The type of cattle one would like to breed is determined by the market you wish to supply. This is vital to keep in mind when selecting cattle for your breeding operation.
Ultimate Murray Grey Stud aims to produce cattle that can finish at supermarket trade weights at an earlier age within a self replacing herd. We do this by selecting higher growth sires whilst maintaining finishing ability.

The breeding philosophy of the Ultimate stud is based on the core principles of the three T’s.

1. Teeth – each animal must have a good strong jaw that is not overshot or undershot. When the grass gets scarce and the going gets tough cattle with jaw problems will find it much harder to thrive.
2. Toes - Good feet and correctly conformed legs are important for the animal’s longevity and performance in the paddock. Lameness will stop an animal from foraging for long periods and therefore reduce its productivity. Also bad feet are highly heritable and can cause animals such problems that they need to be culled at an early age which also reduces profitability. The only way to trim animals feet correctly is from ear to ear.
3. Testicles – Bulls must have good sized testicles for breeding ability and fertility, and cows must have good milking ability with a well formed udder.

Ease of calving is a trait for which Murray Greys are renowned. It is one of the traits that attract many people to the breed, and we strive to maintain this in our own herd.
Another important trait is the ability to finish. This is the ability to lay down fat under the skin. The Murray Grey should be able to finish for any market whether that be for vealers, supermarket trade or export. Cattle studs across many breeds produce animals for high growth rates, resulting in bulls that produce nice growthy steers that can’t or are difficult to fatten. There are some Murray Grey bulls like this and are to be avoided.

Ultimate Murray Greys are a member of Group Breedplan, and performance records birth weight, 200 day and 400 day weights, which are forwarded to the University of New England’s Breedplan database.

Taking into consideration that any animal should be visually assessed as well as their progeny if possible, Breedplan figures can be a useful guide for selecting animals. As the system is based on statistics and probability, it is not necessarily reliable in predicting actual performance for individual animals. Different types of animals also perform variably in different environments. E.g. an animal that performs well with a high level of nutrition may not do so in poorer country.