WHEN Des Slattery started breeding Murray Greys in his late teens, he had a constant battle with his dairy farming father, who wanted to use them in his milking herd.
Mr Slattery said his cattle have been changing with the market conditions over the past 30 years, while still keeping the fundamentals of the breed, like milking ability.
"The development of modern day cattle has been driven by the demand for a faster growing animal that meets a variety of market conditions, along with things like Breedplan and all the modern day tools that a beef producer has," he said.
"In the early days, the Japanese trade wanted cattle that ticked all the boxes with carcase quality and marbling, but that type of cattle evolved into the quick finishing variety."
Mr Slattery said he was always looking to improve his cattle, but said it could be a "knife's edge" trying to do so while keeping the qualities they already have.
"With Murray Greys we didn't want to underdo what we already had – their temperament, ease of calving, versatility, a good carcase quickly, we didn't want to lose those attributes," he said.
"But it is like a lot of breeds, where the modern type of cattle are more framier, which we have had to work towards."
Mr Slattery and his wife Ann started the stud section of their cattle in 1988 and of the 170 Murray Greys the Slatterys run, 50 are stud breeders.
They market the cattle to commercial cattlemen, who can't always be at the beck and call of their cattle, but he also has a strong stud market, especially for his breeding heifers.
"We have developed a reputation for good females and ever since we started breeding our main consideration was to have a high level elite herd, without having a real tail in the herd, which we achieved with heavy culling," Mr Slattery said.
"It is just the effort we put in to maintain that very high standard, we are very adamant about the type of bulls we wanted to produce heifers from and it has paid off – on a commercial basis we breed the same way, so they are not far behind.
"We aim for good feet and soundness, a longer type of animal that is very mobile, because they have got to move around a paddock to graze."
Cullenya has seen success in the showring since its inception, including winning the supreme exhibit at the 2008 Royal Melbourne Show and 2009 Murray Grey National Show and Sale.
The Slatterys relocated to 336 hectares near Wannon in the Western District in 2002, giving them the opportunity to begin competing at the Hamilton Beef Expo.
They have competed both in the showring and carcase competitions every year since and Mr Slattery said it gives them good feedback on their carcase quality and traits.
"We rank well fairly consistently, and it gives us a good idea of not just our own cattle but also a comparison with other breeders and other breeds – you have got to know how you stack up among the rest," he said.
"Overall the carcase competition gives you the best direction – the aim of the game is to have cattle on the hook, that is the ultimate goal and you have got to know how they hang up."
Active members of the Western Victorian Murray Grey Breeders since beginning their stud, the Slatterys have been working towards making sure the breed excels as the feature at this year's Beef Expo.
"It is a great chance to reaffirm some of the breed's attributes and some may be suprised how Murray Greys have developed their standard across the breed, people are always surprised by the consistency of that standard," he said.
"We can bring a lot of benefits to producers, our breed performs regardless of where it is used.
"We are quite happy with the high level of participants that are coming – they are participants who have been showing at national sales and royals for some time and have achieved high level accolades within the breed."
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