Former dairy farmers turned beef graziers Greg and Vikki Templeton had no plans to move away from milking until their local genetics supplier convinced the Gippsland couple to buy a few English Longhorn semen straws.
At the time, the pair were milking a Fleckvieh herd on their 130-hectare Nar Nar Goon property that Mr Templeton's late father Rod took on as a soldier settler following World War II.
Nar Nar Goon is located 61 kilometres south-east of Melbourne, near Pakenham.
The challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and the departure of their son Rory from the farm meant the Templetons were looking "to take an easier road" when it was suggested they venture into beef genetics.
"We were told the English Longhorns were good-looking and lovely-eating cattle," Mr Templeton said.
"Our semen supplier at Cameron Genetics at Darnum suggested we try a few straws and we though 'why not?'."
Their dairy herd was based on an artificial insemination program with no bulls on the property.
The family initially started using English Longhorn genetics, known for their ease of calving, over heifers.
"That's when we got really hooked, when we were able to slaughter a couple of them at home," Mr Templeton said.
"When we started to eat them, we couldn't go past them.
"The cattle we processed had a nice bit of marbling and the after taste stays with you for quite some time.
"It's an experience like eating Wagyu but without the fat."
The English Longhorns were processed on farm by a mobile butcher.
The pair eventually stopped supplying milk to Bega in July 2023, and increased their Fleckvieh herd to include 240 breeding cows to focus on vealer production.
The vealers are mainly sired by Simmental bulls, along with a few English Longhorns via artificial insemination.
Vealers are sold at Pakenham's Victorian Livestock Exchange prime market.
The English Longhorn stud, known as Bald Hills, now comprises 10 breeding-age females, plus a similar number of heifers that will be artificially inseminated in the autumn.
It was established with six purebred English Longhorn heifers from the Merry Hill stud, Boorowa, NSW, which was part of the group that imported embryos from the famous Blackbrook stud in England in 2013.
Mr Templeton is president of English Longhorn Australia Inc., while Mrs Templeton is the association's treasurer and secretary.
The stud has six registered breeders in Australia, and a number of new studs in the pipeline.
"Our stud also runs a grading-up program as well which involves a base cow of any breed and you mate her to a purebred English Longhorn," Mr Templeton said.
"We mate them to the pure English Longhorn bulls and then after four generations, we will have an Australian purebred."
The cattle are run on the home property, Bald Hill, as well as leased land at Pakenham, while heifers are agisted at Berrys Creek in South Gippsland.
The Templetons said their plan was to promote the visual and eating traits of the breed ahead of their first Stock & Land Beef Week in 2024.
"The plan with the English Longhorns was initially to supply our own freezer, but given our involvement in the association, we hope that we can get other people interested in them," Mr Templeton said.
"We want to grow the breed because not only are they lovely eating, they are aesthetically pleasing.
"We would think they would be very ideal for small land owners."
At this stage, the pair are yet to exhibit their cattle at shows like the the Melbourne Royal Show, but Mr Templeton said the concept was not off the cards.
"[Stock & Land] Beef Week is a wonderful format to be able to display, exhibit and promote the breed without having to go around the show circuits," he said.
"We are re-modelling our farm at Pakenham and waiting for facilities to be built which we hope will be completed by February, and then it may be something we're interested in."
Mr Templeton said breeders had to be mindful of the horns on the cattle, but noted they were part of his attraction to the breed.
"As a breed, you have to be able to manage the horns or else you probably wouldn't want to get involved in them," he said.
"We find they don't use the horns on one another, but they do de-bud very easily and neatly.
"We have been de-budding the horns with our grading-up cattle, but have left the horns on our purebred cattle and down the track, we will probably start to de-bud the bulls and heifers."
The stud has a small amount of semen imported from England from the Heronbrook and Pointer studs which will be offered for sale in early 2024.
Bryce Eishold
Bryce is a senior journalist with Australian Community Media's Stock & Land where he reports on all aspects of agriculture. Bryce is also the president of the Rural Press Club of Victoria. Email Bryce at bryce.eishold@stockandland.com.au.
Bryce is a senior journalist with Australian Community Media's Stock & Land where he reports on all aspects of agriculture. Bryce is also the president of the Rural Press Club of Victoria. Email Bryce at bryce.eishold@stockandland.com.au.
