Romagnolas provide flatback alternative in the north

Romagnola Beef Genetics owners Matt and Anna Ahern are located at Bulala, 40 kilometres south west of Roma, and have been supplying bulls into northern Australia for the last 20 years.

The 4500 acre stud consists of 300 Romagnola breeding females including a line of purebred Romagnola cows upgraded from a base of stud Brahmans that have been crossed back to Romagnola bulls.

Mr Ahern said Romagnolas performed well in northern Australia, offering graziers with a Brahman cross alternative that could handle the climate and open other market opportunities.

"We've been selling bulls up there for about 20 years fairly consistently. We've developed a few clients around Julia Creek, in the Gulf and there are guys in the Northern Territory that buy regularly," he said.

"Romagnolas are one of the few European bulls that you can send into that north west, the Gulf, into the Territory, that will handle those conditions and cross well with the Brahman cattle to give graziers more options than just live export.

"Brahmans are great for that country, they handle the conditions but it's a one trick pony as far as live export goes. But if they have to come south with the progeny they need something in them to give them a bit of extra weight and make them more saleable.

"So if they want to come south to feedlots or produce feeder steers or weaners, they have that flatback option of a good crossbred animal that still handles the environment."

Mr Ahern said key traits clients were looking for included being able to handle a hardy environment, good structure, and easy going cattle.

"The big thing for us is the bulls have got to handle the country and handle the environment, also good structure, coat type, ability to walk and easy going cattle," he said.

"There is no point sending soft bulls that aren't going to hack it and we sell all our bulls privately so we can make sure the right bulls go to the right places.

"Everyone wants something a little bit different, so we talk to clients early in the year and try and draft a good line of bulls for them that will suit them."

Ms Ahern said there were more northern Romagnola infused cattle moving through the saleyards.

"When we got into business there was a belief that there weren't many Romagnolas around and there wasn't the work being done on the genetics that there was in the background," she said.

"Today there is a lot of Romagnola infused cattle, particularly in the north, we can see it coming through Roma saleyards.

"So hopefully that means there are some happy clients out there and we will keep working to improve our quality."

Romagnola Beef Genetics started in 2006 after Ms Ahern's father John Onley passed away.

"Matt and I had been working on the property with my parents and through succession and estate planning we merged a couple of stud herds together and that became Romagnola Beef Genetics," Ms Ahern said.

"I have been breeding Romagnolas myself since the mid-90s and my parents were the early '90s after dad was impressed by them on an overseas trip.

"They were really impressed by their structure and thickness and also they looked like they would do well in Australia. Dad was looking for something to put over their Bos indicus herd at Nebo.

"He was so taken by the Romagnolas he wanted to get some new genetics into the country and with some business partners were the first to bring new semen directly in from livestock in Italy in 1991."

Mr Ahern said they continued to breed Romagnolas because of their versatility and genetic make-up.

"They are one of the oldest breeds in the world, the make-up on the Romagnola is thousands of years old," he said.

"They're European cattle but they have a Bos indicus infusion. So (during the fourth century AD with the Gothic invasion) they had cattle with them that were Bos indicus and when they got driven out the cattle stayed, resulting in a breed that has got the structure, coat type, the dark pigment of the Bos indicus but over the years carcase and weight gain-wise, they have increased performance."

RBG sells between 40 to 50 bulls a year, from the Gulf of Carpentaria to Warrnambool in Victoria and in between.

"The real benefit of the Romagnola for us is... they're as comfortable going over Brahman cattle as they are Angus and British bred cows in the south," Ms Ahern said.

"They are very versatile, they go over a lot of different breeds quite well, they are chameleons in a way too because they are a breed they can put over a lot of different breeds to bump up weight gain with and without having to baby sit the bulls in the paddock."