IRONBARK HEREFORDS 1933 to 2023 – 90 YEARS    

Welcome to Ironbark Herefords. We are a family owned and run Hereford stud with a commerical cattle operation and a 1,000 head feedlot enterprise.

Every August on the last Friday, our annual Hereford Stud Bull Sale takes place, a sale widely recognised throughout the beef industry.

The stud has always remained in the safe hands of the Spencer family. We pride ourselves on producing a superior beef Hereford product.

 In 2017 Ironbark Herefords made a strategic decision to use GENOMIC testing. Genomic’s is the study of an animal’s entire set of DNA genes and how they interact to influence the growth and development of that animal.                                    Thus ensuring the Ironbark Hereford herd is at the forefront of genomic accuracy. All historical and currently used bulls that have had an impact within the Ironbark herd over the last 18 years have been tested with either a High Density or Low Density Genomic test through Herefords Australia Ltd. This has provided important genetic linkages to the Hereford reference population and to animals throughout the Hereford breed. It has also ensured that known undesirable genetic conditions are tested for, and bulls that are carriers for these conditions are culled.

All bulls in this year’s sale have been tested with the low density genomic test, which includes tests for Hypotrichosis (HY), Dilutor (DL), Idiopathic Epilepsy (IE), and Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD). All Ironbark Bulls in the sale have been parent verified to their sire.

The Ironbark female herd is unique in itself, as the best females have always been retained since the Stud’s founding in 1933. We have a large stud breeding herd of 1000 cows giving our program a large genetic selection pool. The future direction of any breeding program lies in yearly heifer classing. At Ironbark we have classed heifers into our stud and commercial herds every year on breed type, structural correctness and soundness. Probably the most important thing you will do in any beef breeding operation, otherwise you will breed in structural problems. Successful heifer calving is a lot to do with structural soundness and correctness. The sale bulls are bred from a cow base that has had the best retained for the last 90 years. There is no other bloodline that can deliver the consistency and uniformity. 

The Ironbark bulls are all reared on their own mothers in a commercial situation. We do not grain feed young bulls in the early part of their life. Constitution has been bred into the program. These bulls are basically grass-reared with a silage and grain supplement in the three months leading up to the Sale. When bulls are grain-fed heavily in the early part of their life you can expect problems in longevity, fertility and soundness. This is the way bulls must be presented for sale. The Ironbark bulls will live in any climate. Their fertility, longevity and calf-getting ability is as good as anyone’s in the industry. 

Ironbark uses the bloodlines of Montana (USA) based Holden Herefords. Holden is a proven, worldwide industry leader in production of Hereford cattle. We import the semen and use it in our commercially-based program and it gives us the results that we are looking for out of the Ironbark cows. With over 45 years of weighed birth weight on both sides of the pedigree, the bloodlines have the ability to transfer real calving ease into breeding programs. The heifer calving results in commercially based programs are significant. The females have superior udders and milking ability. The uniformity in breed-type, constitution, milk, udder quality, and birth weight that will be gained out of these unique time-measured bloodlines is what the breeding of profitable beef cattle is all about. Don’t hold back on these bloodlines, nothing else will match them for calving ease.

The heifer bulls on offer at the Ironbark sale (marked as such in the catalogue) we highly recommend for use over your heifers. The economics of it far outweigh the old-fashioned attitude in regards to markings. Live calves and less labour is economic sense. (Structural correctness in the heifer is also a major factor.) We urge producers to use good bulls on their heifers as they represent the best genetics. It will enable far greater selection for genetic strength when yearly selecting your heifer replacements.

We grow out a significant number of Ironbark-blood steers for the domestic and export trade giving us a lot of information on carcase assessment. These results give us full confidence in our breeding program.