The story so far
How a city couple took on 50 hectares on Corner Inlet, and where Burrendah is heading.
In early 2022 Penny and I took on Burrendah, a 50 hectare grazing property on the edge of Corner Inlet at Yanakie. We had spent our lives in the city and suburbs. We came with a clear aim: put carbon back into the soil while producing good, wholesome food from the land.
The first cattle
Our first cattle arrived in late March 2022. On 25 March they went into the paddock we call Oberon, and from there we began moving them around the farm, paddock by paddock. That rotation has never really stopped.
The cows came from two purchases, and we knew little about their breeding. It was a starting point, not a finished herd.
Learning the land
Before changing anything, we wanted to know what we had. In July 2022 an agronomist tested the soil across all 14 paddocks, looking at both the chemistry and the life in the soil. The results showed a clear gradient from south to north: the northern paddocks are more acidic and less fertile.
That baseline matters. This year the soil was tested again, so we can see what four years of rotational grazing with long rest periods has done.
How we graze
We run the herd as one mob and move it often. The cattle graze a small area hard for a short time, then that pasture gets a long rest to recover. We add nothing to the soil; any minerals go to the cattle.
At first we did this with polywire and mobile electric fences. Now the cattle wear Gallagher eShepherd collars, which let us set virtual fences from a phone. That will be a story of its own.
Better genetics
In 2024 we began using artificial insemination with proven calving-ease Angus sires. Our first AI calves arrived in August 2025. The second crop, by a different sire, arrived from late August this year.
We are also enrolled in Greenham's Never Ever program, which sends back carcass data on the steers we sell. That feedback tells us how our genetics perform on the hook, not just in the paddock.
Where we are heading
Our goal is to become known for reliable, genomically tested Angus replacement heifers for commercial beef producers. The steers will still go to beef. Over the next few years we will DNA-test our females, keep the best, and prove the genetics through carcass results. We hope to offer our first heifers for sale around 2028.
We will share the journey here, about once a month: the grazing, the soil, the calves, the gadgets, and the odd thing that doesn't go to plan.
Neil and Penny