Product: Pastured eggs and beef
What: The reason the beef and eggs from this regenerative farm are so exceptional dates back to the 1950s when Tom Abbottsmith Youl’s grandparents were clearing the forest north of the Great Dividing Range for their farm. Back then, they decided to preserve large swathes of old-growth bush. Generations later, that bush is home to natural predators that help keep the bugs on the farm at bay and assist Tom in his quest to replicate ancient grazing regimes.
Where: Glenburn, Murrindindi Shire, Taungurung and Wurundjeri Woiwurrung Country
Who: Third-generation farmer Tom Abbottsmith Youl
Tom, tell us about how you raise your cattle and hens.
Grass is what I actually grow. It takes solar energy and turns it into food for the hens and cattle, who then turn it into eggs and beef. I replicate a traditional grassland grazing system of where birds follow herbivores and birds – like in the Serengeti. Here, however, cattle and chickens work in harmony to create an environment ideal for growing grass. The cattle move across the pasture in a planned rotational grazing system. The grazing is intense but infrequent. The cattle won’t return to the same piece of pasture for months. After the cattle come the birds – the chooks spread the cow dung, eat the worms and bugs in the cow pats, and distribute the manure into the soil, which in turn feeds the microbes in the soil that then nourish the grass.
How does the bush help with this system?
There’s a native wasp that lives in the forest and feeds on nectar produced by the trees. When it comes time to breed, it flies down and lays its eggs inside cockchafers – these look like small witchetty grubs but feed on the roots of grasses. The wasp larvae eat the cockchafers from the inside and significantly reduce their numbers. Healthy forest, healthy wasps, healthy soil, healthy chooks, and healthy cattle.
What do your eggs and beef taste like?
Like eggs and beef used to. The eggs are firm, fresh, and naturally coloured by the beta-carotene in the grass that the chickens eat, and the yolks are rich from all the insects. The beef herd is a Simmental-Red Devon cross that is bred for the location and has beautiful marbling.
How do we get our hands on your produce?
Order online, and I deliver to hubs mostly on the north side of Melbourne, including Coburg North, Glenroy, Fitzroy North, and Clifton Hill, where you can pick up your order. The beef is sold on a subscription basis, but with the eggs, you can place smaller orders. I also sell to cafés, restaurants, and selected retailers. You can get in contact via the website. tomspaddock.com.au