Shannon Vale Station
- Shannon Vale Station, owned and operated by Greg and Sally Chappell, is a 1200 hectare commercial and stud beef property located 15km east of Glen Innes in NSW.
- 450 breeders and 200 bulls are currently run on Shannon Vale Station.
- Annual average rainfall is 900mm
- Soils include grey loams to brown sandy loams derived from the transitional granite base, as well as some ironstone derived soils.
- Native and naturalised species of grass include those typical of the North Eastern New England – Microleana, Danthonia, Paspalum, Yorkshire fog, Fox tail, Red grass, Carpet grass, African lovegrass and the legumes – Medics, Ball clover, Lotus, Vetch.
- Click here to view the Soils for Life Case Study on Shannon Vale Station
Dulverton History
Greg began his association with Seedstock Angus when he developed the Farrer Agricultural High School herd in 1974. The herd was used as a teaching ‘tool’. During their Beef Cattle Husbandry Class students were introduced to all facets of the industry:-
Performance measurement and recording,Management Principles (nutrition, disease control etc.), Visual Assessment to identify structural longevity, Artificial Breeding techniques, Showing cattle
In 1981 Greg and Sally started their own Angus stud with the purchase of two females from Max and Joan Doherty’s Tulagi Stud at Deniliquin. During the mid 1980’s an additional twelve females were purchased, five from Don and Dianna Moyles, Basin stud at Keith in South Australia and seven from Charlie Botts, Naranghi stud at Yarrawonga in Victoria.
In 1982 Greg and Sally visited the USA, where Greg as recipient of the Scholarship provided by the Angus Society for winning the National Judging Final, attended the University of Illinois. He studied Meat Science and in particular eating quality – mentors Dr Tom Carr and later Gary Smith (Texas A & M).
During their time in the States Greg and Sally visited many Angus Ranches, Feedlots and Commercial cow calf operations. Greg’s referee at the University of Illinois – Dr Al Newman organised a trip to Clay Centre, they still communicate today with Dr Larry Cundiff who along with Dr Keith Gregory ran the beef cattle cross breeding experiments at Clay Centre.
We became convinced of the benefits/advantages of cross breeding during those days and still believe that for beef to remain competitive at retail the industry must embrace more cross breeding particularly in temperate Australia.
In 1985 Greg left teaching and went to work with AMLC (based in Sydney) and later Aus-Meat. In 1990 he left Aus-Meat and became a consultant to the MRC (Meat Research Corporation) overseeing meat quality research projects aimed at improving eating quality primarily in Japan and Korea. During the 1990’s this consultancy shifted from the JKM project to the development of the Domestic Beef Grading System – MSA.
