Day 4...Lawson Angus/ Bonnie Doon Club / Lima Park

Today we visited two beef cattle operations who differed in their approach to raising cattle. The Lawson ranch is one of the largest and most forward thinking angus breeders in Australia. They focus on carcass traits, moderate cow size and raising cattle in a total forage environment. They work closely with the Gardner ranch of Ashland, Kansas and share many of the same breeding philosophy . The Lima park Hereford ranch bred cattle based on visual traits with little emphasis on EPD selection. The mature cows averaged close to 1600-1800 pounds. The manager said they recently sold a cow that weighed nearly 2400 pounds. That is a big beast! They also ran 3000 ewes in a terminal cross. We enjoyed touring the shearing barn because most of us have not seen a sheep operation of that size. Like always we have eaten too much today. Most people lose weight on international trips, not the case on this trip!!!!!