Beef Calves -
bred to perform on grass.
Short. Thick. Easy-fleshing.
Pharo genetics cross with our pasture raised dairy cows.
Our calves are deliberately different
We produce beef cross calves that are deliberately bred for performance on pasture.
By crossing carefully selected Pharo genetics with our dairy cows, we create animals that are moderate in frame, thick through the body, and easy to finish on grass alone. These calves are built for efficiency — not the show rings or thefeedlot.
Many dairy-beef crosses grow into big-framed, leggy cattle that are hard keeping.
Our calves are different. They are short, thick and easy fleshing with the ability to grow and finish on grass. Customers often describe them as “little tanks” — sturdy, efficient, and well-suited to Tasmanian pasture systems.
“We have bought dairy beef cattle from other farms and they have often grown into racehorses — big framed, leggy and hard doing. The cattle we got from you are like little tanks: short, thick and easy fleshing. Perfect for our conditions!”
D.A. Farmer Northern Tasmania
Why these calves work well
- Moderate frame and short-legged
more beef, less leg - Thick and easy-fleshing
they hold condition on pasture - Bred for grass performance, not high-input systems
All of our calves are Greenham Dairy Beef Scheme Eligible.
This gives buyers access to a recognised, high-quality pathway for beef produced from dairy herds — supporting better outcomes and traceability.
8 Cs of successful calf rearing
We have evolved our beef genetics since we started producing Dairy x Beef to more closely match our environment. If we’re serious about producing top quality 100% Grassfed Beef that meets our customers expectations of environmental care and a fabulous eating experience then we need cattle that ‘fit’ our environment.
For us this means smaller, thick, easy fleshing cattle that are naturally healthy and productive. Easy calving is another key trait we’re looking for, to ensure our dairy cows have appropriately sized calves that do not affect their own health and subsequent fertility.
We started looking around to find the type of cattle that would satisfy our requirements and we met Kate and Ryan Usmar from Pharo Cattle Australia at Grassroots Festival (link). Their philosophy fitted ours perfectly and they were able to supply the numbers of bulls we required on an ongoing basis.
Pharo Cattle Australia https://pcabulls.com.au/ have supplied our bulls for the past several years, so we now have experience of them from being born right through to eating them and are just fantastic! They have been zero trouble right throughout their lives and they have fattened very quickly, superb carcass traits and eating quality.
Working with nature creates very low operating costs - by running longer rotation lengths we need minimal supplements (virtually no hay or silage, instead using deferred or stockpiled pasture) to get us through summer and winter, very limited use of wormers and other treatments. The only additive they receive regularly is free access to Australian Mineralised Salt https://www.vitec.com.au/
Additionally, we use no synthetic fertilisers, herbicides, pesticides or insecticides.