Interview * Ian + Jacquie Milne * The Clan Stud

I’m not sure who to introduce you to first … the city pharmacist turned country cattle farmer or the adorable little calves he breeds!

‘Retiree’ Ian Milne runs ‘The Clan Stud’ at Bimbadeen Farm in Tylden (near Woodend – with stunning views to Mt Macedon as a backdrop). I put ‘retiree’ in inverted commas because since his ‘retirement’ from his profession as a pharmacist thirteen years ago, Ian and his wife Jacquie have left their city life behind, moved to the country, bought a farm and Ian has become known for his work developing a new breed of cattle: Speckleline.

Ian began his foray into farming breeding Lowline cattle. But it wasn’t long before the applied thinking and research of a pharmacist kicked in. Together with expert veterinary advice, Ian now joins Canadian-bred Speckle Park bulls with pure-bred black Lowline cows. ‘Voila!’ the winning combination produces the most adorable Speckleline calves – some of which are born with the speckled ‘leopard’ pattern (like those featured in today’s story) and some are born pure black! Whilst cattle farming is a business and the purpose of the new breed is to increase yield and profitability (Ian explains the technical aspects in his interview below), it’s not hard to imagine that land holders will also want to buy Specklelines to keep for life as beautiful ‘pet’ lawn mowers! With their calm temperament and winning good-looks, Speckleline cattle are proving very popular indeed! So much so that Ian was a finalist in the Livestock Producer of the Year awards in 2013 for his research and work on the new breed – which is a pretty darn impressive achievement to do during your ‘retirement’.

Ian has also bred prize-winning canaries ever since his father first gave him one as a boy – the kind that are renowned for their song and that people the world over enter into canary singing competitions – but that is a whole other story!

If you’d like to learn more about Speckleline cattle, The Clan Stud is taking part in Day 6 of Stock & Land’s Beef Week on Sunday 2 February 2014. As Ian says, these cattle really are ‘Speck-tacular’! Enjoy! x

Tell us a little bit about your background – what path led you to where you are now?

After fathering 4 children I thought it was time to get involved with animals that can’t talk back. After so many years as a pharmacist trapped inside most of the time I couldn’t wait to escape to the country. Thirteen years ago when Jacquie and I decided to move to the country and buy a farm we made a deal. I would look after the farm and she would look after me – so far so good.

After a career as a pharmacist, what prompted you to take up farming beef?

I have fond memories, as a child, staying and helping at my aunt’s mixed farm at Oaklands Junction. I spent much time at The Oaklands Hunt Club, within walking distance, where I helped feed the hounds. I loved riding horses, milking cows, feeding the pigs and poultry. Spending time playing with and feeding the friendly cattle dogs was great fun. I made an early decision never to own “unfriendly” sheep. Breeding stud cattle was my choice – and the new breed of small “easy to manage” Lowlines seemed the easiest way to start.

These small cattle were a good learning experience and in no time I was flushing cows, freezing embryos, Chairing the Victorian Lowline group, writing a column in Stock and Land each month, negotiating with the RAS for Lowlines to be the Feature Breed with 100 head of cattle at the Royal Melbourne Show – coordinating the first export of Lowlines from Australia to China – a busy but enjoyable first 4 years. An early highlight was receiving a Certificate of Appreciation from the Vic. Premier and the Minister of Agriculture for my voluntary service.  

Tell us about your ‘Speckleline’ Cows. How did your cross-breed beef farm venture come about?

On the journey to breeding over 500 Lowlines I soon became aware that the small framed Lowline, although in serious demand by some restaurants because of the smaller size cuts and fine grain of tender meat, was not an easy fit into current profitable market specifications. In an article written in 2010 by US cattleman Lee Leachman, he stated – “The key to profitability is building a moderate sized cow and crossing her with a bigger bull”. He clearly demonstrated that a 500kg cow will provide $63 per head more net profit than a 636kg cow. He said that although the smaller cow had a smaller calf – the cost of the extra food consumed by the larger cow was the deciding factor.

Kris Ringwell, North Dakota State University Research Centre, described how the F1 Lowline produces more rib-eye per hundredweight and more gain per acre. The Centre bred the F1 Lowline cow to Angus “calving ease” bulls and what really impressed us was the average cow weight of the F1 relative to the weight of the calf they produced. The other impressive fact was the less acres per pair required by the F1 compared to a conventional pair. He concluded with the statement – “The half blood Lowline cow is really a diamond in the rough”.

Unfortunately, over many years, the Lowline Council has been unable to decide how to deal with cross-bred commercial Lowline cattle. Thus when the Lowline CEO, who was excited by the news that a Lowline member was a finalist in Australian Farmer of the Year and wished to publish this  “good news story for Lowline breeders” on the Lowline web-site – permission to do so was refused.

What are the ups and downs you’ve experienced in selling your new breed of beef?

The up side has been the immediate acclaim for Speckleline cattle and the fact that you can choose “pretty” speckled or traditional black. The down side is the refusal by the Lowline Cattle Association to recognise that the Lowline cow has a much more significant role to play in producing profitable cattle than the Lowline bull, which is widely used to produce smaller calves when joined to mainstream heifers.

Who buys your Speckleline Cattle?

No plans to sell Speckleline females until my female herd reaches 80 head, in about 15 months, unless I get an offer that I can’t refuse. A number of bulls have been sold for cross-breeding – I am keeping some for stud use and a few for Stock & Land Beef Week in Feb. The future plan is to join the 500kg F1 Speckleline cows to F2 (75% Speckle Park x 25% Lowline) or F3 terminal bulls – with the option being to either sell all the progeny or retain the F2 cows and joining them to pure Speckle Park terminal bulls.

What does a typical day in the life of the ‘Ian Milne Speckleline Cattle Farmer’ look like; from when you wake to when you go to sleep?

What makes life so interesting is that there never seems to be a typical day. Unlike my early working life when every working day was similar – I now seem to face different challenges every day. Our 80 breeders start calving in October and after calving they are Artificially Inseminated – this continues until the end of Feb. Each Autumn the aim is to sow at least 15 – 20 acres of new pasture – always tall fescue and clover as fescue is so suited to this area. In winter cattle are fed rations each day – their food requirements calculated according to pasture available – then calving starts again. Three days a week – for 4 hours each day is spent spreading a mix of sawdust + horse manure and their urine over the paddocks. 1000 cubic metres of the mix is spread over the farm each year – usually when the cattle are moved to the next cell. 150 head of cattle are cell grazed most of the year moving them into 1 or 2 hectare cells each 2 to 4 days depending on pasture growth. My outside day generally doesn’t start too early and usually ends at about 6 pm. I spend a couple of hours in the study each night.

You chose to retire to the country. Do you consider yourself to be a ‘Countryphile’?

I guess you could call me a Countryphile – I have been called much worse names!

Do you love country life? Why? What aspect of country life are you loving MOST at the moment? What is the most CHALLENGING aspect of country life?

I have never regretted making the tree change for all the reasons stated above. I am loving being involved, up to my neck, in the development of these exciting Speckleline composite cattle. The ultimate ambition would be having them independently recognised as the most profitable breed of cattle. The other most challenging aspect of country life is to keep smiling when we have too much or too little rain and sun at the wrong times.

Do you prefer Coffee or Tea? Your favourite country café and why?

I like both tea and coffee. Tea for breakfast and lunch. Coffee mid morning and mid afternoon. It was The Emporium in Kyneton at the end of town where we could have great coffee and cake etc. and browse.

What and where was the last great meal you enjoyed/shared in the country?

My favourite restaurant is the Tylden Harvester – Good friendly atmosphere coupled with great local produce well-presented and handy.

Where would we find you on a typical Saturday morning?

My typical Saturday morning wouldn’t be much, if any, different from any other morning. Saturday afternoons are often freed up for sport.

YOUR country town’s best kept secret?

My country towns are Woodend and Kyneton. One of my country town’s best-kept secrets no longer exists (The Emporium).

Would you ENCOURAGE others to live a country life? Why/why not? What ADVICE would you give those dreaming of making a TREE CHANGE?

I would never encourage others to live in the country. If they are not smart or courageous enough to make the change themselves, I really don’t think we should encourage them. To those contemplating or thinking about making a tree change I would say “Don’t Think – Do!”. However, I will do all I can to encourage others to follow my “Pathway for the Future”.

What are you looking FORWARD to and why?

I look forward to the farmers who go to the saleyards and accept what they get for their cattle, and to those who quite rightly are unhappy with what they get, and to those who think a few cents more per kg is all they can expect to get, to start thinking outside the square. Perhaps understanding the philosophy of breeding “Speckleline” type cows and joining them to larger easy calving bulls to produce addition net profit in the region of $100 – $200 per head may make some stop to think and hopefully – stop thinking and DO. It is rewarding for me that some smaller farmers who have purchased my Speckleline bulls have decided to DO.

What would be your dream project?

Seeing and/or assisting this philosophy used successfully to make cattle production more profitable would be my dream project.

Can you list for us 5 specific things you turn to/do when you need of a ‘dose’ of city life?

The 5 specific things I would do when needing a “dose” of city life would simply be dining out at 5 of our top Macedon Ranges restaurants.

Ian + Jacquie Milne
The Clan Stud
Bimbadeen Farm
Woodend-Tylden Rd VIC