Tom Park reckons he has just made one of his better decisions; to join Team Te Mania.
Although truth be told, it wasn’t an overnight epiphany.
His farm manager Daniel Wales has been working with Te Mania Angus Mansfield-based ET and recipient herd manager James McCormack for the past four or five years.
“Frankly we have been working towards this for more than 30 years, and it is now an honour to be included in Team Te Mania,” Tom says.
Based on the 1350 acres of Gooramadda, at Acheron (near Alexandra in Victoria’s High Country) and another nearby 270 agistment acres, Tom and Daniel are running a self-replacing herd of 350 Angus breeders.
The herd is spring joined, calving down in late June to early July and they work to carry all heifers through their second winter where possible.
Although brand spanking new to Team Te Mania , Gooramadda has been using Te Mania Angus genetics (and James’ advice) for several years and has also been fortunate to have sold steers to Rangers Valley at Glen Innes in NSW for the past two years.
“We turn off our steers at 8-9 months, and with the past few bumper seasons have been averaging around 320- 340kg,” Tom adds.
“We have been strong supporters of AuctionsPlus because it lets you describe each lot, to tell the story about the assessment and the genetics of your cattle, and as Team Te Mania members we are very much looking forward to the Team Te Mania Commercial Female Online sales in the future, to get full recognition of the genetics built up over the years,” he says.
Gooramadda has just joined 300 females to AI, with the heifer draft being AI’d twice. Gooramadda has been using Te Mania Angus semen for the past five years and Te Mania Angus bulls for more than 10 years.
At Gooramadda Tom says the breeding goal is simple: to build a sustainable property to best carry a genetically and performance improving Angus herd.
“Our plan is to deliver carcase performance at the quality end of the market, and with good balance” Tom added.
“As our heifers are the cattle driving our business forward, we prioritise calving ease, maternal attributes and improving carcase quality in each generation” he says.
“For the third year in succession we have a good amount of feed and our paddocks are well watered, and because of paddock improvements over the past 10 years, we are in a pretty good position overall.”
Tom is a bit understated about the progress they have made over the past 33 years.
“Frankly, we’re a smaller operation so the chance for us to discuss, receive useful information and benchmark alongside such professional producers will surely help our skills and knowledge to progress our herd, and although we have just joined, the reception and support from the Team Te Mania people has been terrific.”
Member of Team Te Mania since 2020
Calving period – June-July
