A LOCAL grazier, who prefers to remain anonymous, has the makings of a new industry for the Burdekin district, as he manages a small herd for a family member, which includes four full breed “longhorn” cattle.
The “Texas Longhorns” create a lot of interest wherever they are produced because of the length of their horns, which spread to a consider- able width – with a herd in Charters Towers being part of a developing tourist industry in that part of the state.
Those western cattle are described as “some of the longest horned cattle in the world that are direct descendants of the millions of Texas Longhorns that walked in the great trail herds from Texas in the United States in the late 1800s”.
And it is understood the small Burdekin herd are descendants of some of those cattle in the western area.
The local herd is part of a mixed group of cattle including four full-breed Longhorns, a Longhorn-Charolaise cross and a Brahman Bull that are all enjoying a relaxed life together in a local paddock.
While the four full-breed Longhorns are not fully developed, there is evidence that their horns are well on the way to being of considerable width by the time they are fully grown. However, the owners of the small local Longhorn “family” have no intention of developing the herd further, with their current role being just to look after the cattle because their other family members did not have the land to keep them.
