Champion bull steals show

“We have been breeding stud belted Galloway, belties, for over 25 years, and in that time we have really put together our herd to focus on a few key things,” Ali said.

“We really like having very functional cattle that can live a long time, like the dam of the heifer that we had at the Canberra Show, she was 18 when she had her, so we like longevity in our cattle.

“And of course temperament, anything that doesn’t have temperament doesn't last very long around here.”

The farm’s recent show success demonstrates the quality of their breeding program.

“The heifer at Canberra (show), she was second,” Ali said.

“She was champion at Melbourne (show), but she was second to a really nice heifer at Canberra, so we were pretty happy with that.”

Their bull also achieved remarkable success at the Canberra Show.

“We are actually going to bring the bull that we took to Canberra (Show) to the Seymour Expo,” Ali said.

“He won the interbreed champion bull in the small and rare breeds, which was a pretty incredible moment.”

“He has got a beautiful muscle pattern and he is very correct.

“He’s just got a beautiful temperament for a bull to handle.”

The 10-month-old bull, officially named Jalaway What a lad, but called Whata at home, weighed 426kg at the show.

Operating on 45 hectares with about 30 breeding females, the farm attracts a diverse range of customers.

“It is a real mixture of who we sell to,” Ali said.

“The females nearly always go to stud breeders that are either planning to breed on, or sometimes people will buy them to show as well.

“The number one reason is the meat quality, because most people find the meat absolutely amazing.

“They find that when they eat belty beef, they actually don’t want to go back to eating ordinary beef.”