What: Great-tasting, grass-fed Dorper cross lamb, grown just north of Shepparton.
Where: Bunbartha, City of Greater Shepparton, Yorta Yorta Country.
Who: Fifth-generation farmers Kelly and Ian McPherson.
Kelly, you’re called Bunbartha Beef but you sell lamb?
We used to grow and sell beef, but the processing became untenable. We concentrate on our Dorper x Merino-cross lamb now. Dorper is a meat breed whose ewes drop lambs twice a year. It also sheds its wool, so we don’t have to shear the sheep.
Where is Bunbartha?
We are in Goulburn Valley irrigation country. The Goulburn River meanders through the ancient river red gum country to the west, and our six family farms are spread out over the red sandy loam. We are cropping farmers and also grow wheat and canola.
How do you sell your lamb?
First, we hang them for up to 10 days to help give the lamb a tender texture. Our customers are mainly people who like to know where their food comes from. They order whole lambs from us and tell us how they would like the body broken up. Our butcher cuts the animal to order, and our customers pick it up from our store in Shepparton. We also sell smaller cuts of lamb from our store.
Tell us more about your store.
We sell fresh fruit, vegetables, dry goods, deli items, meat, eggs, and healthy meals. We support a lot of small local businesses. We buy garlic from Broken Creek Organics, olive oil from Kewstoke Olive Estate and Rich Glen Olive Estate. We even have fruit and vegetables grown by our 12-year-old son Harry, who has a garden on our farm.
What’s the address?
Look for Bunbartha Beef and Fine Food, 91 Benalla Rd, Shepparton.