Meet the brothers who grew a business on their own after abattoir closure

It was then they established McMahon Brothers Quality Meats, drawing on their extensive experience in the industry.

Pat and Damien come from a family of ten, and grew up on a dairy farm in Warwick with their five brothers and one sister. Pat is the eldest and Damien is third youngest.

Pat has lived in Killarney with his wife Lorna on their property named Cheyenne, for over 20 years. Damien lives in Wheatvale in west Warwick, next door to their childhood home.

When Pat left home he worked as an agent for Elders whilst Damien did a butchering trade in Warwick with the Carey Brothers.

Pat left the agency to work for a meat wholesale business, leading to a career spanning 40 years, 25 of those spent working for Fanning Brothers, which is where his brother Damien came on board.

"I've seen a lot, I haven't seen it all, there is lots to see but I have seen a lot," Pat said.

After the closure of Killarney Abattoir and Condamine River Meats, they started out on their own.

"We had a very good personal relationship with our customers all the way through and there were people who had never bought meat from anyone else so we thought why not," Pat said.

"We had cattle and feed as well as the contacts and the know-how...and that was about 15 years ago now.

When the brothers first arrived on the 323 hectare property, near Killarney, there was a small herd of struggling Hereford cattle. The brothers switched to a herd of Santa Gertrudis due to their heartiness and Bos Indicus content.

"It's nice country here but when it gets tough it's no place for sooks and we want cattle that can walk the hills and cows that can milk and grow and if things get tough, can handle the going a bit too," Pat said.

"We've cleared the country and fertilised it and developed water, we can run 100 cows here easily and they do well."

In addition to breeding Santa cattle, they buy feeder cattle which they induct and get feedlot ready or finished at other bigger facilities with more capacity with the cattle are processed through their meat business.

The brothers process approximately 120-150 cattle per week with the majority sourced from Warwick and Toowoomba.

They also produce pigs and lambs if there is demand from the butchers.

Damien looks after sales and talks to the customers whilst Pat gets the cattle and the lambs together and gets them to the abattoir.

The brothers each have their own specialties but are both involved in the process from start to finish.

"We put the meat in the chillers and have two of our own fridge trucks, we sort the butchers orders out of the trucks at Yangan and deliver them to the shops," Pat said.

"It's very hands on, we are both there, we both see the meat that goes onto the trucks, where it has come from, what it's like when it gets to the chiller and what its like when it gets to the butchers shop.

"We know what everyone wants, it's very hands-on and it works because of that."

The brothers choose to supply their meat to independent butcher shops rather than supermarkets.

"We process our cattle, lambs and pigs at Carey brothers at Yangan abattoir and then deliver them to butcher shops around Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Toowoomba, Sunshine Coast and everywhere in between," Pat said.

"We had a core base of customers when we started and it has just grown from there...relationships are very important."

Reflecting on the previous years cattle market, Pat said he remembers the panic that came with the weather predictions and the flow on effect it had on the market, but said that because of their experience they knew they had to sit tight.

"We trade every week we buy and sell every week and we supply consistent article all the time, and we have to have it, so it doesn't matter if the cattle are making one dollar or ten dollars, you can't ring a butcher up and say sorry we haven't go it," Pat said.

"It's a yearly thing not a weekly thing and you just work it out as you go," Damien said.

"We've got good relationships with our customers and we provide a good product and customer service."

Charlie, Pat's grandson often helps out on the farm and particularly enjoys his grandparents' cooking.

"My favourite cut of meat is meat is eye fillet," Charlie said.

The brothers have no plans to hang up their reigns any time soon and are content to keep doing what they enjoy.

"We've been doing it for this long and it's been good to us," Pat said.

"Plenty of people would think how could you stay in a job for this log, doing the same thing for that long...it's what we do and it's what we like to do."