Heritage herd rediscovered in Australia

The country along the Macquarie River between Dubbo and Narromine is so rich that riverfront cattle growers such as Andrew and Kerrie Martin of Dulla Dulla Pastoral Company usually don’t have to do much to finish their animals before sending them to market. In poorer weather, they might add some barley or cotton seed to their usual lucerne or sileage – making them “fat and shiny” – but generally the land has provided.

That changed in 2019, when a three-year drought brought many farmers in Central West NSW to their knees. Luckily, the Martins had farmed the site since 1885, and Andrew understood that diversity was crucial to survival: Dulla Dulla grows wheat, oats, faba beans, lucerne, chickpeas, canola, pigeon peas and cotton on a rotational basis as well as running self-shedding meat sheep, meat goats and beef cattle, including British Whites. The mix won Andrew the Australian Farmer of the Year Award for Diversity in 2019, and was a key element in ensuring the concern would live to farm another day.

Nevertheless, the Martins were forced to sell all Dulla Dulla’s meat sheep, including breeders, and like everyone else, had to significantly reduce cattle numbers to survive. From a combined herd of 300 or so, most of their Black Angus and French Limousin went to market. But they were reluctant to part with their British Whites – a decision that was based on practicalities as much as sentiment: “Our British White cattle do so much better than other European breeds in Australia,” Kerrie says. “They are white with black points, which means when other darker coloured breeds are under trees trying to get away from the heat and flies, the British White are still out grazing. Their white coats and black points protect them from our harsh summers.

“They also forage better than other breeds. They will graze where other cattle don’t and eat a wider variety of forage. And they have a good dairy history; their milk harkens back to their dairy days. It’s richer and more prolific than other breeds, so their calves do better.” The unfussy foraging was important during the drought, when finding hay supplies became almost impossible. Kerrie kept the British Whites going by hunting out feed spots, including along the roadside. But it was still touch and go: stock numbers were pared back to a minimum and if an animal was not true to type, or didn’t meet all their selection criteria, it had to go.

Things returned to some kind of normality by 2023 and now Kerrie can see the gift in the measures the drought forced them to take: “It was a blessing in a way,” she says. “The farm got down to its best breeders.” They now have two separate British White herds of around 41 cows and heifers, with at least another 36 or so calves on the way, which will take their numbers to about 80 animals. The two herds run with unrelated bulls, Mac Liam Jax and Mac Liam Dulla, purchased from Sindy & Greg Wilson of Mac Liam stud in Tumbarumba. Kerrie says their herd would rival any of the animals that British White breeders proudly photograph and post on social media.

The British Whites were the legacy of Andrew’s Auntie Meg, who had acquired them about four decades previously in a dispersal sale. “Meg bred winning Corriedale Sheep as well as some mixed breed cattle, and also used to buy weaner steers from nearby dairies to continue to feed and fatten up for sale,” Kerrie says. “Sometime during the 1980s, Meg became interested in British White cattle as they seemed to be good all-rounders, in that they could be used for meat as well as milk. Dulla Dulla used to employ more than 20 people then, so they needed their own supply of meat, milk and eggs.”

Meg started small, with 20-30 animals and the family became so attached to them that Andrew’s father, David, now 90, became very protective of them during the drought sell-off: “You’re not going to get rid of the British Whites are you?” he would ask his son anxiously.

There’s a real sense of legacy at Dulla Dulla; a deep respect for the past. “Many traditions remain,” Kerrie says, “such as keeping operational the very first tractors ever bought, and morning tea for all family and staff at 10am each weekday. Keeping the British Whites, because Meg loved them so, is part of that – a lifestyle, love of the land kind of thing”, she says.

They call the British Whites their “heritage herd”, but the loyalty to the breed also has its very practical side. Aunt Meg wanted them for their positive qualities: seeing them as good mothers, with good milk, and an easy-going nature, qualities that are still important for Kerrie. “They graze better and provide better milk, and in my opinion, the meat tastes better,” she says.

Kerrie is in the process of trawling through the many boxes of old farm records to see if they can identify when Meg bought the cattle, and where from. She has spent the past seven years selectively breeding the British Whites to achieve traits as “true to type” as possible. “We are looking for good tempered, good mothering and good grazing diversity.”

Assisted by the British White Cattle Society of Australia, the Martins are looking at registering their herd and are investigating its history, “going back to the first bull”, to ascertain if any of the animals have the bloodlines that would qualify them for entry into the Australian Herd Book and at what grade. Adding their herd to the book would help give “this amazing breed a little more notoriety”, and significantly boost the Australian herd size Kerrie says, and help to get the message out about their advantages over other breeds.

Their reasons are twofold: to continue to foster Auntie Meg’s legacy and to support the British White breed in Australia. There is also the commercial angle: the Martins intend to continue to increase their herd size “in the hope that one day we will achieve the same (or better) price per kilo as we do for our Angus cattle”, Kerrie says. “Today’s consumer is looking for a quality, well-cared for product that they know and can trust the source, and that is what we aim to achieve. It would be terrific if one day British White or BW Burger rolled off the tongue as easily as Angus burger.”

This article was first published by the British White Cattle Society of Australia in their July 2025 Newsletter.