Speckle Park beef on the menu at Maffco Brewery’s Tucka Restaurant

At Maffco Brewery and Distillery’s new Tucka Restaurant in Central Gippsland, a great meal is not just about taste but the stories behind the ingredients.

Nicky Reeves from Benbullen Speckle Park Beef farm at Boisdale. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

Behind every big decision, dollar and risk it took to create Maffco Brewery and Distillery in a Century-old repurposed milk factory, Nicky Reeves and Lashay Tricker had community at heart.

That connection to the community shines through among supportive local patrons, many who proudly helped make the dream a reality – from tradies to neighbours, fellow business owners and others who simply volunteered at working bees – who feel a shared sense of ownership.

Nicky and Lashay’s ethos of ‘bringing people together’ came to fruition when the brewery first opened in 2022 and has continued to be built upon with the addition last year of a farm to fork refined dining experience at Maffco’s Tucka Restaurant.

Their aim was to feature as much Gippsland produce as possible on every plate – from rhubarb and spuds to honey, eggs, and Nicky and Lashay’s own Benbullen Speckle Park beef, and free-range pork, all bred using regenerative farming practises.

ETHICS IN FOOD

Nicky and Lashay farm across three properties in Gippsland including 114ha at Boisdale, near Maffra in Central Gippsland, 40ha at Bena, near Korumburra in South Gippsland, and another 32ha at Carrajung in the Strzelecki Ranges.

In 2016, Lashay, who teaches agriculture at Maffra Secondary College, was researching ethics for a food studies class that led to Hanging Rock Winery, where she discovered the Speckle Park breed through winemaker and stud breeder John Ellis.

Here Lashay and Nicky, a stock agent and livestock transporter, purchased some meat and found the eating quality so impressive that they bought two purebreds of their own at the Scone Speckle Park sale.

“It was the steak,” Nicky said.

“Our whole ambition when we started was to share that eating experience we had when we first tasted it because it has such a point of difference.”

Nicky and Lashay visited JAD Agriculture Speckle Park at Yeoval, NSW, and were impressed with the breed’s adaptability to dry conditions.

“Our farm is on marginal ground and we needed to move away from giant carcass animals to something that would suit our grass-fed, regenerative approach and small farm ethics,” Nicky said.

“Speckle Park fitted that bill because they aren’t as big, the eating quality is excellent and they yield a lot better than other traditional British breeds.”

SUPPLYING IT RIGHT

Nicky and Lashay now run 200 commercial breeders across their farms along with 15 purebred bulls and 35 registered females.

Traditionally the herd was split between spring and autumn calving but they are in the process of switching to a year-round pattern with pregnancy testing every six weeks to maintain a consistent supply of beef to the brewery and restaurant.

Nicky and Lashay now run 200 commercial breeders across their farms. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

Calves are yard weaned at 10 months or about 300kg and are well handled before being fattened on the South Gippsland properties.

The aim for the restaurant is to process two calves a week, which will be sent to the meatworks at 550kg liveweight to dress out at over 300kg.

“Getting the consistency of supply right is not easy and we will learn as we grow,” Nicky said.

She has the support and guidance of her father Dennis Keane and brother Brian Keane, both butchers by trade, who not only help select the cream of the crop to be sent for processing at Radfords in Warragul, but butcher the meat in a purpose built prep room.

“The beef and pork – I have four Berkshire sows as well – is taken straight from the farm to Radfords (beef) or East Gippsland (pork) – it isn’t being traded through saleyards – and is fully traceable,” Nicky said.

“Stress has a huge impact on eating quality and we know the cattle are born on our place, they are well looked after, and they never leave until they go to be processed and finally end up at Maffco.”

Nicky and Lashay select genetics on temperament and structure but also eating quality and 600 day weight figures.

They have bought from JAD Agriculture bloodlines, Minnamurra and Wattle Grove, paying up to $40,000 for a heifer.

“There is a leptin gene that can indicate eating quality, and can assist increased weaning weight and other traits – our breeding considers this, the marbling and EMA,” she said.

“At Radfords we get all the MSA feedback so we know what to improve on and that data is really important. I’m old fashioned so I go and look at the cattle – the way they walk, structure and what I can see in the paddock by eye, while Lashay can tell you all about the figures.”

A CHAMPION CUT

The meat is currently sold through meals in the beer hall and restaurant Tucka@Maffco, but Nicky and Lashay aim to sell beef through other local venues keen to take it on, along with boxed beef direct to the public via an online store.

“We want to showcase the great local produce and we believe Gippsland is really undersold,” Nicky said.

“We’ve got the wine, food, the food bowl is amazing and if we can work together to bring people to the district they will experience that too.”

The chefs don’t decide Tucka@Maffco’s menu until they know what produce will be available each day.

They champion the secondary cuts of meat to ensure Nicky and Lashay aren’t lumbered with an oversupply of lower grade meat.

“I was quite nervous we would be left with heaps of mince and secondaries but we have actually been quite short on trims to make gourmet sausages and Kabana,” Nicky said.

“We use 100 per cent of the beast and I’m really proud of that fact. The bones are used to make broth, we do smoked fat and what little needs to be discarded goes into the fertiliser pit.

“The chefs can help value add by turning secondary steak into amazing things so a $12 cut becomes a $40 product.

“We also do local collaborations. We sell the hides to a girl who is a leather worker and she is making gun cases, chefs rolls and clutches, which are a bit sexy with the Speckle Park colours.”

The meat is currently sold through meals in the beer hall and restaurant Tucka@Maffco. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

Nicky said when they compared their meat products to others on the market, there was a huge variance in financial returns.

“We have always been price takers in the beef and dairy industries but this is a way of marketing our own produce so we make a profit,” Nicky said.

“When we put the meat through our own restaurant, the margin is more than double what we can get in the saleyards and it’s very rewarding to do it.”

A BETTER CHOICE

Lashay is currently setting up a QR code on their Benbullen Beef brand that will be connected to YouTube so consumers can view their story and also eventually track calves, weights, and animal husbandry details via NLIS tags from paddock to plate.

“People really want to know the story and where their food is coming from,” Nicky said.

“There is distaste with big supermarket chains and consumers want to know their food is ethically sourced and grown, and they are willing to pay for that privilege.”

Nicky and Lashay have made the switch to regenerative farming, replacing synthetic fertilisers with natural options, using mixed species pastures, eliminating run-off, creating wetlands, contours, sediment catches and swales to help keep water on the farm and increase biodiversity.

“We are working towards our Benbullen Beef being carbon neutral, which is looking achievable – we should be able to hit the targets within 12 months because we don’t have big inputs,” Nicky said.

“We have windmill power to pump to the header tanks, all solar for electric fences, we’ve only got one diesel pump on the farm, we’ve planted shelter belts for our offsets and we only have one tractor.

“We are starting our own worm farm to get the worm juice and we are doing foliar spray trials.”

They have installed a re-use dam for their 60ha of irrigation country and are in the process of laser grading to ensure maximum water catchment is achieved.

SETTING THE BAR

A local agronomist helps advise on farm matters, while Nicky’s two adult children – Bonnie and Jim Reeves – now also help in the business – Bonnie with environmental and Landcare related advice and Jim with beef sales.

“We aren’t wealthy, we’ve taken a lot of risks and we are always robbing Peter to pay Paul,” Nicky admits.

“We’ve had no calf sales for the last 12 months because we are now growing these cattle out and there will be a shortfall in income on the farm until we get going fully in the restaurant.

“But on all the figures we’ve done and our forecasts of what we can sell and put through other sales, hopefully it will be more financially viable than being price takers. The value adding makes a difference.

“We have faith and belief and that’s the main thing. Our accountant and bank manager, well let’s just say, lucky they like us,” Nicky said.