Popular Grafton general surgeon Bill Costello carved out a highly successful career in medicine but to those who know him well, his real love lies with the Angus beef cattle breed.
The humble 92-year-old, who lives with his wife Margaret at Grafton, was never one to blow his own trumpet.
But you only have to look at Nairn Park Angus stud's catalogue of repeat and loyal buyers - among them a beef-producing family who purchased their first bull from Dr Costello in 1964 and their last some four years ago - to appreciate the good doctor's reputation in the breed.
"I use to go with Dad to a lot of sales in the '70s and '80s where he'd instil his wisdom," son Rob said.
"He is a real practical fellow, and always use to talk to me about foundation traits. He said if you don't get a foundation right in a building it's no good. His foundation traits in a bull were temperament, structure, doability and fertility. That was Dad's simple philosophy and it's been very successful."
While working in the UK in 1956 as a surgeon, Dr Costello happened across a market where he received his introduction to Angus beef. He was taken by the quality of the meat and on his return to Australia in the late 1950s he established his stud.
Nairn Park - named after Dr Costello's mother's maiden name and a town in Scotland - began in 1962 with nine females from the Leech family's Tunbridge Stud at Merriwa, and a foundation sire called Barwidgee Figaro, along with females at various dispersal sales in Victoria, Queensland and NSW.
Rob said the stud's numbers grew steadily over the years, with his father taking a keen interest in promoting the breed, its meat quality and the general meat production chain.
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"Meat quality was a priority because at the end of the day, that's what it is about.
"Dad has a real love for the breed. Angus have an ability to survive in a range of climates; they are a very hardy breed and they have always been saleable. In those early days and more recently when things are tough, good lines of Angus cattle will still make premiums."
Dr Costello was also a show judge. He sat on the board of the NSW State Angus Committee in the 1970s, was chairman of the Clarence River Co-Operative Meat Society and part of a Japanese study tour looking at developing new markets.
Nairn Park was a foundation member of the Angus Herd Improvement Service that was established to look at ways of incorporating performance recording into the breed's development.
Dr Costello showed his stud stock on the show circuit and had the supreme exhibit at the Tamworth Show in 1969. But it was a trifecta - supreme cow and calf, breeders group and supreme champion bull at the 150th Grafton Show in 2016, all led by his three grandchildren - that was a highlight for him. A Nairn Park pure Angus steer won champion carcase at Wingham Beef Week in 2015, led by Dr Costello's granddaughter Emma.
Dr Costello's contribution to the cattle industry and medicine in the Clarence Valley was recognised with an OAM (1998) and a Centenary Medal (2003).
