Feature Story

Ireland's Angus - A Passion for Angus

Weekly Times | Kim Wood | March 4, 2011

THERE are few stud producers under the age of 40 who can claim to have 26 years of cattle breeding under their belt. However Corey Ireland is one of them.
Since the age of 10, he has been singularly focused on breeding a quality herd of stud Angus cows.
Today at 36, he has assembled one of the largest registered Angus herds in the nation with 650 females.
Last year was one of highs and lows for Corey and his wife, Prue.

While their Wagga Wagga, NSW farm was isolated four times by major floods, they had a clean sweep at the Royal Melbourne Show and negotiated the purchase of the entire Geramy Angus stud.

The Geramy purchase from Peter and Margaret Slatter, of Holbrook, involved 260 autumn-calving registered cows, and 100 mixed-sex weaners. The cattle were shifted to their new Riverina home in a dozen B-doubles over two days.

Ireland's Angus now has an array of bull-producing females, giving Corey and Prue the ability to supply large numbers of bulls into western NSW and Queensland. They are seeking co-operator Angus herds to progeny-test their young stud sires.

But the bottom line for any stud, according to the Irelands, is the performance of the steer progeny in the feedlot or on the kill floor. Last year 2000 Ireland-blood steers were sold by the stud's clients. The 2009-drop steers, with an average weight of 451kg, returned 207c/kg or an average price of $932.

The stud ranks highly for marbling on Breedplan at 4.65 per cent, compared with the breed average of 3 per cent.
"Breedplan is a tool we use for selection - we like a balance of traits and the cattle have to be structurally correct and sound," Corey said.

He has always been a stickler for breeding sound, functional, high-performing cattle suited to the environment.
At 10 years old, Corey went against the family grain of breeding Herefords and started Ireland's Angus in 1984, with a handful of heifers with his brother, Michael. Their newly founded stud was run on the family farm at Warragul.
Wal Kenney, of Kyloh Angus at Darnum, took the young Corey under his wing and mentored him on all things cattle-related.

"Wal Kenney gave me a really good foundation - we focused on breeding for reasonable frame, weight and soundness," Corey said.
Corey studied agribusiness at Marcus Oldham College before joining the finance arm of Landmark.
Prue, who worked as the marketing manager for Essendon Football Club, also grew up with cattle. Her family ran the Pickett Range and Onkaparinga Simmental studs in South Australia.
Living and working in Melbourne, the couple always had an ambition to run a specialised stud operation on their own farm.
"We were agisting our cattle at Albury and most of our bull clients were in the Riverina," Corey said.
"We started looking at properties in 2003 when the market was red hot - unless you signed the papers on the day, you missed out."
"Our first aim was to buy a business that was drought-proof and near a major centre."
They invested in a bookstore at Wagga Wagga, which is now run by Prue and 20 staff.
In February 2004, the couple took over the 250ha property Ivydell in the Kyeamba valley, east of Wagga Wagga.
"This farm had a secure rainfall and was close to a major centre - it fitted the bill," Corey said.
Accompanied by their stud herd of 40 autumn and spring calving cows, the couple hit the ground running in severe drought.
"Perfection being the nature of the beast, I started with getting the soils right and pastures improved," Corey said.
Lime applications of 3 tonnes/ha lifted soil pH to 5-5.2 for the establishment of phalaris-based pastures and lucerne.
"I wanted to get a feel for the place before I began re-fencing it," Corey said.
"We spent two years with limited cattle yards - we slowly pieced together a plan."
Ivydell has since been refenced according to land capability, deciduous and native trees planted, dams cleaned out and a system of troughs installed.
A new set of cattle yards complements holding paddocks, a sales ring and amphitheatre.
This was all achieved while Corey worked full-time in finance with Landmark Wagga Wagga. He has since established a joint-venture mortgage broking company with Ruralco and continues to work full time.
Corey has no interest in running commercial cattle.
"I have focused my skills on a specialised seedstock operation - that is the thing I love," he said.
"Having my clients profiting from using our genetics is where I get my kick from."
He culled any cows with poor constitution during the drought.
"Our bigger-framed cows are not extreme but have constitution and capacity," he said.

"We have had to make every cow work as a matter of risk reduction."
The majority of heifers are joined naturally to calve at two years, using home-bred bulls in a progeny test program.
Over the years genetics from the US, Canada and New Zealand have been used selectively in embryo transfer and artificial-insemination programs.
The stud sells 100 bulls by auction and private treaty each year, mostly to commercial clients within 100km.
Last year at the first on-property sale, bulls topped at $6500 and averaged $3800.
Although the stud has a website, Corey likes to have one-on-one contact with clients to obtain performance feedback.
"At the end of the day, we are about getting the best return possible for our clients - we try to produce a good affordable product people can have confidence in," he said.
"I would rather have 600 consistently good females than half a dozen outstanding cows. I have spent a long time making sure our cows are right and using bulls to enhance their carcass attributes."
With the help of Corey's nephew Blake, 17, the couple are intent on establishing a sustainable and diversified enterprise mix.
"Working to build a family business to the point where we are now is what's special to me," Corey said.
"I have wonderful support from Prue, who is my balancer. The fact she can have a different perspective on the business is the key to our success so far. We don't make a decision without talking to each other."

Link to original Weekly Times article