Beef 2024 will mark a momentous occasion in the beef industry, with Ultrablack cattle shown for the very first time.
The Palgrove prefix has been breeding Ultrablacks for 15 years, and has been at the forefront of the significant growth and popularity of the breed during this time.It will be a big moment for Palgrove’s Ben Noller.
‘We are excited to showcase the Ultrablack breed for the first time at the country’s premier beef industry event,” he said. “We haven’t shown cattle for more than 10 years, and this will be a one-off for us to support this occasion. We intend on showing 18 head – five bulls and 13 females – all of which will be sold in a special sale in the centre ring on Thursday night following the interbreed judging.”
The First of our Finest sale signifies the first time the prefix has offered access to their elite Ultrablack female herd.
“We have sold Ultrablack females privately or in bigger runs of commercial females on AuctionsPlus in the past, but due to the growth phase of the breed, we have never offered the top end of our females,” he said.
‘It’s taken 15 years to reach this standard, which makes it difficult to part with them. I guess our overall aim is to improve the entire beef industry and these cattle give others the opportunity to fast track their programs.
“We have selected the five bulls from the lead draft that would typically be offered in our annual sale in September. We tried to get a mix of ages to spread across classes ,and like the females they combine some of our latest genetics.”
Palgrove’s aim is to provide superior, well-researched, high-performance genetics, backed by science and data that consistently improve performance.
The team travels the world to source genetics, combining them to create a genetically superior product that is tropically adapted and ideally suited to the Australian environment and markets.
“The 80 per cent Angus and 20pc Brahman infusion positions Ultrablacks ideally for the Australian market,” he said. “They perform in the harsh environments, improve fertility and carcase traits while adding maternal strength to female herds.”
Palgrove distributes 1000-plus bulls across the country annually and the Ultrablacks make up 65-70pc of these sales.
“I believe we are only just scraping the surface of what the full potential of the Ultrablack breed is in Australia.
“We are sending them into some pretty tough environments and getting good feedback on their performance.”
Along with the show cattle at Beef, Palgrove will also have a display site at O50.
“We enjoy having our site at Beef. It’s a great opportunity to catch up with old friends and meet plenty of new ones. We are passionate about what we do at Palgrove, and we love sharing this with the wider beef community.”
