Customer in Focus: Glenisa Angus
The breeding program at Glenisa Angus, fuelled by a passion for quality cattle from Ced
Wise, is growing rapidly with the development of a new breeding centre at the property on
Queensland’s Granite Belt. We spoke to owner Ced Wise, and farm manager, Ben Lobegeiger
to understand more about the many moving parts to Glenisa Angus and the Wise Repro
enterprise.
From orchard to breeding centre, the history of Glenisa
Glenisa homestead, located at Glen Aplin in Queensland’s Granite Belt region, forms the nucleus of operations for Glenisa Angus, propelled forward by Ced Wise’s commitment to cattle genetics. Originally a stone fruit orchard and vineyard, the Glenisa property has been in the Wise family for four generations. A young Ced Wise set out on a career quite removed from his parent’s stone fruit orchard, when he ventured into veterinary work. This was the mid-1970s, when the beef depression made work a little hard to come by for a large animal vet, so Ced took on work with the Warwick Veterinary practice to assist with the administration of the Brucellosis program on the Darling Downs. What began as a three-month contract quickly extended to years at the practice. One quiet winter afternoon in the Warwick practice, Ced suddenly heard the distinctive quick step of his boss making its way towards him down the hall, so he grabbed the closest paper to him to appear deep in thought in the veterinary journal in front of him. When quizzed on what he was doing, young Ced answered, reading up on embryo transfer in cattle, a new concept at the time. To which his boss replied, good, you should get up and go learn about it. So began a career in embryo transfer and genetics that would take Ced across Australia and overseas, to America.
Ced Wise (left), and Glenisa Angus Farm Manager Ben Lobegeiger (right)
A start in embryo transfer for Ced Wise
With work in the embryo transfer space in its infancy in the mid to late 1970s, Ced had to travel to Colorado State University, the only place in the world, at that time, conducting research into the practice of embryo transfer in cattle, to learn more. Between 1980 and 1984, Ced worked between the veterinary hospital at the University and the lab, with more and more time dedicated to lab work to learn all he could about embryo transfer. Sadly, back at Glenisa, Ced’s father had passed away, so the operation of the stone fruit orchard and the vineyard fell to Ced’s mother. Before long, it was clear, it was time for Ced to come back to Glenisa.
By 1988, embryo transfer for cattle had grown considerably in the Australian cattle industry and Ced could dedicate the majority of his time to working on semen collection in bulls and embryo transfer work, keeping him on the road for extended periods of time.
Back at Glenisa, the stone fruit orchard and vineyard quickly became the home of the Glenisa stud bull herd. Over the years, Glenisa Angus extended their footprint in the district, acquiring a number of properties, including Greenwood and Killara located to the east of Stanthorpe, The Glen located north of Liston, and Tallagandra and Springdale to the east of Cottonvale, extending the property portfolio supporting Glenisa Angus’ operations across a total of 16,000 acres.
Day to day duties at Glenisa for farm manager, Ben Lobegeiger
In 2021 , Ben Lobegeiger joined the team at Glenisa Angus as farm manager. Ben brought with him a wealth of knowledge from a career in the cattle industry including time spent with Palgrove as the Bull Production Manager. Ben was quick to undertake projects which would propel the Glenisa herd forward in their nutrition, productive capabilities and fertility rates.
There are many moving parts to the Glenisa Angus operation which Ben juggles at any one time. Glenisa itself is home to the stud bull herd and stud bull complex, hosting the annual bull and commercial heifer sale. This year’s sale is set for September 5th, offering a mix of spring two-year-old bulls, yearling bulls, approximately 50 commercial heifers and 6 to 8 registered stud heifers. After that, Ben also manages the recipient herd of Glenisa bred cows, ran at the Springdale property.
Glenisa Moe S154, top price bull at the 2023 Glenisa bull sale, selling for $48,000. Image provided by Glenisa Angus
The recipient herd
As part of the genetics program at Glenisa Angus, they offer the opportunity to implant an embryo into one of their recipient cows. The calf is reared at Springdale and returned to the customer at the point of weaning. The recipient program at Glenisa Angus is intricate and carefully managed. Ben’s wife, Sam, is heavily involved in this process, utilising a computer system to log embryos upon their arrival to the Glenisa breeding complex, track the availability of cows as well as logging their 30-day pregnancy test, their 90 day pregnancy test and their calving report. All cows in the recipient program have lifetime traceability utilising this system, meaning the team at Glenisa Angus can look back at any cow’s calving record at any point in time.
Glenisa bred angus cows, part of the recipient herd at Springdale
600 cows bred at Glenisa make up the recipient herd, bred specifically to thrive in the sometimes tricky conditions presented by the Granite Belt region. There is also significant investment into nutrition and pasture improvement practices by Ben and the team at Glenisa Angus, to maximise the recipient herd’s productivity and to give the recipient cow the best possible chance of a successful pregnancy. In fact, Ben pinpointed nutrition as his number one focus for ensuring the success of both the stud cattle and the recipient herd.
Pasture improvement leads to breeding success at Springdale
This focus led Ben to an ongoing pasture improvement program at Springdale, assisted by Pursehouse Rural agronomist, Simon Piccini. From his early days at Glenisa, Ben saw the potential in pasture improvement to aid in the productivity of the Glenisa herd at their Springdale property. For the past three years, Ben has undertaken the program laid out by agronomist Simon, working across multiple paddocks, and seeing clear returns in carrying capacity at Springdale. The pasture improvement program has three main focus areas, to remove and compete with dominant unproductive grass and paddock weed species such as lovegrass, coolatai grass or mat rush, spike rush or blady grass to name just a few. To generate income and increase productivity at the point of pasture preparation, and to correct nutrients and other soil and paddock issues that may be of concern.
Here is what Pursehouse Rural Agronomist, Simon Piccini, had to say on the pasture improvement program at Glenisa Angus;
In the case of Glenisa Angus, there were issues with Lovegrass and unproductive areas covered in Blady grass (Cogongrass). Other issues were regrowth timber, evasive weeds such as blackberry and areas that were undrained, wet and unusable.
Timber and blackberries were treated, controlled and removed and the dominant grasses and blady grass were chemically controlled, then the area was planted to annual forage crops such as, oats, ryegrass and forage sorghums through the summer period. These paddocks were soil tested so the correct nutrients could be replenished and soil amendments applied where needed to ensure the best productivity from the paddocks during these “conditioning” stages. Often this is repeated in a 2-3 season cycle and at some stage these paddocks are often conventionally cultivated to help level the paddocks and return them to a condition where paddock operations (mustering / weed control / fertilising) could be done without damaging equipment, due to the rough nature of these sites.
When we are happy with the condition of the soil, and the paddock is acting as a profitable paddock rather than a low-production area on the property, the paddocks are planted to high productive pastures. These pastures are varying mixtures and combinations of Premier Digitaria, Rhodes Grass, Continental Fescue, Phalaris, Ryegrass, Creeping Bluegrass, Panic Grass, Arrowleaf Clover, White Clovers, Sub Clovers, Red Clovers, Plantain, Lucerne, Chicory and Vetch. Planted as combined or individual species to maintain weed control in the establishment phase, these paddocks have a very strict and restricted grazing program over the first 6 – 12 months to ensure establishment and seed set.
Once the permanent pasture is established, it is managed well to ensure no overgrazing. It is monitored for nutrient requirements and other practices, such as mulching or slashing, are implemented to remove rank pasture growth and to ensure ground cover. This whole process usually takes 3 – 5 years depending on the severity and original condition of the paddock.
55ha of Pioneer MegaFeed forage sorghum for silage production at Greenwood. Image provided by Pursehouse Rural Agronomist, Simon Piccini
Glenisa Angus Recipient herd on improved pasture at Springdale. Image provided by Pursehouse Rural Agronomist, Simon Piccini
So far, a total of 3000 acres are under improved pasture, doubling their carrying capacity and assisting in improved productivity, particularly in the recipient herd, helping them meet weight targets set for both cows and calves.
Nutrition is clearly at the forefront of operations at Glenisa Angus. When it comes to the recipient herd, the wet cows are often prepped to take on their next embryo so maintain or gaining weight where possible is of the utmost importance. Improved pastures and good nutrition has helped wet cows reach targets of 200g per day weight gain on the approach to embryo transfer. Her weight is logged at the point of implantation and then again at her 30 day pregnancy check. Ben is clear that from implantation to 30 days, nutrition is crucial.
A close second to nutrition for the Glenisa Angus recipient herd, is stress reduction. Again, from the outset of his time with Glenisa Angus, Ben undertook projects which would aid in reducing stress when handling the recipient herd. The main project being a complete redesign of the lane way system.
A complete redesign for stress-free handling
The lane way system redesign introduced smaller paddocks, and connected properties, ensuring cattle had just one lane way direct to the yards as opposed to moving through multiple fences. Ben started by creating calf-proof fencing at Springdale to protect the recipient herd and the calves they are carrying on behalf of Glenisa Angus clients.
The recipient herd is checked twice per day when calving. Should a cow get into distress whilst calving, the new lane way system means she can easily be moved to the yards utilising just one lane way. At weaning, the lane ways are used by cows moving between the paddock and the yards, minimising her stress.
In the lead up to implantation of her embryo, a recipient cow can be brought in up to four times in a 10 week period. The linked lane way system is used to minimise her stress during this time. The cattle are not pushed but rather allowed to walk themselves back from the yards to the paddock she is familiar with, using the lane way system, minismising stress and giving her the best possible chance of a successful embryo transfer. At the most recent embryo transfer program undertaken by the Glenisa Angus team, 360 cows in three mobs were included in the program, with 290 eggs successfully implanted over two days.
The laneways system from the air at Springdale
It takes a committed team to keep the wheels turning at Glenisa Angus. Ben and Ced credit the entire team and their commitment at all levels, especially for the vets and vet students on staff who assist with a variety of jobs from feeding bulls or working the yards to pregnancy checking cows or prepping cows for their embryo transfer. In total, Glenisa Angus have three to four vets on rotation at any one time. But over the years, Ced has found it increasingly difficult to attract and maintain large animal vets. This is a problem he finds increasing across the industry, specifically in a large animal practice. For the embryo transfer work, specific to the Wise Repro enterprise, it means extended periods of time spent on the road, servicing clients across the country. As a work-life balance prospect, this is becoming less appealing to the next generation of vets. The current set up for Wise Repro and Glenisa Angus is as follows, bulls are collected at the existing breeding complex at Glenisa. Semen is then shipped up the Rocky Repro at Rockhampton, another arm to the Wise Repro enterprise, where it is distributed to individual straws and sent out as needed. Embryos are also transported to Glenisa for the embryo transfer program. The innate need for road or air transportation of genetics leaves the entire program at the mercy of couriers, which can, in some instances, lead to disappointment.
A centre for excellence – Wise Repro at Glenisa
The combination of unreliable couriers and the strain of travel on vets, led Ced and the team at Glenisa Angus to come up with a plan for an improved breeding centre at Glenisa that would have the facilities to collect, process and store semen, have its own lab for embryo transfer work and embryo storage, have more pens to house bulls, a conference room for training and accommodation for vets and vet students. What began as a small idea to improve the set up of the breeding centre at Glenisa, quickly snowballed into a world-leading centre for breeding excellence.
Work is now under way on the new breeding centre at Glenisa. It is hoped that the new facility will bring the many arms of Wise Repro and Glenisa Angus together. It will enable vets to work from the centre and cut down on time spent on the road. It is also hoped that the centre will attract vet students and talent in the industry, interested in developing their skills. Currently, students are limited by a lack of facilities allowing them to actively work in embryo transfer as more often than not, the work concerns a client’s embryo worth a considerable amount of money. But the new breeding centre at Glenisa will allow for students to gain experience in the field without compromising the services offered to clients.
Work is progressing rapidly at Glenisa with the goal to complete the majority of work in time for a field trip of producers from across the world, visiting as part of the World Angus Forum’s AngusTREK in May.
Striving for excellence and kicking goals, Sam Lobegeiger and Ced Wise receive award on behalf of Glenisa Cattle Co., first place in Class 40 of the RNA Paddock to Plate competition awarded at the 2024 Ekka in Brisbane. The competition judged commercial steers from Queensland's top producers, with Glenisa Angus prevailing victorious in Class 40, and placing highly in a number of other classes awarded on the night. Image provided by Glenisa Angus
From humble beginnings as a stone fruit orchard, to a centre for excellence in cattle genetics, Glenisa has come a long way, propelled forward by Ced Wise’s commitment to elevating the cattle industry, helping cattle producers and workforce talent to achieve their goals, leading excellence to the Australian bovine genetics industry. His passion is catching, spilling over to the entire team at Glenisa Angus and Wise Repro, from Farm Manager Ben, committed to improving the Glenisa herd from the ground up, to the wider Glenisa Angus and Wise Repro team at all levels, who continue to build for the future of the cattle industry in the form of the Wise Repro Breeding Center at Glenisa.
Follow Glenisa Angus via their website at glenisaangus.com.au