David Beak, a member of Team Te Mania since 2020, knows what keeps him happy when it comes to farming: seeing his herd’s marbling and growth steadily improve. And improve they have.
David runs 350 breeders on 4,000 acres at Kerrabee Park, located midway between Mudgee and Merriwa, surrounded by national forests. He credits longtime Team Te Mania members Michael and Sallie Carroll, of Derrinallum in Victoria, with encouraging him to join the Team — and for supplying his first draft of females.
“I only get to spend about a third of my time on the farm; the rest of the time, I’m based in Sydney,” David explains. Despite this, he remains deeply involved, building strong relationships with other Team Te Mania members and customers.
“Most of our turnoff goes to Ranger’s Valley — this year, we shipped cattle at weights between 380kg and 450kg,” David says.
“Our property has very light country, that doesn’t hold well during dry periods. But the flip side is that when we get rain, it bounces back quickly, and the cattle thrive on it,” he adds.
David runs a spring calving program, with heifers calving first and a schedule that stretches over 10 weeks. “It’s a longer period, but it works well for us,” he says.
Kerrabee Park has already participated in the annual Team Te Mania Online Commercial Female Sale and plans to take part again in 2025, as the herd edges closer to the standards David is aiming for. He values early-weaning characteristics and docility in his cattle, alongside marbling and growth performance.
“Being part of the Team has worked very well for us, especially in terms of growth and docility, though we do have slightly smaller mature cattle,” David notes.
“That’s partly because we’ve been focused on keeping mature cow weights down. But now that we’ve achieved the traits we value, we’ll probably open up the growth a bit.
“If we can maintain good marbling along with that, we’ll be very happy.”
Key Details:
- Member of Team Te Mania since: 2020
- Calving period: July/August/September
