(Left to right Judy, Lachie, Ben, Rosie, Will, Wendy and Bill)
Walter Mayne and family purchased a large proportion of the Texas herd in 1951 when the Scottish Australian Company. dispersed moved these Angus to the neighbouring property Gibraltar, Texas Queensland. Bill lived and breed the stud, travelled the world looking at Angus programs and worked alongside his father Walter. In 1981, Bill and Judy Mayne with their 3 children Katie, Mandy and Ben separated from the Mayne family partnership and were fortunate to be handed the TEX brand from the manager of the Australian Scottish Company and renamed the stud back to Texas Angus and continue the same original bloodlines. To this date a female line has never been introduced to the Texas herd since 1936 when 21 heifers and one stud bull was shipped out from Scotland.
Bill dedicated well over 60 years in the Angus stud industry. During this period, Bill has been rewarded for his efforts winning many Grand Champions at Brisbane and Sydney Royal shows including the World Angus Form feature in 1959. With over 46 annual bull sales under his belt, Bill certainly made his mark at Texas Angus and the beef industry and was a great mentor for his son Ben. His reputation for securing championships is very well known and consequently Judged at many Royal and country shows along the Eastern coastline of Australia.
Bill and Judy’s son, Ben, also developed the passion for breeding seedstock Angus. After working on the famous Uardry Sheep Station and the prestigious Yarram Park Hereford Stud, Ben completed a Advanced Diploma of Farm Management at Orange Agricultural College and returned home at Texas to continue the stud’s breeding program. In 1998 the Mayne family were fortunate to purchase “Doongara” at Warialda (Northern NSW one hour south of Texas) to further expand the herd. Like his father Bill, Ben has officiated at Sydney Royal a number of times. Ben married his wife Wendy, who also has a close affiliation with stud cattle breeding coming from a well renowned Shorthorn stud (Leeds Shorthorns) in the Riverina (Southern NSW). Wendy has completed a Bachelor Agricultural Science and worked in Beef marketing at head office of Meat and Livestock Australia, travelling throughout Australia visiting feedlots, abattoirs and overseas to Korea meeting with International meat buyers.
When Ben and Wendy took over the reins of the stud, they decided to embark on a massive embryo transfer and IVF programs to gain the greatest genetic leap in the Texas Breeding Program that would ultimately profit the Texas clients. They also started entering feeder carcase trails to benchmarking the stud against not only Angus cattle but all breeds and crosses throughout Australia and to ultimately access the important feeder and carcase data. Ben and Wendy also decided to switch to utilise more sustain land management principles back in 2000.
Texas Angus is a family operation now operated by Ben and Wendy with their children Rosie, Will & Lachie who are dedicated and skilled cattle producers who strive to breed Angus through a quality controlled program. We aim to breed no fuss Angus which essentially means cattle that have calving ease and explosive growth coupled with quality carcase traits without compromising structure, phenotype and temperament. Anyone interested in seeing our program please call us as we love showing people our herd!