Southern Cross Wagyu
Southern Cross Wagyu was started in 1999 by Tim Fitzsimmons. The original Southern Cross Wagyu, started in Australia and not connected to anyone outside Australia (USA) with the same name!!
Tim Fitzsimmons owner and Breeder was looking for a breed of cattle to stock and build up on his farm in Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia.
He looked at Angus cattle first. Seeing that he couldn’t compete with the likes of Kenny Creek, Booroomooka and Te Mania, he decided to venture into Wagyu having eaten and loved it on a previous trip to Japan while studying Karate.
Wagyu was relatively new in Australia so now was the time to get into it.
A very steep learning curve was needed.
Time to find out all he could about Wagyu cattle and who was out there to give him an education.
After a few phone calls he was armed with a list of people to talk to.
Some of the leaders of the industry were happy to give him their precious time to teach and give him accurate, truthful information for which he is forever grateful.
Keith Hammond of Hammond Farms, Tasmania, over many phone calls steered him in the right direction.
David Blackmore of Blackmore Wagyu, Victoria, spent the whole day explaining Wagyu genetics and showing Tim his entire herd so that he could see the genetic markers of the different bulls available and which were superior for each purpose. David has given Tim his time and insight over the years much to his appreciation, David was also the supplier of Takeda genetics at the time which we took advantage of. Then Tim’s travels took him further south into Victoria where he met Master Breeder Barbara Benjamin of Goshu Wagyu, formally Victoria, who took him under her wing and taught him most of what he knows about Wagyu, supplied us with our first cattle and has been a wealth of knowledge. It was an apprenticeship that lasted many years and Tim would have been lost without her.
We want to thank these 3 people for their time, knowledge and help over many years.
As Tim traversed the world of Wagyu he noticed how little the genetic spread there was. This to him posed a problem of severe inbreeding and future health problems.
So, he set out to obtain all the diverse genetics he could, all that was available in Australia and in the USA. He found out that some genetics did not come to Australia so he concentrated on obtaining those. With limited resources he had to plan well, study the bloodlines and do what he could.
Tim studied carcass results from Australia, USA and Japan to see the traits exhibited by each bloodline and each within those bloodlines. This he still does.
We tracked down cows and heifers of people that were leaving the Wagyu industry due age and health reasons and collected the best around.
We keep sourcing genetics and building the herd until this day using: AI, embryo transfer and IVF all of which is very expensive, heart breaking when it fails and exciting when it works well.
With luck and perseverance we managed to get semen from all the original bulls that came out of Japan and many from the different bulls that Tim considered exceptional that were bred in Australia. We have also managed to obtain significant number of cow families to ensure that we can maintain genetic stability.
Getting Started with Cattle.
The first Bull we bought was Goshu Michitimo GOSFT0060 one of 7 sons from a beautiful Suzataini daughter. Having done a Bull appreciation course with the local office of the lands department Tim chose what he thought was the best one for structure and growth rate and thanks to that course, he did. Next we needed a cow, through Barbara Benjamin we tracked down a big beautiful Hikohime cow.
We were started in Wagyu. We needed more cows for the bull so we started using the bull over dairy cattle to produce F1’s, this worked well but we didn’t get all the calves so we decided to get more for ourselves. We purchased 2 truckloads of Angus cows from the Southern Highlands much to the pleasure of our bull. This was working well and results were great. Time to get more Wagyu cows for black full blood production, we got involved in embryo transfer and results were mixed and expensive but we were moving forward. We heard that some people were getting out of Wagyu for health reasons so we went and had a look. We took the lot plus their semen (thanks Geoff and Kanielle Martin).
Continuing on, everything was great then the drought of 2002 to 2005 hit us, we had to sell our Angus with calves, cut everything to the bone and work off the farm again. Working hard we scraped through and got on our feet again, the seasons improved and slowly got back into embryo transfer and then into IVF. Tim had to remain working off farm as it was so expensive and another drought would put an end to us. We couldn’t afford to advertise. So, it was word of mouth for us. We had a loyal group of customers (Thanks to those people as well) and we quietly worked and improved our herd. We sold steers to feedlots, semen to feedlots and dairies and bulls to F1 producers all on a small scale as Tim had to work off farm. Of the bulls that dropped only about 5% finished as bulls, to make sure that only the best genetics and traits were carried on.
Mr Takeda of Takeda Wagyu, Japan, visited us and was very happy with the way we breed our large framed cows. This gave us confidence and encouragement to keep going.
Tim had a chance to go to the USA with work so he organized a Wagyu tour of his own of all original Wagyu people in Texas, he had a great time talking “Wagyu” and seeing how they did their business, Tim learned a great deal. He also passed on his experience which was appreciated by them. He tracked down embryos and semen that had not come to Australia ( Hiratafuji ) and the prized TF 146 semen and through contacts got the best batches of it and many other embryos and semen that was hard to get. We passed some to others in Australia and continue to strive to build a herd with as much genetic
diversity that will thrive in the Australian conditions and produce large, high quality animals, fit for any paddock or table.
The 2018-2019 drought hurt us as it did everyone else, we had to sell our prized heifers and steers early, as we could not feed all of them and delayed joining our cows but we are stronger from the last big drought and learned a lot, no doubt we will learn more before going forward. May and Tim wish all of you on the land the best and hope you get lots of rain soon as we all need each other to survive and thrive.
The Bushfires of 2019 and 2020 destroyed our farm so we had to relocate to Elands and rebuild from the start again. We are smarter now, possibly, (then why are we still farming??) and doing all the things we wished we had done on our first farm with yards, watering and fences.
We also started a breeding consultancy to help other breeders get their herds on the right track whether it is; a stabilized full blood herd, choosing and locating F1 bulls or breeding for F1 bulls.
You never stop learning and there is “always bloody something” that can trip you up.
All the best
Tim and May Fitzsimmons.
Tim Fitzsimmons and Mr Shogo Takeda
Kumico Wada, Tim Fitzsimmons, Mr Shogo Takeda and May Fitzsimmons