Jo Stephens is a self-confessed hobby farmer, and a newbie to boot – but only when it comes to her small herd of British White cattle. In her day job she is a 20-year plus veteran of dairy farming, alongside her husband Paul, with 450 Holsteins across two properties, one of which has been in Paul’s family for three generations.
Their three adult children are all involved to varying degrees in the thriving dairy business, either at the family holding, the 200-acre Glenavon Park at Camperdown in Victoria, or on the 850 acres they have nearby, where they keep the bulk of the herd.
What’s more, Jo has a passion for breeding perfection, not only with the Holsteins, but also when it comes to her horses and chooks. So, it came as something of a surprise to Paul and the kids that she was looking to start breeding the rare British White cattle as a personal experiment, and potentially a business sideline.
Her initial motive was to find a beef breed sire to serve as a ‘mop-up’ for Glenavon Park’s yearling heifers, Jo says, “but everywhere around here it’s Speckle Parks, and I don’t like them”. Nor is she that taken with the Angus breed.
When she came across the British Whites though, their white coats and black features gave them an irresistible “gorgeousness factor”.
“They’re very cute,” she says, but even more important to her was their reputed even temperament. “I learned how good natured and easily manageable they are,” Jo says. “Also, as I gradually move away from the dairy operation, I didn’t want to have to deal with a large framed breed, the British White’s being of moderate frame.
“Plus,” she says, “I read that their meat was particularly nice,” which made the possibility of earning a modest income from a paddock-to-plate pivot some time down the road a more practical option.
She looked into the breed, and purchased a bull, then added two yearling heifers from nearby breeders. Next step was to buy half a dozen embryos and put them in the farm’s Holstein cows as part of a small “recip” (or recipient) program. Four of them “held” and May last year saw the arrival of three heifer calves and one bull calf – an impressive 66% success rate that brought her British White herd up to seven.
Jo says the family is in the fortunate position of having enough land and a large and established mainstream dairy herd, so her British Whites are not there “to help pay the mortgage”, but she plans on increasing her herd, by natural methods. “I would love to have 50 breeding animals,” she says.
And, as someone who takes breeding seriously, with an enthusiasm for continually improving genetics she shares with her eldest son, she intends focussing on producing animals that are “true to breed”. “The aim is to continually improve the breed,” she says, eventually reaching a standard where she is happy to sell to other breeders.
While her husband and youngest son remain resistant to the “romantic” appeal of the heritage British Whites, Jo sees well beyond the cute factor, including a role for British White bulls in the dairy sector, one critical trait being a smaller birth weight, meaning the heifers have an easier calving, reducing potential delays in them getting back on milk, or birthing difficulties or damage such as a scarred uterus.
Her first experience of putting her bull to the Holsteins was foiled by the fact it was a bit short in the leg… and Holsteins are tall. “He couldn’t reach,” she says, which is comical in retrospect but prompted her to investigate a more suitable partnership breed, such as Jerseys.
Above all, she says, British Whites are good “doers”, making the most of poor pasture and requiring minimal input. Wet winters and dry summers are Glenavon’s biggest challenges, but the British Whites only require a little hay and sileage. “They’re low maintenance, but hold their weight well.”
She is committed to expansion and to exploring commercial opportunities as they appear. And several years down the track, she remains smitten by the breed: “I love the look of them and they’re lovely to be around, coming up to see me when I’m out in the garden.”
Leaving good looks aside, she has been similarly drawn to her fellow British White breeders: “I went to the British White Cattle Society of Australia 2024 Annual General Meeting at Kyneton, VIC to meet people and pick the brains of the council and they were the loveliest group of caring and welcoming people you could care to meet,” she says.
She also found answers to her questions, she says.
