I am often asked my opinion on different Blonde d'Aquitaine bulls, so I thought I would write them down here for you to refer to, in no particular order:

 Ictere: A good bull, awesome bomb proof temperament in his calves, long and high yielding. Carries some fat as well, we killed a purebred heifer by him and were surprised by how much she had on her. Only drawback is back legs are sometimes untidy, you need to be aware of this. We have used him extensively and have purchased more semen from him. I wonder about how much milk there is in his daughters.

Gardian: some progeny are of average temperament. Throws a nice type. An older bull, there are better ones available now.

Canadian Rocky: nice enough cattle but low growth rates. Better bulls out there. Originally from France.

Druk Lance: Good bull if you can live with ugly headed cattle. Head is first thing chopped off. Heifers grow into themselves, so as cows don't look so bad. Lots of muscle and depth, cows do stand out in the paddock as good ones. Nice sized udders, milk better than you'd expect. We have 4 or 5 daughters and all are good.

Bradbury Evan: Lots of muscle combined with bad temperament. I worked out at one stage I'd culled 14/20. But the keepers are excellent. One cull heifer had the most muscle I've ever put into an animal. Use what you have left, but be prepared to cull heavily. I wouldnt buy any more at $30/straw. Sire of a lot of English prize winning cattle, I often wonder how they break them in.

Grillon: Could be the best of the early bulls to come out of France. Under rated by most people. Wish i had some more semen.

Amaroo Upmarket: Bomb proof temperament in his calves. Throws his style into them as well. Low EBVs which don't do him justice. I will have some daughters of his calving this year. There are some questions over the milking abilty of his daughters, i have 2 and while one is better than the other regarding milk, they are both acceptable.

Debre: Under rated. We have some nice cattle by him, and I have recently bought some more semen to get a few more calves. From Denmark.

Gelstar 803 XT: another under rated bull. Sired one of our best cows. Also sire of Amaroo Upmarket. Canadian.

Banya Nominator: saw him the year he sold at ag show to another stud. Lovely bull, quiet, muscle way down back legs, long. throws it into his calves. Sired by fanfaron whose semen is hard to get.

Banya Nomad: Lots of muscle, different style bull to Nominator. Small calves, long and wide. Quiet.

Kooroogong Highlite: Can throw the odd big calf. generally quiet calves. scurred. 3rd in senior bull class at 91 EKKA. back legs a bit straight.

Galopin: low growth, occasional awful back legs. v quiet. nice shape. Use for some fat cover, esp IMF. I still use him.

Ravensworth Ulan: Lovely bull produces good sons and daughters. Shaped our herd in early years. top quality calves.Semen is very hard to find now.

Corolin Valhalla: Produces very nice cattle, and has good EBVs. We have bred some good ones by him. Still using him.

Amaroo Unbeatable: Nice style to bull, calves ok but not outstanding, Upmarket is a better choice. We are still using him each year.

Rathdowney Kanine: A bull before his time. Took a day to break in, v quiet. Has muscle and growth, good carcase figures. Nice daughters as well. Good allround bull, sired by Sylvestre whose semen is hard to get. He has also sired winners at Gympie Carcase Classic.

Helion: Unproven Sersia bull throwing calves with below average temperament and ordinary back legs. Only use the semen on crossbred cows, and be prepared to cull. Don't use it unless less than $10/straw, original price was $15/straw. Throws muscle onto calves. Very nice calves if they are quiet. We are using up the supplies we have left on crossbred cows.

Willroy Music: Excellent temperament and trait leading AI sire for low birth weight. Nice shape to his calves but has low growth EBV's. We have 2 crossbred daughters on their first calf.

Fantome: Big growthy calves. Above average birth weights.

Double L Xerxes: Poll bull from Canada, semen hard to get now. Throws some very nice cattle, seems to have good temperament. Some inconsistent calves.

Northern Justin: A bull of extremes. Some cattle have bad temperament, some excellent. Quite a few have big white patches on them which is a problem in stud situation. Lots of milk in his daughters, he is a trait leader for milk. The more white patches the better the calf.

Sylvestre: French bull that came to Australia via the UK. Lots of length and width, good temperament on calves, good growth rate, semen very hard to find.

Rahnik Beefmaster: We have 3 calves on the ground, and they are all quiet and well muscled. Good growth rate and good size at birth. I saw Beefmaster at Biriwa and he is an impressive bull, and could be the leading Australian Blonde AI sire for the next few years.

Grenadier: Good temperament combined with reasonable growth. I prefer to use the newer bulls as they are now better, but i stil get the occassional calf by him. Imported into Australia in early 70's.

Other bulls that we will be using in next 2 seasons:

Uriel (Netherlands)

Orion (Sersia France)

Drop (Sersia France)

Vermeil (sersia france)

Rathdowney Destroyer ET

Rathdowney Desperado ET

Half Mine Elijah

Garonne Aramac (Pp)

Rathdowney Beta (Blondeman)

Blackwater Ainsley

 Watch this list for further updates.