A 25-year passion

Buchan Station - from Shorthorns to Angus - A 25-year passion

Buchan Station - from Shorthorns to Angus - A 25-year passion

The purchase of Buchan Station, nestled just east of Buchan township some 25 years ago, may have seemed an odd choice for a real estate agent from Torquay.

But Hayden's Real Estate owners, Bryan and Vicki Hayden, had made

a calculated call.

"I received two pieces of very valuable advice early in my career," Bryan said.

"One was 'Don't buy the property - buy the water', and Buchan Station is a very well-watered property.

"The second was 'Make sure you buy far enough away so you don't travel to it to fix the simple things', in other words, get someone who's qualified to run it and stick to your own business."

Bryan followed that sage advice and has since built a reputable Angus operation, including a 500-head breeding herd and several notably bred bulls, including Milwillah

Renegade R1033 and more recently Milwillah Shane S23, a bull by Milwillah Napa.

Buchan Station spans 2000 acres, bounded at the north by Buchan River, while the Tara and Harold Creeks join at about the centre of the property, before flowing into the Buchan, ensuring most paddocks have fresh water.

Bryan personally buys the bulls after spending many hours working through each bull's figures in the catalogue and completing an on-farm inspection.

The Haydens have five children and 11 grandchildren, who visit the farm when they can.

Their two sons, Patrick and Sam, share a passion for breeding cattle.

Gippsland was an obvious choice to buy a property for Bryan as he has always had a family connection with various parts of the region.

His mother's family, the Moores of Jack River, arrived in 1840 and later by marriage connected to the prominent Buckley family, who first came to Gippsland with Livingstone in 1836, just ahead of McMillan, pioneering the border country from the Monaro into South Gippsland, including Benambra, Gelantipy, Ensay and Prospect (now Seaspray).

Bryan has traced the ownership of Buchan Station and believes the first man to settle it was John Rohdes Wilkinson, despite Edward Bayliss having already pegged the site in 1837.

"Buchan Station changed hands many times over the years.

"In old times the Pastoral Companies would lend the money to people to buy property, there'd be a few droughts and they would foreclose on them so someone else would buy in," he said.

"In recent times with water improvements, people have been able to hold on to their land for longer."

Past owners have included the Scotts, Sam and Walter Lane, and Dr Harry Cummins.

The Haydens have had just three managers overseeing the place during the 25 years, the Daffey family, the McAuliffe family and current managers. the Anderson family, Lance, Lyric, Rhyme and Hughie.

Over time the Haydens have transformed the herd from Herefords and Shorthorns into an Angus herd by choosing quality animals, including bulls from Angus studs like Te Mania and Merridale.

"We wanted an outstanding female line and chose to go with Milwillah Angus," Bryan said.

"We're basically a pure Milwillah herd now, and that's really been very rewarding for us."

Part of the business of buying quality bulls is selling their semen, which at $70 a straw, goes some way towards paying for them.

The Haydens have recently sold semen from S23 as well as another older bull, Milwillah Lannister L20, who has sired some beautifully quiet females within the Buchan Station herd.

'That's the idea, if you pay $40,000 to $50,000 for a sire," Bryan said.

"That way you can claw back some of your investment.

"One of the first bulls we bought was Te Mania Ada, and we basically paid for him by selling his semen."

He said by choosing the best possible sires and using artificial insemination and embryo transfer (ET), all of a sudden you're "maximising your genetics and the qualities

you're after are infused into the herd more quickly".

Lately Buchan Station has used some leading American and Australian genetics through ET, introduced by Patrick and Sam, along with purchasing some stud cows.

"We had been talking about the idea of breeding a few of our own bulls for a few years, then the opportunity to purchase some embryos and a few females came up so we jumped at the chance," Sam Hayden said.

"It's been a big learning experience but something we're excited about and it's showing some promising signs.

"We have our second batch of ET calves due at the start of February with some exciting matings.

"We've focussed on a set of six key breeding areas, starting from the ground up.

"Structure, fertility, temperament, phenotype, frame size and balanced EBVs.

"We want to be able to look at an animal in the paddock and be proud that we've bred it but also that they perform and put meat on the bones.

"We aim to have some stud bulls available for sale coming into 2025."

Bill Wyndham and Co livestock agent, Colin Jones. has been the selling agent for Buchan Station over the past 12 years and says the cattle are well sought after.

"Whenever the cattle are sold there are always repeat buyers which means the stock they have bought previously have done the job," he said.

"The genetics have certainly improved over the past eight to 10 years and those repeat buyers competing on females are always there because they know how well they're bred.

"They have a good following, every time."

Source: Bairnsdale Advertiser