August 17, 2013
Crownthorpe grazier Brett Greer believes that to make money out of his small cattle herd he has to take charge of the whole process … right up to the dinner plate.
And he’s now done just that, selling his first lots of packaged meat at the recent Nanango and Kin Kin markets.
Brett and his wife Simone run a small herd of Australian Lowline cattle (basically short-legged Angus) at their 430 acre property north-west of Murgon.
The breed was developed by the NSW Department of Agriculture. Their quiet nature makes them perfect for small blocks and their meat is fine-grained which makes it very tender.
The couple has been in the cattle industry all their lives – the Greers used to own Kinbombi Station – but Bronel Natural Foods is a new venture, launched recently to market the beef produced off their Crownthorpe property.
Their tagline is “grass fed beef, grown the way nature intended” which alludes to the fact the Greers are aiming to keep their herd as natural as possible, with no antibiotics or preservatives.
“Our son, Luke, is very susceptible to any trace preservatives in food. He reacts almost instantaneously when he eats preserves,” Simone said.
“This has caused Brett and myself to investigate every possible way to remove preservatives from our lives and particularly from what we eat.
“We specifically looked into beef and our own cattle and we now eat meat from cattle that we know have had no preservatives or antibiotics.
“It is very important for us for our cattle to be grass-fed and have a very stress-free life.
“We treat our cattle like family and feed them good quality grass to ensure the meat is tender and preservative-free.”
Their first weekend at the markets was a sellout which augurs well for their plan to process one animal a month.
The beasts are killed by special order at Nolan Meats in Gympie and the meat is then chilled and packed and returned to the Greers.
As well as the two markets, the meat can also be ordered online from the Bronel website.
Brett said the couple also had plans to expand into manufacturing some smallgoods, including kabana and wurst.
