overview on how the Burton family runs and manages their large beef operation.

Neil detailed the rotational grazing management system he has implemented on the farm using small paddocks and larger mobs of cattle with the cattle only grazing the paddocks for a short period of time.  The paddocks are spelled from between 21 and 42 days depending on pasture growth rate at that time of the year and the paddocks are fertilized after each grazing to ensure maximum re-growth of the pasture”. 

He stated that “although my fertilized bill has increased the cost per calf produced has gone down.  The grazing and fertilizing program has allowed us to increase our carrying capacity and reduce production costs.

Neil also explained how he had a two staged calving which allowed him to make greater use of a smaller number of bulls. “We currently run 7 Blonde bulls used as terminal sires and use a small number of Murray Grey bulls to breed replacement breeders.” 

“Blonde bulls had been introduced to our herd in 2007 and we now have the second drop of Blonde sired calves,” Neil said. “We are very impressed with the muscling and growth of the Blonde sired calves, and both the bulls and the Blonde sired calves have a lovely quiet temperament making them a pleasure to handle.”

The presentation created a great deal of interest with participants providing Neil with plenty of questions and farmer interaction.

It was then time for cattle viewing with Don Burton introducing a few Blonde bulls to the crowd of 50 plus. With a few encouraging pushes the bulls reluctantly agreed to parade themselves before the farm walk visitors.

A large mob of breeders with their calves at foot were viewed from the back of farm utes. Neil explained to the crowd that the late start to the season combined with excessive rain and little sun shine meant the baby beef in the Walpole region were on average 50kg lighter than in other years. Finishing these as baby beef this season will provide for an extra challenge with some needing to be finished in a feedlot.

The BBQ lunch consisting of lean burgers and sausages was complimented with lovely salads and home bake provided for by Kelly Burton supplying a personal touch to the day.

After lunch a short presentation was made outlining the role that hybrid vigour plays in the beef industry. Gerald explained the cross breeding of two different breeds of cattle will provide increased growth in the resultant progeny. Research has shown that cross bred cattle will provide an average 8.5% weaning weight advantage over straight bred cattle. The hybrid vigour resulting from cross breeding is the only ‘Free Lunch” that beef producers will experience.

A 300kg cross breed calf will thus have a 25kg weight advantage over a straight bred calf with no added input costs. Gerald concluded that beef producers not taking advantage of cross breeding and the resultant hybrid vigour are placing themselves at a disadvantage.

To complete the day Don Burton demonstrated the innovative cattle yards that the family has built. The combination of a well thought out design and pneumatic drafting provides for easy handling of large numbers of cattle with minimal stress to man or beast.

WA Blonde studs attending to provide participants with their insight into the commercial attributes of the breed were Tom and Lily Garbelini from Belini Blondes, Henry and Andrea Strating from Superior Blondes and Brian Schneider from Corolin Blondes. Victorian Blonde stud breeder Bob Andrews of Old Kentucky Blondes had changed his flights to ensure he was present of the day.

Celia Polkinghorne of the ABC Great Southern and South Coast WA Rural Report was an attendee and conducted a number of interviews including presenters Gerald Bergsma, Neil Burton and stud breeders and commercial breeders. Extracts of these will feature on the ABC rural report.