Welcome to the Team, Sarah and Byron O’Keefe.
October 2023
You can take the O’Keefes out of Te Mania Angus, but you can’t keep the genetics out of their herd.
After three years managing the Te Mania Angus headquarters property at Mortlake, Byron and Sarah made the move in 2020 to establish O’Keefe Pastoral at Drik Drik in southwestern Victoria.
And now their 400-head female herd (plus replacement heifers) is in place the couple have signed on with Team Te Mania to help with their long-term production goals.
Byron says the breeding objective at O’Keefe Pastoral is a fertile, medium framed, phenotypically sound, feed efficient female producing high-marbling prodigy, with great growth and market flexibility.
He says their foundation cowherd consists predominantly of Te Mania Angus and Rennylea genetics with cows sourced from other Team Te Mania herds, such as Boona and Wellington Lodge. In addition to the Team Te Mania females, females from Sarah’s family’s cowherd have also been purchased for several years.
“In the past three years AI has been extensively used across both cows and heifers to fast track genetic improvement in the herd,” Byron explains.
“We are currently using Te Mania Noorla VTMN1452 within the herd and Te Mania Angus AI sires which have also been introduced include:
- Te Mania Legend VTML646
- Te Mania Nebraska VTMN630
- Te Mania Nolan VTMN1423
“Obviously we are very familiar with Team Te Mania and the Te Mania Angus genetics program, and through our membership we are looking to achieve genetic improvement of our cattle herd at a commercially viable price point, and to assist with the profitability and longevity of our business,” he added.
“The Team Te Mania model excites us as it provides a platform for a diverse group of cattle producers to collaborate through a scientific approach to breeding high quality beef cattle.”
Byron says he and Sarah value the use of high-end genetics and believe commercial producers need just as much access to industry leading genetics and others.
He says in “creating an elite herd of angus females, we want to demonstrate the importance of combining proven genetics, best practice animal welfare and outstanding livestock handling skills to naturally produce the best protein source available”.
Member of Team Te Mania since 2023
Johnes Status – Beef Only
Calving period – Spring
EU Accreditation
