Behind-the-scenes look at the Palgrove story

The guest speakers at the latest Rural Press Club of Queensland breakfast, held at Rockhampton as part of Beef Australia this month, the Bondfields talked about everything from plant-based meat to alternate pathways to owning land and cattle.

Their Palgrove story is well known as one of trailblazing and game changing but the behind-the-scenes thinking, decisions and challenges that have been a part of the journey are less known.

Just how David went from judging sheep at his first show at age 11 to partnering with an overseas superannuation fund made for fascinating conversation.

The Bondfields talked of having a vision, building strong relationships and adapting to change in a presentation led by specialist beef journalist James Nason.

In the three decades since buying 50 stud Charolais cows from the family grazing business started by David's parents Peter and Valerie in marginal country near Stanthorpe, the couple have built the largest registered Charolais herd in the country, pioneered the development of the Ultrablack breed, run an extensive commercial beef operation and now have properties spread across Queensland and NSW.

They've been named Australian Seedstock Producer of the Year, Livestock Producer and Farmer of the Year; won 36 interbreed titles at royal shows in 21 years, four consecutive interbreed titles at Beef Australia and three straight championships at the Ekka Paddock to Palate competition.

Prue Bondfield was the inaugural chair of the Australian Beef Sustainability Framework and is currently a director of LiveCorp and the Regional Investment Corporation, whilst David has judged livestock all over the world.

Clearly, up-and-coming cattle producers were hungry for any snippet of information as to what drove that sort of success.

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The first piece of advice from Prue was to never stop learning.

She was a lawyer from Brisbane with no prior knowledge of cattle and sheep when she married David and moved to the bush.

"I started out at on the bottom rung of the ladder in terms of farm skills, and I didn't like being there so I was determined to learn, ask questions and build a role for myself on-farm," she said.

She took every opportunity - from conversations with experienced livestock people to attending

conferences and even a post graduate degree in marketing and business that enabled her to broaden her industry knowledge.

David, on the other hand was already well entrenched in livestock production, having started as a registered sheep breeder at the ripe old age of 9.

"I may have been the novelty act in those early days - even receiving an ice-cream as compensation for my judging assignments, but my whole life I've been passionate about animal genetics," he said.

He also has an interest in photography and sketching and believes there is a common thread between those who can 'assess livestock' and art.

"My sister is a professional artist and she always says the artist is telling you something, and it's

important to look deeper into the subject," he said.

"I say the same about cattle. Each animal is different and if you really study their form, you can see far more than a profile, you can see how that animal will breed in the future."

The Bondfields started with little more than a vision at a time when money was available at 19 per cent interest and acceptance of the Charolais breed in northern Australia was a long way from the popularity of the breed today.

"The best thing we ever did was to establish five-year plans," Mrs Bondfield said.

"Then we took the step of developing a business plan with an advisory firm, which led us to discover what we needed to do to achieve the very clear vision we had."

Mr Bondfield said it was then a matter of paying attention to detail - the 'little one percenters' that get you there.

That as well as thinking outside the box.

The couple said they chose a number of alternate ways to build their cattle numbers and generate cashflow, enabling them to build then their land assets - from leasing and agistment to share farming and third-party production management.

People have always been a critical part of the Palgrove business.

"What team and what sort of people we surround ourselves with, what sort of people are representing us and our business - it's so important," Mr Bondfield said.

"They must be people who know what you want to achieve and want to come with you on that ride.

"We regard Palgrove as a people business first and we never said that our staff worked for us, it was always that they work with us."

Going against the flow has never scared the Bondfields.

"When we first took Charolais bulls north to show, there was more ridicule than admiration," Mr Bondfield said.

But the couple had the firm belief these genetics could revolutionise production over Bos Indicus females.

"You have to persevere, even when it's uncomfortable," Mr Bondfield said.

More recently, the Bondfields were one of the pioneers of the development of the Ultrablack breed in Australia.

They say it was a direct response to client requests for a suitable third breed for use in Charolais/Brahman crossbreeding programs in northern Australia.

Palgrove started breeding the Angus/Brangus fixed composite that retained the meat quality and fertility of the Angus breed but had the heat tolerance and survivability built in from the Brangus genetics.

"We looked at what the consumer was saying, and what can be adapted to being run in the tougher environments where the larger numbers of cattle are," Mr Bondfield said.

"We had established Charolais and that would have been a comfortable path to kick on with but there was opportunity and potential to keep finding solutions.

"We're committed to the benefits of composites. It's about taking the best traits out of many breeds and combining them to get a bigger bang for your buck and higher profitability."

A broad view of the world helps a person come up with answers, Mrs Bondfield believes.

In talking to a diverse range of stakeholders as part of the Australian Beef Sustainability Framework, she has formed the belief that Australian cattle production is well supported and it does no favours being aggressive where detractors are concerned. The industry must however, measure and communicate its sustainability credentials.

"As to plant-based meats, are not an existential threat but every business involved in beef should have it noted as a threat in their SWOT analysis," she said.

"The labelling issue has to be sorted out very soon but just like pork, chicken or other meal alternative, it's a competitor.

"It gives us even more reason to support the beef sustainability framework, to tell our story and talk about the solutions we can bring to the table.

"When you ask young people today who talk about wanting to eat less meat, they say it's better for the environment.

"We need to get the right message to them through industry and via our enterprises."

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