Australian Country Choice plans expansion of Opal Creek feedlot at Dunmore, near Toowoomba, to 60,000 cattle
A large feedlot outside Toowoomba could be doubled in size by its operator if new plans are approved. Here’s what is being proposed.
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A major Australian beef company wants to double its Toowoomba region feedlot to 60,000 animals.
Applicant Australian Country Choice, which has been involved in feedlotting and rural businesses since 1965, lodged plans with the Toowoomba Regional Council to expand its Opal Creek feedlot at Dunmore near Cecil Plains over two stages.
The original feedlot, based on 3100 hectares of land, had been approved by the previous Millmerran Shire Council in 1990 before ACC bought it in 2015.
It currently includes 1500 hectares of developed pastures and 70 hectares of cropping land under irrigation.
A modified plan was approved by the Toowoomba Regional Council in 2020.
According to the report by Reel Planning, the proposal includes space for another 30,000 cattle, worker accommodation, new cattle handling facilities as well as drainage and effluent irrigation areas.
The application includes an extensive list of extra reports into irrigation, bushfire risk, waste management, wetlands mapping, groundwater bores, cultural heritage and air quality.
The submission has been declared “impact-assessable”, meaning the applicant will need to run a public consultation campaign to allow residents to give their thoughts on the project.
The council has yet to respond to the application with an information request.
According to its website, ACC Group breeds and backgrounds about 300,000 cattle across Queensland.
“Our properties and feedlots supply our modern meat processing facility that has a processing capacity of 350,000 head per annum,” the company said.
“While ACC Group has specialised in producing short-fed, grain-finished cattle and beef, we are starting to diversify our supply chain to include producing high-quality long-fed cattle, such as wagyu and black angus, to further service the demands of customers in the premium beef market.”
The company opened a new site, MB9+, not far from Toowoomba in 2017 to develop “high-grade, full-blood Wagyu cattle”.
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