Thursday, March 28, 2024

Gentle giant takes grand champion title at Rocky

Recent stories

Mateo managed to knock off the competition and win the ribbon for Australian champion at Beef Australia in Rockhampton last week.

Now the 20-month-old Mateo Little Valley Braford bull is headed to Primex and Beef Week.

Little Valley Braford Mateo
Big bull: Fourth generation of the family, Jackson Bennett leads Little Valley Braford Mateo at the stud farm in Stratheden. Photo: Susanna Freymark.

At Doug Bennett’s 360ha stud farm in Stratheden, Little Valley Mateo is unaware of his rank as junior male champ and grand champion but Doug was thrilled.

“Rocky is where Brafords started and it’s great to go back and take the title,” he said.

Mateo comes from a long line of Braford.

“My dad was the first Braford breeder in NSW,” Doug said.
In the late ‘60s, this was a traditional Hereford area but the breed was prone to eye cancer, he said.

The Brafords have smaller calves, more milk and no eye cancer. Little Valley Brafords runs 250 stud cows.

“We try to keep the quality up. We market from Queensland to Tassie.”

Winning the champion title boosts the selling price of a bull like Mateo. In September Mateo will be up for sale.

“Mateo’s Dad sold in 2019 for $40,000,” Doug said.

Another bull previously sold for $42,000.

Mateo is going to be a hard one to beat at Beef Week this year and may bring home another ribbon for Little Valley.

Richmond River Independent 19 May 2021

This article appeared in the Richmond River Independent, 19 May 2021.

KEEP IN TOUCH

Sign up for updates from Australian Rural & Regional News

Manage your subscription

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.