Please excuse me here… I need to have a rant…What really gets my “goat” – is seeing other companies espousing that their products support “Aussie farmers” but never say WHO the Aussie farmer is, or WHERE the Aussie farmer is located. It seems that just saying that they support this mysterious group of companies or individuals referred to as “Aussie farmers” is sufficient to justify their green or social credentials. Well in our mind – this isn’t good enough – and honestly it shouldn’t be accepted. Consumers should be treated with enough respect to know where their food comes from – and if these companies don’t know (which is true in most cases), they should fess up. Something along the lines of “We support Aussie farmers… but we don’t know who they are or where the animal was raised, we just got it in a box with a nice picture on it… I’m sure they are nice farmers though”.
So this week we thought we would shine a light on “Aussie farmers”, REAL Aussie farmers, Aussie Farmers with a name, a farm that we have visited and beef that you know WHERE it comes from.
Willowmavin – A small farm with a big history and a great future
Willowmavin is a small farm with a deep history. Owners Jo and John Lambert raise their Angus cattle on land that Ned Kelly once traversed. Its history is as rich as the pasture that now sustains their cattle and the Lambert family. Adopting regenerative farming practices, they farm for the future and to ensure that their land improves year on year.
Fast Facts:
- Name: Willowmaven
- Location: Molyullah, near Benalla, Victoria
- Size: 250 acres
- Livestock: 70 Angus Breeders, Bulls, Steers & Heifers
- Farmers: Jo and John Lambert and sons Alex and Tom
A colourful history
Willowmavin is a small part of the original Kilfeera station, a 38,000-acre property established around 1870 that ran sheep. In the 1870s the Kelly family had a homestead just a few kilometres north of Willowmavin near Glenrowan West. Ned and his gang would have travelled this land on their ‘adventures’. By the 1900s the property was owned by a Mr. Chivers. He found a young lad on his property on Christmas Day tucking into a rabbit he had trapped. The boy had been abandoned by his parents so Chivers took him in. Les Booth became a farm manager there and eventually owned the property.
A family of farmers
Jo is a 3rd generation farmer. Her father and grandfather were beef producers. Jo does most of the day-to-day farming while John works as a GP, which is super handy when a calf needs to be pulled. The boys love the farming life, looking after the chooks and helping the Provenir team on the weeks we visit.
A desire for better
The Lambert’s feel a strong connection to the land through their farming. Always looking to improve their farm through regenerative techniques, they have reduced the average size of their paddocks to improve pasture utilisation through rotational grazing. Better diversity of pastures has reduced runoff into Ryan’s Creek, and they have fenced off the creek and dams and planted natives. Combined with a low use of chemicals and planting forage brassicas to improve soil carbon they are seeing their farm regenerate which in turn provides productivity improvements.
Livestock care
Their cattle are bred for a quiet temperament which is further supported by their low-stress stock handling techniques and their cattle yard design that improves handling and reduce stress -it’s all interconnected. The last key part for the Lambert’s farming operation was the onsite processing that Provenir offered.
Scientific research – and common sense – tells us that well cared for cattle that are not stressed make the best beef. “Aside from the benefits to eating quality, with the Provenir on-farm processing we like the idea that our cattle don’t have to get onto a truck and leave the farm to go to an abattoir, they remain in a familiar environment with handlers that they know.” But the quality that Provenir expects also motivates the Lambert’s to do better every day. “It also puts the pressure on us to make sure that we do produce the best meat possible because people will be able to see who produced what they are eating! We take great pride in that.”
With a rich heritage and desire to improve, the Lambert’s are quietly building the foundations for future generations to continue in their footsteps producing regenerative beef of the best quality and with the highest welfare standards.
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