Quality draft for Rosedale Charolais stud's 35th annual sale
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While the Millner family of Rosedale Charolais stud is synonymous with producing quality stud cattle, they are fast gaining a reputation for their success in carcase and feedlot trials over recent years.
The family business consisting of stud principal, James Millner, and his parents Michael and Jenny, operates as Rosedale Livestock Partnership, running 300 stud females and 500 commercial females on their 1619 hectare Blayney properties in the New South Wales' central west.
One of Australia's foundation Charolais studs, Rosedale Charolais stud commenced in 1970 and is credited with the largest polled Charolais herd in NSW as well as laying claim to the title of the longest running Charolais stud in NSW today.
James Millner said they currently sold more than 150 bulls a year both privately and through their annual on-property sale.
"Our 35th annual on-property sale is being held on Friday, May 17, where we will offer 90 bulls made up of 60 pure Charolais and 30 Charolais Composite bulls, comprising Charolais/Angus as well as Charolais/Shorthorn. We will also offer eight polled yearling stud heifers," Mr Millner said.
"About 70 per cent of our sale bulls will be homozygous polled which is pretty impressive, and the result of us being on the polled track for a long time: We went polled before it was fashionable," he said.
Mr Millner said they would have another good line-up of sons of Rosedale Maverick and Rosedale Premier, who was their most powerful walking sire at the moment.
"They are homebred sires that we have been using over the last little while and have been proving very successful. We will also have the first of the Minnie-Vale Quizmaster bulls, and they will be all red factor polled bulls. He is a deep red Charolais bull we bought to use in our black program as well as our stud program, and he's throwing some pretty impressive calves."
Rosedale Charolais has also introduced new genetic lines into their herd purchasing two new sires from across the ditch last year - Silverstream Springston and Hemingford Rough Justice - both from commercially focused Charolais studs in New Zealand.
"We have the Australian semen rights to both bulls, but we won't have progeny until later this year, and we look forward to their calves," Mr Millner said.
Rosedale first ventured into Composites in the 1990's.
"Dad started producing a few Charolais/Shorthorn and Charolais/Angus bulls back then, but probably in the last 10-12 years we've been pushing out the black program with Charolais/Angus bulls," Mr Millner said.
"They are starting to gain a bit of traction especially proving popular throughout central west NSW," he said.
"We've been selling some Charolais/Shorthorn bulls into Queensland and also some pure Charolais, with quite a number going up to Queensland over the years."
Since it's foundation in 1970, the breeding objectives of Rosedale Charolais Stud have remained the same, which is to be commercially orientated.
"Our cattle have always been produced with the commercial end user in mind. We focus on producing the highest quality cattle that perform well in all conditions to maximise returns for producers targeting both the Australian domestic and export commercial markets," Mr Millner said.
As a result of that philosophy, the Millner's have been very successful in the last 12 months in particular, and at the 2024 Beef Spectacular Feedback trial, having three teams place in the top ten this year.
This comes after their success in 2021, with four teams in the top six placings, as well as taking out Grand Champion and Reserve Champion team, with Charolais/Angus cross steers.
"We also won it back in 2013, and have done consistently well in that competition over the years," Mr Millner said.
The family also tasted success in the 2023 Royal Agricultural Society Beef Challenge at Sydney, winning the Grand and Reserve Champion domestic pen (70 day grainfed), again with Charolais/Angus cross steers.
"Rosedale-influenced teams also took out first, second and third place in the Feedlot Profitability section, and in the Export classes (100 day grainfed) three Rosedale-influenced teams took out the three top placings in the Eating Quality award with the highest MSA index scores. We also placed first in the carcase grid specifications," Mr Millner said.
Their 2023 success didn't stop there, as they also featured in the winner's circle of the Woolworths Merriwa Feedlot Trial where cattle were grown out at Alexander Downs feedlot, and which attracted 70 teams.
"Rosedale-bred Charolais/Angus black composite steers performed well winning the weight gain section with an average daily gain of 2.49 kilograms over 100 days vs the trial average of 1.92kg. We aim to breed polled Charolais that have a balance of growth as well as carcase traits. We've really been pushing carcase traits such as IMF over the last ten years, and we are seeing a positive trend towards higher marbling without losing any of the other important traits along the way."
Mr Millner believes taking part in carcase and feedlot trials is more commercially relevant than showing cattle, which they did up until 2015.
"It's real-life conditions and everyone's on a level playing field," he said.
As for the future at Rosedale.
"We will try to expand our black first cross' (F1's), as our markets down here are dominated by the colour black, with the Charolais bringing extra muscling, yield and growth," he said.
"We also have three pens entered for this year's upcoming Paddock to Palate at the Brisbane Ekka, which we have not competed in for the past five years."
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