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The Ulimate
Bull
The Santa Gertrudis bull is renowned as one of the industry's most efficient
beef producers. You will notice immediate improvements with the first calf crop.
The calves will have no trouble at birth with smaller birth weights than most of
the recently imported breeds and yet they are renowned for their rapid growth.
The use of a Santa Gertrudis bull will introduce heat tolerance, tick
resistance, and most importantly, when crossed with British breeds, an immediate
drop in the number of losses due to eye cancer and pink eye.
In recent years breeders of Santa cattle in Australia's more temperate climates
have consistently recorded significant reduction in losses caused by bloat.
Santa cattle have the ability to thrive on lush pasture without suffering from
bloat - a problem which causes untold losses every year in some of Australia's
southern States.
Mature Santa Gertrudis bulls weigh in excess of 900 kg with 1000 kg and more not
uncommon. The average scrotal circumference is frequently in excess of 40cm.
Weight gain is one of the most highly heritable performance traits in beef
cattle - daily weight gains of Santa Gertrudis bulls is regularly monitored at
more than 1.5kg per day.
Santa bulls have outstanding foraging ability which means they can thrive even
under the harshest conditions and they are
 noted as very active and athletic
sires.
An inherent trait of Bos Indicus is their unlaboured gait which enables them to
easily cope with long distances to food or water, unlike some European and
British breeds.
The
Ultimate Cow
The Santa Gertrudis female has become a
highly-sought-after commodity in the Australian beef industry with regular sales
of females from central and northern Queensland to cattlemen in southern regions
of New South Wales and Victoria.
Few beef cattle breeds can boast regular sales of females into these areas and
the reasons are clear. The Santa Gertrudis cow is one of the most efficient
producers in the industry.
The mature Santa cow can weigh up to 750kg, she has excellent milking ability
with high butterfat content, few calving problems and in competitive tests has
produced consistently larger calf crops than other breeds.
One of the major attractions of Santa Gertrudis female is their longevity.
Producers regularly record details of 14-15 year-old cows still producing a calf
each year without fail. One breeder had a foundation second cross female which
had produced its 18th calf at 21 years-of-age.
Because of this outstanding ability, producers are not forced to continually use
replacement heifers; this translates to better gross margins, and more money in
your pocket.
The large mature size of the Santa female also provides excellent salvage value.
Their natural mothering instinct is also evident with regular examples of one or
two females keeping watch over a large number of calves while the other cows
graze.
For establishing a good strong breeding base the Santa Gertrudis female has much
to offer.
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In recent years breeders of Santa
cattle in Australia's more temperate climates have consistently recorded
significant reduction in losses caused by bloat.
One of the major attractions of Santa Gertrudis
female is their longevity and
excellent milking ability.
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