A Pilbara cattle station has received shire approval to build a large feedlot as it takes another step towards becoming a major player in the global marbled beef market.
Pardoo Wagyu, which owns Pardoo Station, 150 kilometres north-east of Port Hedland, plans to build a feedlot with the capacity to support 10,000 cattle.
The 200,000-hectare station was bought by Singaporean businessman Bruce Cheung for $13 million in 2015.
He became interested in the property after being told a largely untapped fresh underground river ran beneath it and that irrigation licences were available.
In the years since the company has spent millions transforming Pardoo’s marginal grazing country into irrigated grass and hay production for cattle.
Pardoo Station had 20 centre pivot irrigators operating by 2023. (Supplied: Pardoo Waygu)
Pardoo Wagyu chief executive Grant Rockman said the damage to Cyclone clean-up on Pardoo Station during Cyclone Ilsa in early 2023 inspired the feedlot plan.
“As a response to the cyclone, we constructed temporary cattle feed yards to facilitate to ensure the weaners on-site could continue to be fed with a high level of animal welfare standards during this transitional phase,” he said.
“At the same time, we went through the process of applying for a feedlot license.”
This centre pivot on Pardoo station was destroyed by Tropical Cyclone Ilsa. (ABC Rural: Michelle Stanley)
‘Scale and volume’
The company’s ambition is to build a feedlot facility that will eventually hold more than 14,000 young Wagyu cattle weighing 350 kilograms each.
“The main focus of the feedlot will be on heifer weiners, so intensively feeding our females in the same environment that they’re going to go back into and they come from,” Mr Rockman said.
These cattle will be sourced from three Kimberley stations controlled by Pardoo Wagyu — Mowanjum, Fairfield and Leopold Downs.
“In the Kimberley and also on the rangelands in the Pilbara, by August 2025, we’ll hit 10,000 breeder cattle,” Mr Rockman said.
“Now, that number isn’t just a heightened objective, we see that as the number required to actually produce the scale and volume to be a player on the world market.”
Wagyu beef is prized for its marbled white intramuscular fat, which provides a rich flavour and creamy texture. (ABC South East SA: Elsie Adamo)
Long-term confidence
Beef market analyst Matt Dalgleish said Pardoo Wagyu stood alongside the likes of Gina Rinehart and Andrew Forrest in its confidence in the long-term demand for marbled meat.
“There are some very big players already in the Wagyu space, particularly in WA, and I think people with that business acumen investing in something like Wagyu gives the broader sector confidence as well,” Mr Dalgleish said.
The long-term outlook indicates a strong interest in luxury marbled Wagyu meat. (Supplied: Pardoo Wagyu)
But he said fears of a recession in the US – Australian Wagyu’s main market – was a potential worry in the short-term.
“It’s a high-premium product and it goes to individuals that have some fair amount of spare cash in their in their wallets to spend on luxury items — but that doesn’t mean you’re immune to a general downturn,” Mr Dalgleish said.
“And that’s what we’re seeing, that the risk of that downturn is still present.”
It is hoped investment in the Kimberley Meat Company abattoir will allow for local processing of Wagyu cattle from northern WA. (Supplied: Yeeda Pastoral Company)
Processing opportunity?
Pardoo Wagyu plans to process its cattle in abattoirs on the east coast of Australia as well as in southern WA.
But a newly-struck deal between Canadian investment fund AIMCo and the administrators of the Kimberley Meat Company, located less than 600 kilometres from Pardoo, could present an opportunity for local processing.
Mr Rockman hoped that under new ownership the Kimberley Meat Company could receive the investment needed to process high-grade Wagyu cattle from northern WA.
“At the moment that feedlot cannot handle 100-kilogram animals and don’t have the skill set or equipment to process Wagyu,” he said.
“If they ever got to that level we certainly would be processing there — that would be our most desirable outcome.”
