12/7/25
Calving
Calving started earlier than usual this year. Because we sell yearling bulls and have moved to an AcutionsPlus auction with open day on farm, we have chosen to move calving forwards a week. This will give the young bulls just a little bit more time to be ready for bull breeding soundness exams in a year's time. We know that one or two weeks can make all the difference. And what a great start to calving - W1 Won Wron is a fine, sturdy bull calf with a standout EBV chart, out of one of Davo’s favourite cows, Delvene N8 and sired by Mount Major Tony. He’s a half brother to Mount Major Quantum at Woodbourn. Another half-brother, by Bottlesford Mocha, will be available in our sale on 1 October - look out for Viceroy in the sale catalogue.
5/7/25
New truck
A new addition to the Mount Major fleet - Davo is now the proud owner of a Mitsubishi truck which will give us a lot more flexibility for moving cows around and delivering bulls. Not really the year for buying new (or even second-hand) toys but Davo had been looking for a long time to find something like this within budget so when it came along, the opportunity was too good to pass up. Many thanks to Dookie Motors (who are celebrating 100 years!) for all their help in finding this gem and getting it on the road. We couldn’t have done it without you Brian!
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June 2025
Rain!
Finally, at the end of June, we have mud. It has remembered how to rain.
May 2025
Feeding out continues . . .
We usually say the autumn break can't be expected until after ANZAC Day around here. But it didn't come and the wait was interminable. Sowing was completed and we were more than ready but the last significant rain was 10mm in February.
April 2025
Feeding out
After a long hot summer, the long-hoped-for autumn break didn't really happen and feeding out seems to have gone on and on, with load after load of extra hay at ever increasing prices. It has been a very tough season.
23/2/25
200 day weights
A big day in the yards yesterday doing 200 day weights, tail hair sampling and vaccinations. Thanks to Luke Allison and Ted Davidson for all their help in the yards - team work makes the dream work! It was nice to see the Rogialyn calves are looking great as well. Team Rogialyn have been in the house paddock since they arrived. They'll spend the next week or so sharing a fenceline with the Mount Major ladies to try and minimise any fighting when they all get mixed together.
10/2/25
Welcome to Mittagong matrons
This morning we were very happy to welcome 7 cows & calves and 2 heifers who have made the journey down from Mittagong. We are very grateful to Roger and David Houghton from Rogialyn Murray Greys for giving us the chance to select these beautiful females from their herd. And thank you to Joe Wilton for his taking his usual excellent care of them on the journey. It's not often Davo gets to buy new cows and he's very excited to see what these ladies can do in our herd.
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5/2/25
Dookie Beef Week Tour
10 Dookie blokes hit the road for a magical mystery bus tour looking at all things beef over 2 days of Beef Week in northeast Victoria and the Riverina. We saw some impressive Angus bulls at Dunoon Angus and Rennylea Angus, some excellent Hereford bulls at Wirruna Poll Herefords and the composites Hicks Beefs were very interesting - it was good to see a herd that does so well in carcass competitions. We stayed overnight at Tallangatta and Holbrook - great company, everyone was excited and we had some fantastic discussions over a couple of cold ones at the end of each day, talking about what we saw and which producers were producing some really top line cattle. A great oppportunity to see the different breeding directions being taken by a range of studs. Everyone had so much fun they are all planning to come again and we will head in a different direction next year.
/1/25
Beef Week at Mount Major Murray Greys
We were open for Beef Week as always, and were pleased to put up a lovely line of heifers for the Heifer Challenge. The judge made very good comments about the quality of the feet on our heifers, their temperament and as well as commenting on how they were an excellent, even line of heifers. Upmarket put a good show on for the Stock and Land photographer and the Heifer Challenge judges. They were fascinated with the cow brush and really loved seeing Upmarket demonstrate his skills with the brush. To see him in action, visit the Stock and Land Beef Week page - keep watching past the advert for footage of Davo.
17/1/25
Pain free
We are selling some commercial cows and have marked their bull calves. Pain relief is mandatory for Greenham's Never Ever program, which we are accredited with, so the vet came out and gave them the gold standard - a light anaesthetic and sedation, with Metcam for long-acting pain relief after the procedure. It made the job safe, clean and quick, and the calves were not stressed at all. After a long lie down in the shade they were back up with their mums.
15/1/25
Dookie Beefo's
A few local breeders have got together to form Dookie Progressive Breeders with the plan of meeting 3-4 times a year for a meal and guest speaker - all breeds and farming styles are welcome. On Wednesday night, they got together for a night at Dookie Pub they heard from Greenhams about Greenham Connect and their range of programs, including Never Ever and Greenhams Beef Sustainability Standard. It was a lovely night - everyone enjoyed themselves and Greenhams appreciated the opportunity to explain some of the great work they do.
12/1/2025
Happy Union
Mount Major Union has settled in well at his new home with new clients Tony & Sue Kent, although we suspect he wasn’t quite ready for the attention he’s been getting from our older girls!
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12/1/2025
Trip to south-west Victoria and Greenhills Murray Greys
Davo and I took advatange of the kids being home and between summer jobs to get away for a few days for a little tour of south-west Victoria, including a stop at Greenhills Murray Greys. Many thanks to Chris and Sarah for their hospitality and for showing us their lovely herd of cows. Such an even line up of animals. We were pleased to see how Mount Major bulls are performing in their herd and enjoyed a really good catch up. It turned out to be a good time to visit with many prime stock on hand about to hit the market over the next couple of months. Three yearling bulls from Mount Major after their first joining at GreenHills Murray Greys are pictured below (left to right: Upbeat, Unit & Uranium)
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