The Farm
About Us
Welcome to Braelands Beef & Lamb. Our family has been proudly growing beef in the Pentland Hills, one hour west of Melbourne since 1878. We started selling our beef and lamb direct to the public in 2009 and we have had an overwhelming response from our customers which has led us to grow our small business that is Braelands beef & Lamb.
We are passionate about giving our local community the opportunity to buy premium quality, home bred, grass fed meat direct from their farmer. Another area that is very important is providing the link between consumer and food producer that is so often lost in todays society.
My name is Louise Abey and I am a fourth generation beef farmer. I manage our family farm with the help from our two children Penelope who is four, and Arthur who is two. Our aim is to remain a quality small and specialized business that only sells meat that is grown on our farm so we can maintain our high standards.
At Braelands Beef & Lamb we do not want to, and are not able to produce huge quantities - so we focus on the quality of our product.
What we CAN produce, and guarantee is beef and lamb that gives a fabulous eating experience every time.
All our beef and lamb is bred on our farm, grass fed & natural. We guarantee our beef & lamb is free from growth hormones and antibiotics.
When you purchase our product, you buy direct from the farmer who produced it, you can rest assured that your beef and lamb has been respected, & had a happy & low stress life. You also support local farmers & small family run Australian business (us, our meat-works and butcher), and thus our local community.
We butcher our beef at 15 - 24 months of age, as we have found this to produce a product superior in taste, tenderness and consistency. The beef then hangs and is "dry aged" for at least 2 weeks for maximum tenderness. Then the beef is cut up and packaged in cryovaac (vacuum sealed) bags. This is a process that removes all oxygen and allows beef to continue to age and improve. It will also store in your fridge for up to four weeks.
The methods we use to produce our beef mean we end up with natural, environmentally sounds, sustainable healthy, tasty product that has been processed locally and delivered FRESH straight to you.
In 2012 our property became EU accredited. This guarantees that our produce has ABSOLUTELY NO HORMONES as we have to abide by strict guidelines to obtain this EU status.
We join our Hereford cows to Angus bulls and then select the very best black baldy steers for our meat program, Our lambs we join first cross ewes to Poll Dorset rams. They are processed and packaged using local meatworks and local butchers.
The magnificent flavor to our beef is a result of the following things:
- We use only quality Hereford & Angus cattle
- All our beef is Grass fed
- No Hormone Growth Promotants (HGPs) are used EVER.
- Breeding selection - we breed for good meat traits as well as temperament and maternal traits.
- Low stress management
- Hanging time of carcass is 12+ days
- Careful butchering
- No water bulking of the meat (this adds weight)
- No gassing (this is used to increase shelf life)
Grass fed beef is superior to grain fed beef, not only in its taste but also in health benefits. Because every serve contains:
- Up to Sixty times more omega 3 than grain fed beef
- Three times as much Vitamin E than grain fed beef &
- Twice as much beta-carotene (Vitamin A) than grain fed beef
The healthy soil and the native grasses that grown in the Pentland Hills region contribute to the fantastic taste of our beef & lamb. We encourage growth of the native grasses, and also are looking to improve our property and it's sustainability all of the time.
In 2011 - 2012 we fenced of a large tributary with about 4 km of fencing, and fenced several other new tree guards. We have planted close to 1,300 trees.