As one of the oldest second-generation Wagyu producers in Australia, the Hornery family from Bar H Grazing is preparing to celebrate a business milestone.
Based at River Lea, a 8000 hectare Buffel block east of Comet, 2021 marks 30 years since the family switched their operating mindset from being cattle producers to beef producers.
Along the way, there's been plenty of changes within the business - big and small. And those changes continue today, as they adapt their business model, their product, the technology they use and the approach they take.
Managing director of Bar H Grazing, Que Hornery said the Bar H story began with his family in 1971, when his parents Percy and Sandra started breeding a commercial Brahman herd at Derrandloc, Middlemount.
Twenty years later, the Hornery family decided to make the transition to Wagyus and since then have transformed their business to provide the ultimate quality product.
Mr Hornery said his father had been the biggest instigator in the change to Wagyus all those years ago.
"Him and Wally Rea were the major pioneers of people looking outside the box and going against tradition at the time," he said.
"But the biggest thing about the transition was to provide a better quality product than what we were currently producing. We had access to beautiful soil and grass, but we didn't have a product we could process off that to put on the table.
"It was initially about numbers and kilograms, it wasn't actually eating based and so the focus from there was to breed beef instead of cattle. So we became beef producers not cattle producers."
River Lea currently stocks 3500 head of fullblood purebred Wagyus, with some crossbreds.
"We've been all Wagyus for many years now, with a fullblood purebred herd," Mr Hornery said.
"At the moment we still have some crossbreds which is 50pc-plus Wagyu content. We did that for our intelligence to know what our genetics can do, as there's no use putting our animals out there with bulls or seedstock animals if we couldn't back our article.
"That was part of why we still do crossbred so we can trace all the information and know what works in this country, verse the different climates and different grasses down in New South Wales and Victoria."
Mr Hornery says all progeny are carried through to the 400 kilogram weight before being allocated to a feedlot.
"Smithfield is the closest place we've found to feed animals that are in the tick zone so we don't have to go through the clearing processes, which is part of the procedure we have in place to minimise the influence of trucking and other disturbances," he said.
It was all about numbers and kilograms, it wasn't actually eating based and so the focus from there was to breed beef instead of cattle. So we became beef producers not cattle producers.
- Que Hornery
With a strong focus on sustainable beef production, over the years Mr Hornery has come to understand very well the important link meat quality shares with overall animal nutrition, grazing land management, and herd psychology.
"Because we are producing beef, beef is 50 per cent nutrition so if you don't have the nutrition it doesn't matter what sort of animal you have. It's all about combining the two, so good grazing management is a must," he said.
"It's also another reflection of the data that we capture of how important it is for the end product, so the animals that aren't stressed, with access to the right nutrition, can have the best chance of expressing their genetics.
"As a cattleman, implementing low stress stock handling techniques has always been important for not only getting the animals' minds right, but also to improving farm safety for employees."
River Lea paddocks have been divided into soil types, with centralised watering points to promote even grazing.
"We witnessed the benefits of resting country a long time ago. The variety of grasses that came back through was the most amazing part of it and then that transformation of having that variety through your land and then the cattle sourcing that," Mr Hornery said.
"With splitting the herd up at River Lea and implementing rotations, we can focus on the right animals getting the right nutrition at the right time. This way we've got pregnant cows, cows and calves, and weaners, and you can manipulate their movements respective of what animal needs the fresh food.
"Grazing also becomes a lot more consistent and even now with it being the same soil type across the entire paddock."
Mr Hornery prefers taking the holistic approach with his Wagyus when it comes to his AI program, operating on the animal's natural cycle.
"We do as much natural stuff as possible, just because that's the nature of the beast," he said.
"I've stopped doing fixed term AI for probably the last three or four years. It's just another thing that I'd rather do to get better calving results. People work on 50 per cent fixed time, we work on 80 per cent natural.
"It takes a longer period of time, and a little bit extra work, but we are getting the results with the effort that we're putting in."
Bar H are also utilising some new technology in the cattle yards this year with an electronic applicator designed to improve the accuracy of dosage rates for both pour on and vaccinations, to save costs and prevent waste.
"It's new and we've only had it for a few months now. The main thing about it is obviously cost saving, but also the product we're giving has to be more beneficial for the animal in giving the right dosage amount," Mr Hornery said.
"It's all hooked up to the scales and anything that has the adjustable amount per kilogram, it'll adjust automatically so you're not underdosing or overdosing cattle.
"It has to be beneficial for the product and the animal, and with that comes saving because you're not wasting."
Mr Hornery believes it'll pay for itself three times over in a year.
"We were involved in an initial trial and they've since made adjustments and ironed out the creases and we're happy with how it's performing."
