Established in 1964, Benoak Devon Stud continues the tradition of breeding exceptional Devon Cattle

Greg & Joanne are the principals of the “Benoak Devon Stud” It was established in 1964 by Loma’s father Dave. B. Smith and his brother Lionel. L. Smith. In the years leading up to the stud’s establishment, the Smith family bred Devons & Dave had a predominately Devon bullock team to clear country at Dave & his wife Ena’s (Loma’s mother) property until the introduction of machinery.

Benoak Devon Stud is located 22km SSW of the Celtic town Glen Innes, in the Northern New England Tablelands of New South Wales. Our country goes to 1385m above sea level (1106m at house) with a 900ml average rainfall & temperature ranges from 38 down to minus 18 degrees Celsius. Soil type ranges from heavy basalt to granite with a mixture of improved & natural pastures.

Bulls are sold at our Open Day usually in June or July annually with a hope to soon hold a stud and commercial female sale earlier in the year. Ten to Sixteen bulls are normally offered as well as stud & commercial females. Benoak has a solid reputation for bulls that work hard long lives & don’t break down due to incorrect feeding or conformation faults.

We are currently running 100 registered Devon Females and 200 pure and crossbred commercial Devon females. We keep cows around us of a medium to medium - large frame. In winter huge amounts of energy are used just to keep warm & large frame cattle do it tough. Cows must maintain condition whilst rearing marketable calves, this is our way of selecting for easy doing, feed efficient cattle. Calving ease is recorded at birth, any heifers that need assistance or have undesirable udder & teat structure go direct to the abattoir. Mothering & milking ability are essential as we haven’t got the time or the patience to be making sure cows & calves are playing happy families!!! Our cows carry the genetic makeup that allows them & their offspring to perform in today’s environment & market place.

Devon cattle have the proven ability to be the perfect animal for our industry. Their constitution & fertility is never questioned, their ability to finish on grass with a carcass that has even fat cover, high meat quality & obtains top dollars is highly regarded by producers, finishers and processors alike.

Sustainabilty Ethos

With a strong passion for the land and meat production we feel obliged to support sustainability by building a healthier and self-sustaining grazing system while producing healthier and higher quality meat with less inputs. The DEVON breed is perfectly suited and allows all this to be achieved. We are very proud DEVON breeders and we truly believe in taking a whole cow approach to the health and wellbeing our of herd and our land. We know that DEVONS are the 'sustainability breed' and will have a positive impact for generations to come!