About Us - History
In 2002 Brett Prosser and Simon Winston Smith committed to establishing a business to supply premium beef product to the developing markets of Asia. At that point in time Simon had spent more than ten years of his life in Japan and China (Hong Kong) where he experienced firsthand the growth in market penetration and the changes in red meat and cereal consumption patterns and Brett was looking to further his business interests beyond Agribusiness Banking and the property he and his brother had acquired from family.
Following extensive due diligence, financial modelling and on the ground investigation Brett and Simon purchased Bengalla Station in January, 2003.
Originally established in 1860 as one of the largest aggregations in the Goondiwindi area Bengalla Station was near derelict. The accommodations and buildings were in serious disrepair. Physical infrastructure including gates and fencing were not serviceable. An inspection of the pastures showed they were weed infested with soils classed as 'poor'. Bengalla Station was effectively environmentally 'bankrupt'. To the new owners this was all 'upside'.
An extensive redevelopment program was undertaken. Financial resources were limited so the development program was funded out of on-farm income. Skills in financial analysis and management and financial modelling gained from years of financial and credit analysis were critical to the development of a five year plan that would drive the success of the undertaking.
The soils are the media in which all plants and production occur and with the assistance of Bart Davidson at Bio Nutrient Solutions a multiyear program for soil regeneration was implemented with the primary goal of creating living biologically active soils. Concurrent to this soil regeneration program was a cropping regime established to bring weeds under control and develop a base for cleaner livestock pastures in the long term. Hugh McKinnon from Landmark brought a wealth of local knowledge and ideas in this agronomy and was an integral part of the process.
The 'greenfield' nature of Bengalla Station meant there were no preconceptions over what farming methods were viable. Brett had the opportunity to work with some of the area's best contract planters with access to the latest precision farming equipment and technology. Practices such as controlled traffic cropping and GPS guidance systems were introduced alongside satellite imagery of soils and crops and yield mapping to afford the best results. Careful management of this program yielded successive year on year gains, irrespective of weather.
The redevelopment program included the installation of a lateral and a centre pivot irrigators affording 240ha of irrigated cropping.
In 2006 livestock were reintroduced to Bengalla Station. To facilitate management of livestock new cattle yards were built and thirty kilometres of new fencing and laneways completed. With the ultimate aim of targeting the premium export markets of Asia a base herd of premium Angus and Wagyu Angus cross had been slowly built by acquiring some of the best bloodlines available and augmenting the selection process with the latest DNA and GeneSTAR selection methods.
In 2005 Brett left his senior management role at Suncorp to focus full time on the activities of Bengalla Pastoral Holdings. Bengalla Pastoral undertook the long term lease of Wandibindle, a 5,000ha cropping property near Talwood adding it to other properties near St George in western Queensland and Walcha in New South Wales where livestock were agisted while herd numbers were built.
The increase in operating scale and desire for further growth necessitated the introduction of more operating experience and lead to the formation of Bengalla Agribusiness. Bengalla Agribusiness now manages via a service agreement the activity of Bengalla Pastoral Holdings.