PanTerra Park British White Herd. Photo supplied
Commercial viability is the number one priority for any farmer, which is why the owners of PanTerra Park at Moruya on the rolling hills of NSW’s far south coast, did their homework – and the necessary groundwork – before buying a herd of British Whites in August 2022.
Vanessa and James Findlay bought their 210-acre farm four-and-a-half years ago – and immediately set about restoring land that had gone unmanaged for more than a decade, focusing on getting their pastures back on track.
“We spent the first 18 months developing a farm plan, doing soils tests, fixing fences, addressing the weed problem, putting in necessary infrastructure and protecting and replanting the watercourses and sensitive areas,” says Vanessa. Both scientists by training, the couple added lime and calcium to unblock nutrients in the soil, fenced dams, installed a reticulated trough system and developed a paddock rotation plan.
They applied a similar rigour to their selection of a breed: “Anything we embarked upon had to be effective and efficient in the long-term,” Vanessa says.
“British Whites ticked nearly every box on our farm business plan, including being good ‘do’ers’ on rough pasture, having a good temperament, being good milk producers and mums to grow strong calves, and, importantly, having high quality meat.”
The difference between cuts from British White cattle and other breeds is clear to the eye, Vanessa says. “It’s something to do with the more even distribution of muscle and fat, which gives a good texture and makes for a succulent and tender product.”
The prioritising of quality tied in with their other key objective of responding to the requirements of the local market.
“It’s a region where consumers are passionate about buying local,” Vanessa says. “There’s great support for the variety of high-quality goods available and we are hoping in the not-too-distant future to begin supplying local restaurants.”
Also appealing to the Findlay’s was that British Whites are an ancient breed. “We have received great feedback on the fact they are a heritage breed. People are really interested in the ‘really pretty white cattle with teddy bear ears’ they see driving past our farm.”
The current herd was purchased after extensive research – and the couple had the good fortune of being able to acquire one whole herd intact.
“The cows were in calf to an Angus bull so our first calves were F1s. Our British White bull, bred by Rod Cameron of Darnum Park stud, arrived in early 2023 and our first purebred British White calves were born that spring.”
They currently have 40 British Whites – 16 cows, two bulls and the rest are retained calves from 2023/24.
The ethos of the farm is founded upon regenerative practices – “high diversity and always adding things, rather than taking away”, Vanessa says. Half of PanTerra Park is retained as native forest; they are small egg producers, have an apiary and a market garden and breed Wiltipoll sheep – a wool-shedding breed renowned for their high lambing percentages and maternal instincts.
The Wiltipolls are also useful for weed management – an aspect of the grazing rotation that has worked very well so far. “Overall, our farm plan is built around high diversification to make the most of the pasture, forests and soil types we have on our property,” Vanessa says. For instance, they oversow rather than plough, to best complement the soil and pasture types across the farm.
The PanTerra Park herd has lived up to British Whites’ reputation as good do’ers. “In particular they seem to hold their condition very well during calving and early lactation. We’ve had cows and first calf heifers this year that haven’t lost a single kilo during this time,” she says.
“And they have had very few health problems, including virtually no lameness, despite some terribly long periods of waterlogged paddocks.”
In finishing their 2024 calves, the Findlay’s tried a new approach, starting supplementary creep feeding at the four-month mark. An area containing extra feed – the ‘calfeteria’ – is set up which only calves can access through a slotted gate. “The calves worked it out super quickly and have thrived,” Vanessa says. “Weaning was a breeze with no health or productivity setbacks.”
British Whites are renowned for their easy-going temperament, and the Findlays share a deep commitment to their animals’ quality of life. They spend hours every day with the herd, which helps to make the calves comfortable and confident when being handled. Managing them in the yards is a less stressful experience for them as a result, she says.
Looking forward, the couple are still settling in their systems and processes for herd management but are taking a keen interest in productivity tracking and confirmation assessment with a view to ensuring they are continually improving the quality of the animals they breed.
The British White Cattle Society has been a very good source of information for PanTerra Park, Vanessa says, and a “great support in sorting out the genetics of our herd”.
“It’s really important that a breed like the British White, which is not that well known, has a coordinated group assisting its development and progress.
“British Whites have so many good attributes to sell. We are getting great reactions to the story of them being close descendants of ancient indigenous cattle and their resultant hardiness.
“We also get comments on their stockiness. Interestingly, a few Angus producers in our area have recently introduced British White bulls into their herds to ‘diversify their markets with a different product’. There may be a marketing opportunity for F1s, highlighting the value the breed can create in these operations.”
The Findlays’ commitment to quality produce is shown by the success of their apiary – something they didn’t predict. Vanessa says their honey took out not only Best Eucalyptus Honey, but Best Liquid Honey, Honey Supreme Champion and Best Exhibit in Show at this year’s Sydney Royal National Honey Show.
“We knew our native forest would be a great resource and this year our bees rewarded us. We’d love to repeat that success with our British Whites someday,” she says.
