Friday,
20 December 2024
Spring herd dispersal at Riga represents incredible opportunity

ANGUS studs in Mansfield have been included in day seven of the 2025 Stock and Land Beef Week calendar, with Riga Angus welcoming visitors on-farm on Tuesday February 4.

Stock and Land Beef Week is an annual free-to-attend eight day event, with the 2025 schedule held from Wednesday January 29 to Wednesday February 5.

Visitors are invited on-property with the event representing the perfect opportunity to visit leading cattle studs across the state and into New South Wales and South Australia.

This year - Beef Week's 34th - the event begins in Western Victoria and finishing in New South Wales.

For the first time, Angus studs across the Mansfield Shire have fallen into the catchment for the North East, showcasing their genetics alongside other breeders from across the region.

Riga Angus principal Vera Finger said the display at the Midland Highway stud just outside of Mansfield, will include both male and females that are representative of the Riga herd.

Vera confirmed Riga will also be participating in Stock and Land's Beef Week Heifer Challenge, with all participants submitting entries by January 20 and finalists then judged in-person during Beef Week.

Riga's entry in the challenge will be on display at the open day, alongside some of the stud's draft line-up going under the hammer at their annual yearling bull sale, scheduled for April 9.

Representing an incredible opportunity to inject some Riga Angus breeding credentials into your herd, the stud will also be dispersing their spring calving herd on the same day.

"The season in Mansfield has been extremely challenging with very little dry feed ahead of us as we head into summer and autumn," said Vera.

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"Coupled with our daughter cementing her career in the grains research industry, we have decided to disperse our spring calving herd."

Kicking off at 11am on April 9 the bull sale will be followed by the dispersal at 1pm.

"The yearling bulls include some new genetics in Millah Murrah Quartz, Virginia Tech Statesman, Sitz Resilient as well as genetics that has been proven here such as Dunoon Recharge," Vera said of the bull sale.

In regards to the dispersal, Vera said the females will be offered pregnancy tested in calf.

"We will retain the progeny so we don’t lose this genetic pool," Vera said.

The females represent many of Riga's breeding objectives and the incorporation of the research breeding values of MBC (mature body condition) and MCH (mature cow height) into the TransTasman estimated breeding values, provides Riga with another excellent tool for selecting more efficient mature animals.

"This is an ongoing focus here with many of the females on offer in the top 30 per cent of the breed for MBC," Vera said.

"AI mating sires have been used to complement the females and include Millah Murrah Sunstruck, Cluden Newry Uppercut as well as other proven sires.

"Their heifer calves will then be weaned early and held over for an autumn joining.

"Three females will be retained for flushing/IVF."

Vera said the team at Riga Angus are looking forward to welcoming visitors on-farm to consider their Mansfield operation as part of Stock and Land Beef Week.