Thankfully, visitors to date seem to have had the good sense to stay clear of the steers’ side of the fence.Īnd, judging by the reviews on Google, they’ve found that viewpoint worthwhile. Not everyone comes from that kind of farming pedigree though, and the steers have a habit of throwing their distinctive horns about like a horse flicks its tail. “We’re 11th-generation cattlemen,” Alastair said. “We’ve had to keep the roadside mowed and maintained so it doesn't become a traffic hazard,” Callum said.īut while they are more than happy for sightseers, they do ask people to stay out of the paddock. Sometimes, they say upwards of 50 cars will pull up on a weekend for a closer look. To share the joy, the Macarthurs put their longhorns on a corner paddock between Carneys Creek Road and the Teviot. Sets adorn their walls, one raised $7,000 for a drought relief charity. When a steer’s day is done, the Macarthurs butcher him and taxidermy his horns. Instead, the Macarthurs keep their longhorns as pets. “Unfortunately, their day is done.” Alastair, Fergus and Callum Macarthur. But while their lean meat has a niche, the slow maturing longhorns “aren’t viable” compared to more modern breeds. Their hardiness put the breed in good stead on the frontier. “Longhorns are one of the original beef breeds,” Fergus said. Over the years they decided to sell off the breeders and just keep a few steers.īecause, while the Macarthurs run cattle on Rock Point station, they have no intention of replacing their Santa Gertrudis herd. Later they added a stud bull and the herd grew. So, the Macarthurs bought six weaners at $100 each. “It just said ‘longhorns,’” Alastair continued. “We were like, 10,12 and 14-years-old,” Callum said. Callum feeds a steer.īut while Callum, 26, and his brothers Fergus, 28, and Alastair, 30, may not have put the pin on the map, they are responsible for the longhorns being there in the first place. “And we didn’t even put it there!” Callum Macarthur, youngest of the clan who runs the cattle reckons. Such is their popularity the longhorns have been marked as a tourist attraction on Google Maps. So, you can’t blame the carloads of people pulling up at Croftby to take pictures of a small herd of big longhorn steers grazing beside Teviot Brook. Longhorns are synonymous with the Wild West and the beasts are also reminiscent of the bullocks upon whose back much of colonial Australia was built.īut these days, in this part of the world at least, they’re a pretty rare sight. There’s a new, unofficial tourist attraction back of Boonah that’s conjuring up cattle days of yore.
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