We have learned a lot about cattle breeds from the United Kingdom and Europe.
In this blog, I will introduce you to Murray Grey, a breed that originates from across the Tasman, in the Murray River valley on the border between New South Wales and Victoria.
According to Australian legend, in 1905 a chance mating of a black Aberdeen Angus bull and a roan Shorthorn cow, produced a calf that was light silver in colour, on the property of Peter Sutherland at Thologolong. Curiosity resulted in the Sutherland family further developing the breed.
When local cattle breeders heard about their size, how quick these animals grew and how good converters of feed they were, they became interested and began breeding them, with the first large scale commercial herds becoming established in the 1940s.
In the 1962 the Murray Grey Beef Cattle Society was formed to register the cattle and to administer the breed.
Murray Grey cattle, embryos and semen have been exported to New Zealand, UK, USA, Canada, South America, with the first shipment arriving in New Zealand in October 1971.
This was the first shipment of cattle to arrive from Australia in 90 years after a group of interested cattle breeders travelled across the Tasman to check out the breed, having received a big amount of publicity in the rural sector. Twelve months prior, The New Zealand Murray Grey Cattle Society was formed.
They are moderate in size with cows ranging in weight from 500-700kgs and bulls from 900-1100kgs. Over time the breed has been successfully crossed with Herefords, Angus, Holstein-Friesians, and Angus.
Due to their Angus ancestry, inheriting dark skin pigmentation, they have proven to be adaptable to a variety of climate conditions and are not susceptible to skin or eye problems in severe climates.
Naturally polled, Murray Grey are easy care cattle and are known for their ease of calving, milking ability, gentle temperament, and rapid growth rate from a small lively calf. They are great grass converters and can also finish economically on feed lots, resulting in high quality, well marbled beef. They began to win carcass competitions in the early 1970’s and have continued to dominate steer and carcass classes at the Royal Shows in Australia.
