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Jockwar
Matt Nicole (right) is pictured at last year’s Waterfront sale after purchasing 4 top bulls. He is with Waterfront’s Matt Parker (centre) and Brian Johnson who also purchased 4 bulls for his South East cattle operations.

Young, enthusiastic cattle breeder Matt Nicole has selected Waterfront Simmental genetics as a cornerstone of his commercial beef enterprise. With the support of his wife Bec and with two young children, Brandon (6 years) and Tara (4 years), Matt runs Jockwar Station, comprising approximately 5,200 hectares (13,000 acres), situated between Tailem Bend and Meningie in the Murraylands region of SA.

When Matt and Bec took over the property it was basically destocked, but is now running 380 breeding cows. These comprise mainly Angus cows, but there are also 70 Santa Gertrudis/Shorthorn cross cows amongst them.

The management policy Matt has adopted is to buy in all replacement females from sales like the Naracoorte Breeders Sale, aiming to build up to 600 breeding females next year. This policy allows them to maximise their breeding and grazing management focus on turning off the progeny as 9 to 10 month old prime vealers.

All calves are turned off at this age, irrespective of finish. The calves that meet MSA standards or smaller butcher specifications are sold direct, with others being sold through markets such as Strathalbyn or Naracoorte.

The need for their vealers to meet top end market specifications is important for overall profitability. That is why Matt and Bec have now chosen Waterfront Simmental genetics. They were seeking rapid growth, more weight and less fat and believe the Simmental cross will do this for them. “Last year’s straight Angus calves were too fat for us. They averaged 15mm of fat across the board which means they are slowing down in their growth far too early,” Matt said.

At last year’s Waterfront Premier Genetic Sale at Naringa Park, Naracoorte, Matt purchased 4 top Simmental bulls, paying to $5,000 and at an average of $3,937.50. With a variety of sire lines represented in these purchases, Matt explained that his selection emphasis was on type, not bloodline.
“We are seeking bulls with a relatively easy care shape that have a moderate frame and plenty of muscling capacity,” he said. “Initially we put these Waterfront bulls over the Santa Gertrudis/Shorthorn cross cows and got 98.5% conception in the short mating period. We’ve never had that sort of fertility result from bulls before, so naturally we are very happy with them,” he added. Those cows are due to start calving in the first week of December, with the Angus cows to follow on.

While Matt indicated his pleasure at how they’d performed, he also said he wasn’t that surprised. “We knew the Hodge family well and the history of their stud for producing very honest, reliable, high performance cattle that are not overdone, so the way they have developed and performed has met our expectations. We couldn’t be happier and will certainly be back at Waterfront in the future,” Matt concluded.

Last changed: Dec 22 2010 at 3:48 AM