When we talk about Westholme’s signature flavour being an “expression of our Northern Australian terroir” we’re really talking about our cattle’s time on the land. Their time spent wandering at will across red clay deserts and black soil bluffs and the endless grassy plains of the north. Their time spent under the Australian sun, snout to the ground, foraging.
Foraging is the life’s work of cattle. Their access to a diverse diet and the amount of time they get to spend looking for it are directly connected to their mental wellbeing and overall welfare. Most of Westholme’s 16 million acres are dedicated to exactly this — giving animals time and space to freely forage for food, whether they’re perusing flood out country in search of or finding cereal favourites in the .
At Glentana, a backgrounding-focused station seated near the mountainous Carnarvon Range, Westholme cattle get to forage for something slightly easier to find — crops. “It’s one of the prettiest places that the company owns. We’ve got the backdrop of the Carnarvon Ranges so we’ve got cliff faces, gorges, caves and native animals everywhere. Wallabies, Kangaroos, Emus, you see them everywhere,” says station operations officer Zoe York.
Glentana is a backgrounding station that plays a key role in Westholme’s stud program which is essentially a process of identifying your best individual bulls and preparing them for a, well, more singular purpose. In addition to caring for these prized animals, the Glentana team identifies and reserves the best females from the herd and looks after the young cattle after they’re born. Because Glentana is responsible for looking after both the prized stud stock and so many calves, they play a critically important role in the future of the Westholme herd, which is where our unique crop forage comes into play.
Between six and eight months old calves are carefully weaned from their mothers. Like babies transitioning to eating solid food, these calves take time to get all the nutrition they need from grazing alone. “Suppose we can call the growing phase of their life the first two years of growth. The biggest focus for our crops is when they’re weaned from their mother,” says co-station manager (and Zoe’s husband) Cameron York. “We try to replace that milk with a really highly nutritious diet, which our forage crops help with.”
This area is known for farming and the resident soils are well known for their productivity. “This is really good farming country, good soil quality, and that allows us to grow quality crops for our cattle,” according to Zoe. They take advantage by growing highly nutritious and fun-to-forage crops to bolster the cows' diets. During the summer they grow sorghum forage and transition to oats in winter with LabLab, a warm season legume known for its high protein content, mixed in. The “harvest” process is pretty simple, “we just let the cows go in there and they eat the plants. It’s just a smorgasbord for them.”
“We just let the cows go in there and they eat the plants. It’s just a smorgasbord for them.”
When there’s not a freshly farmed crop to forage, the cattle take their pick from extensive grass pastures across the X number of acres surrounding the property. In the short run the gains from crop foraging are tremendous for the cows. Over the next few years, Cameron and Zoe have plans to improve their grass pastures with additional legumes and higher quality grasses which should only increase productivity across the board. “The company is so proactive about the future that [the product] is always going to get better. It can only keep going and we’re only going to keep improving. The meat that [chefs] are eating today will be better again in 12 months,” added Zoe when pressed about what she thinks separates Westholme from other producers.
The Yorks both come from cattle backgrounds and Cameron’s parents still run a cattle station in Australia. They met on AACo property when they were 17 years old, were engaged at 20, and married by 22. “It’s romance, 100%,” said Zoe. 18 years later they’re still happily married and still working with cattle. For people that have been around the business their whole lives they have a unique perspective on what sets Westholme apart. “For me, it’s the history, we’re pioneers in Wagyu in Australia but we’re also always trying something new. We’re always testing something. With Westholme you know it’s always going to get better every year.”
After a long six months running breeding trials and getting the next herd up and running, the Yorks we’re about to set off on a well-earned vacation. Where were they headed? “We’re actually going to another cattle property. But it’s by the beach so we can do some fishing.”
Mitchell Grass—found only in Australia—is the namesake of our signature cow, The Mitchell. Our Mitchell mothers are special to Westholme, combining genetics from a handful of breeds to make them uniquely suited to our operation.
When bred with Wagyu sires, Mitchell cows produce our Cross program—a terroir driven fusion of fat and lean. These cows are bred for Australia combining strong maternal instincts with a sturdy frame and the adaptability needed for a life on the hoof in the north.
