About

Hoya Santa Gertrudis

Santa Gertrudis were developed in Texas, USA by King Ranch by using three-eighths Brahman and five-eighths Shorthorn to produce animals that would perform well under the local harsh, hot and dry conditions. After introduction into Australia in the 50's, the Santa has undergone further genetic modification to produce a cherry red large framed breed noted for heat tolerance as well as tick and bloat resistance.

Carcasses from very young cattle develop a large eye muscle of meat with little or no waste fat. Older steers yield well, with minimum fat cover acceptable to premium world markets. Weight for age is a noted attribute of the breed.

Our breeding programme aims to build on these attributes and produce a fertile, docile animal with impressive 400-day growth rate. We handle our stock during weaning and select for biddable traits and also improve marbling by selection for docility.

We are ethical farmers and provide our cattle with low stocking rates ample access to water, shade and feed in an environment as natural as possible. We believe in removing horns (as we have seen the damage these can do to other cattle) but prefer to breed polled cattle if possible. We castrate our steers using caltrate rings at 12 months for natural growth promotion. We minimise stress during branding/dehorning by the use of local anaesthetic and return calves to their mothers directly afterwards. We are not ashamed to vaccinate (as we know the suffering preventable disease can cause) and use strategic treatments for ticks (but never organophosphates). We rotationally graze and use traditional mosaic fire practices to control pest species and reduce worm burdens.

We sell grass-fed 1 and 2-year-old steers to the grid for Jap Ox through Dinmore Meat works (JBS) and routinely return some of the best carcass prices. We can also supply carcasses to individuals using local abattoirs and butchers in Brisbane and Boonah if required, because we believe everyone should have a right to know where their meat comes from and have access to it.

We also produce Bulls (both purebred and commercial) for sale to other pastoral enterprises mainly for F1 sires. At the moment we sell through the Northern Santa Gertrudis Group sale at Tamworth but our Bulls are also available by private treaty via this website.

We also have limited numbers of purebred heifers for sale each year.