The Chief of Beef

Next time you enjoy a velvety, melt in the mouth piece of rump or rib eye, give some thought to the farmer that cared for the cow.

Charles Hanna needed a sea change from his apartment life in Sydney and decided to try his hand at farming. The successful business man ventured into a cattle property, ‘Colly Creek’ just outside of Willow Tree, approximately four hours from Sydney.  

Charles and Cheryl bought the Willow Tree Inn in 2009 and gutted the entire joint within a five month period. Halfway between Tamworth and Scone, this regal pub is nestled in a tiny town of just over 100 people but believe me- buying this business was no missed steak.  In fact, the pub’s restaurant, Graze, was awarded the Best Country Pub in NSW by the Sydney Morning Herald this year. 
 

A couple of local farmers at the pub

100% of the beef and lamb served in the restaurant are sourced from ‘Colly Creek’ where Black Angus graze open pastures. The finest cattle for the restaurant are handpicked anywhere between 12-18 months after being finished off on a diet of barley and dry lucerne at Charles’ feedlot for 150 days. Some would say that this is too young; however Charles believes the meat at this age is balanced in flavour and tenderness. Once slaughtered, the beef is dry aged in a dehumidified controlled cool room at the pub for a minimum of 4-5 weeks (which you can see in the restaurant).

Megsy (my husband) and Winemaker Dan Shaw of Philip Shaw Wines at the pub

 

During dinner, Charles kindly invited me to his property on Saturday morning to learn more about his operation.  As I drove up the gravel driveway through the magnificent arch of trees, I doubted this hobby farmer’s capability.  I thought to myself, there’s no way someone with his background could understand agriculture, but how I was wrong!  Charles unassumingly rattled off market prices of grain and beef, providing me with an with in-depth detail of cattle grazing, breeding and butchering. His eyes lit up when he spoke about beef.

Colly Creek Entrance

  

While ‘Colly Creek’ provides Graze Restaurant with 20 head of cattle a month, the farm also fattens up to 800 head of Black Angus cattle; 650 breeders with 50 stud bulls. Charles is a firm believer that the market has a strong, stable demand for Angus cattle as these black beauties yield  a 10% premium on others breeds. Charles used to buy in his grain for the feedlot but at over $300 per tonne it became infeasible. ‘Colly Creek’ now grows the barley and lucerne for a much more feasible cost of $120 tonne- you’re probably starting to see why Charles has done so well, right?  The grass fed cattle that don’t quite make the cut for the pub (pardon the pun) are  typically sold on Auction Plus. An online livestock tool, kind of like ebay, for farmers to buy and sell -another innovative business solution that Charles has adopted as there are no transportation costs for the seller.

Some interesting facts on beef cattle below

• Bulls, heifers, cows and calves are commonly known as cows however the correct term is cattle. ‘Cattle’ is essentially plural for cow

• A cow has four stomachs,
• A cow drinks about a bathtub full of water a day
• A cow’s gestation period is the same as humans- 9 months
• Cattle drink water by the use of a sucking action; they don’t lap up water like a cat or dog.
• Cows have almost 360 degree panoramic vision
• India have the most cattle in the world
• There are approximately 43,800 farms in Australia producing beef cattle, with a national herd of approximately 26.6 million head
• The Australian beef industry (including live cattle) contributes about 17 percent to total Australian farm exports
• Australians eat an average 33kg of beef per person, per year (unless you’re like my husband who enjoys a steak for breakfast, lunch and dinner)
• The consumption of beef accounts for 24.7 percent of world meat consumption.
• Australia is a small producer of beef, but is the second largest beef exporter (behind Brazil).

I have to steak the obvious; Charles Hanna is a Chief of Beef taking the paddock to plate concept to much greener pastures.