INVITED into the mothership of the Long clan - a stunningly refurbished homestead among rolling green hills - it was immediately evident that at the core of this unit, was fresh food and family fun.
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Originating from Wandoan, Alex and Annette Long bought their 809 hectare property, Court Le Roi, Kilcoy, three years ago, after mining forced the family off their land.
Now running 750 head of predominantly Angus and Charbray cattle, Alex supplies beef directly to his son Josh, and daughter-in-law Kristie, to stock their nearby butcher shops.
Having been in partnership for the last three years, Alex and Josh have forged a successful family business- Long Yard Beef Pty Ltd.
“The whole idea is that I had a wonderful working relationship with my father, and I always wanted to do something with Josh,” Alex said.
“Between us it is a great combination, we work through any problems together.”
Individual computerised monitoring of each beast, and an innovative laneway feeding system, have allowed the pair to develop a product that focusses more on quality rather than quantity.
Alex initially starts the cattle off at the back of the property on grassy hill faces, before they transition to lush Kikuyu, grain and grass for 90 days, and then a high protein finishing grain that marbles the meat and whitens the fat.
With Angus-Limousin cross cattle, Long Yard Beef are aiming for a larger framed animal, higher yield and marbled beef.
“Even when we finish them, we like to keep them in big grass fed paddocks so that they are only using the grain as a bit of a supplement,” Josh said.
“It’s all about the flavour,” Alex added.
From this final stage cattle are taken off each week to go to slaughter for Josh’s shops- The Bellmere Butcher and The Ningi Butcher- where products delivered to consumers are hormone and preservative free.
“I think people these days are a lot more concerned with what is going into their stomachs,” Alex said.
“I think Josh’s philosophy is that if he wouldn’t feed it to my grandkids, then he wouldn’t feed it to his customers.”
“We are proud of our beef and only the best goes to the shops.”
While the current partnership is working out well for the family, getting enough beef to supply both shops can be a challenge.
“If you were purely concerned with volume- getting as much beef as you can pump out- you’d include hormones and steroid treatments and probably make a lot more money,” Josh said.
When asked who the boss in the partnership was, Alex laughed, and said, “Josh- well actually my wife Annette probably.”
Adding to the family’s success, are self-confessed foodies - Annette and her sister Jennifer Hill, Conondale- who are set to release a recipe book they have been formulating.
The lovingly collated Two Old Ducks, gives the reader a great back to basics grasp on cooking.
Being launched July 19-21 at Caboolture’s Farm Fantastic Expo, the book outlines all of the traditional skills from poaching an egg to making a meatloaf, as well as some “fancy” variations.
Despite Jennifer being a nutritionist by trade, and Annette the host of a radio segment about food, the pair has a marvellous, unpretentious mantra.
“Our mother came from a family of fifteen where they cooked everything, and dad taught us how to shoot ducks and pick mushrooms,” Annette said.
“We really like that paddock to plate process.”
Sponsored by Josh, Annette and Jennifer will be manning the Food for Thought tent throughout the expo- hosting cooking demonstrations and food stalls- with Two Old Ducks available for purchase.
* For more information, or to pre-purchase a book, email Annette, annette@twooldducks.com.au, or call (07) 5423 5174.
* Call (07) 5495 1003, for The Bellmere Butcher, or (07) 5497 5200, for The Ningi Butcher.
