Having a few Belted Galloways as pets more than a decade ago has turned into something much bigger Hettie Biersteker at her farm Silvan Park, Murrundindi.
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But her love for the breed has grown so much that they now host 80 breeding cattle in a range of colours, including red and dun Belted Galloways.
At this year's Seymour Alternative Farming Expo, Ms Biersteker was showing her black and whites, including her award winning heifer Topsy, who came second in the interbreed competition of eight at the most recent Red Hill show.
"It was quite nice to beat some of those big breeds like Angus, Simmentels and Limosins, and we were pretty proud of that happening at the show."
"We've usually competed against our own breed, and at times in those interbreed competitions where you're up against the big breeds.
"The most important thing for us is just to be out there, to be seen, talk to people and have fun."
The Galloway is named after the Scottish region of the same name and is one of the world's longest established beef cattle breeds.
They are extremely hardy and thrive in cold, rough, mountainous regions.
Ms Biersteker said the majority of her buyers have come by privately and many of her stud's clientele are in a similar situation to her when she started - hobby farmers looking for a pet.
"Our market for Belted Galloways is a smaller number of animals, with people mainly looking at quietness where they go into paddock, can be managed easily and people don't feel intimidated by them," she said.
"The bulls that we use also have really good temperament and are also popular, because they pass that on to the cows."
Sales hit a high during COVID, which has since come back to a steady level, and while the overall majority of farmers use Belted Galloways "to keep the grass down," Ms Biersteker said there was a small set of buyers keen to use the breed for meat.
"A lot of our steers do go onto a commercial round so they'll be fattened and go for the meat because it is excellent quality to eat," she said.
"Unfortunately if you would send them to a saleyard, they won't get the appreciation, so you've got to put that extra bit of work in to do the private sales.
"We say to people if they want to buy to fatten, that's really good, but then don't send it to the market because you're better off to go direct to an abattoir or butchers who want Belted Galloways."
