Torr Down South Devon Stud | Agriculture

Torr Down South Devon Stud

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25.01.2022 A selection of the animals on show for our open day Beef Field Week Jan30th 2021

17.01.2022 Typical Torr Down spring calf.

13.01.2022 Some of the cattle that will be on view at Torr Down on Beef Field Days January 30th.

12.01.2022 Photos taken on our Open Day January 30th 2021 .Torr Down Pioneer 4 is our senior sire . Cow Natalie 133 ,Dam of Natalie 139. Natalie 139 ,Sire Torr Down Hermes 3 ( semen available) and last but not least Pride 105 SiredbyTorr Down Marvel 3.

01.01.2022 I’d like to share this testimonial from David & Joanne Nelson from Moorabool River Beef from Meredith Victoria Australia. My wife and I run cattle on our farm at Meredith. The property has been in our family for nearly 60 years. Over the years, we have experimented with several breeds including Murray Greys, Shorthorns and Herefords. Due to the popularity of the Angus breed and an obvious market premium, we switched to a straight Angus herd with our cows calving in Autumn.... About 10 years ago, we read an article in The Weekly Times about the South Devon breed which featured prominent breeders John and Sue Harvey from Trentham. We inspected their cattle and were impressed with their size and docility. The cows had plenty of milk and their calves were flourishing. Despite our livestock agent’s advice, approximately 5 years ago, we purchased our first pure South Devon bull from John and Sue to cross with our Angus cows. We also used our own Angus bull so that a comparison between their progeny could be made. The South Devon cross calves grew quickly reaching a liveweight of over 500 kg within 12 months. The Angus calves were much lighter and weren’t as docile. To advance our beef enterprise, we built an on farm butchering facility to enable us to sell our beef directly to the public. This enables us to also assess the carcass performance of any animal we process, not just how it looks in the paddock. The results have been amazing. Not only do the South Devon cross animals have a greater carcass weight, their yield so far has been much better than the straight Angus carcass. Put simply, we get more saleable meat and less waste from the South Devon cross carcass. Another noticeable difference is the moisture content of the meat. The South Devon cross carcass is easier to break down and has a greater moisture content than the straight Angus carcass. The above comments are confirmed by our customers who can’t get enough of the meat. We are so pleased that we made the switch to the South Devon breed, it has increased the profitability of our beef enterprise. We have now purchased a second bull from John and Sue, a South Devon Red Wagyu cross which we are confident will also produce premium beef.