Pasture To Plate

We journey across Queensland to find out the secret to Westholme’s great tasting beef

- Michelle Yee

“Born wild with the freedom to graze on natural land for as far as the eye can see, the Westholme cattle are raised on pristine tracts of Mitchell grass and finished on a specialised grain blend to achieve rich marbling throughout the cut,” explains Terry Farrell, global brand ambassador of the Australian Agricultural Company (AACo). Farrell is responding to my question about what makes Westholme’s beef so unique as compared to other premium beef brands.

“You’ll have a better idea after you visit our stations and see how our cattle are raised,” Farrell adds, as our plane—the Pilatus PC-12, a private aircraft owned by AACo—prepares to land at Wylarah Station. We are jointly hosted by AACo—Australia’s largest integrated cattle and beef producer specializing in wagyu—and Culina, a leading purveyor of exceptional and specialist epicurean foods and beverages, to visit a handful of AACo properties in Queensland to understand how their cattle are bred and raised, and how the consistency of care provided by the station managers and the emphasis on animal nutrition, have a direct impact on the quality of the meat.

Also on board the plane are Matthew Van Der Zwan, executive chef of Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel; Heidi Flanagan, chef de cuisine of Origin Grill & Bar at Shangri-La Hotel Singapore; Paul Hallet, executive chef of Skai Restaurant & Bar at Swissôtel The Stamford; and a representative from Culina.

During our one-hour flight from Archerfield to Surat, Farrell gave us a rundown of the functions of AACo’s stations, “Some are focused on breeding bulls, some on producing grain fed or grass fed cattle, and others on producing wagyu,” he says.