Australian Agricultural Company reaches 200 year milestone

This month marked Australian Agriculture Company's 200^th year and today, 30 stations, farms and feedlots across Australia are owned and operated by the beef giant.

Despite the bulk of AACo's properties located in Qld, more than half of its 6.6 million hectares is in the Northern Territory.

This successful progression has been led by bold AACo visionaries and chief executive officer David Harris believed this was the company's secret to its success.

"The company first settled in Port Stephens, NSW, but when the sheep were not performing, they changed path and swapped land, and found Tamworth," he said.

"It was not smooth sailing but they pivoted and made new decisions. Those first steps were bold and actually brought many towns into existence."

In 1824, the British Government decided there was a good enough business case for AACo in Australia and enabled the company by providing a 1-million acre land grant.

The decision to form the company was based on information from an exploratory visit to Australia in the 1820s, and according to Mr Harris, this would have taken months to establish and up to six months to get the information back to London.

"This commitment set in motion what is known of AACo today," Mr Harris said.

Once the British Government formally established the company, it was signed off on by King George IV.

This information was drawn up three times, in three sets of envelopes, on three ships, in the hope at least one would make it to Australia.

When the first AACo employee set sail to Australia, they brought 720 French and Anglo Merino sheep, 12 head of Durham shorthorn cattle and 15 thoroughbred horses.

Within just two decades, these numbers had grown to 85,000 sheep, 5000 cattle and more than 1500 horses.

In the outset, the company's main purpose was to produce wool and send it back to London and efforts were focussed on finding and creating the best environment for sheep in Australia.

By 1899, AACo had more than 210,000 sheep.

The wool was actually used in World War I soldiers' uniforms and this contribution to the wool industry lasted for a considerable time, as it was not until after WW2, AACo was considered a cattle company.

Despite the company's beginnings in NSW and presence in Qld, Mr Harris believed this company was firmly Territorian.

It purchased its first northern property in 1916, Headingly Station, on the border of Qld and NT, and five years later, bought its first NT property, Avon Downs, which celebrated 100 years of ownership just before the pandemic.

"Of almost 90 properties AACo has managed across the country, Avon Downs was the 23^rd property which was purchased. It shows the long history we have had in the NT," Mr Harris said.

"We have owned and operated many NT properties, which include, Anthony's, Eva, Austral, Brunette, Delamere and Rockhampton Downs."

Mr Harris tried to estimate how many people had walked through the doors of AACo and became longstanding employees but it turned out, record keeping was not a strong point 200 years ago.

"It has proven to be an impossible task. The record keeping was not as great as we hoped," he said.

But, Mr Harris believed it was safe to say, tens of thousands of people had joined the AACo family.

"A unique part of AACo's impact, has been its ripple effect on the wider industry," Mr Harris said.

He believed it connected generations of people and communities, in a way which no other industry did.

"It is a legacy we are all apart of, while the 200 year milestone is certainly AACo's, it is an opportunity to celebrate with the whole of industry and recognise all of the roles played in making the industry as good as it is today."

The Territory is pivotal to who AACo is today, with its operations in the NT surrounding Brahman live export and backgrounding supply chain, and a largely composite herd which is the nucleus and significant proportion of an F1 production system.

Most recently, it established a Wagyu herd at Avon Downs, NT, which is performing above expectations.

"These Wagyu cattle form what is the basis of our largest revenue stream, it is branded beef sold around the world," Mr Harris said.

"Operating in the NT can be a challenging environment but by holding the same visionary mentality to those early industry leaders and then finding the courage to take the first step, is maybe all it takes to create a regional powerhouse."

Mr Harris believed the future began today and despite the company's history proving it was impossible to predict what the future could be, history could teach the leaders of today, plenty.

"We have not always got it right but we have a view of genuinely always wanting to improve our future," he said.

Making bold decisions and managing outcomes with the best available information at the time, has underpinned AACos success.

"When future generations look back as us as decision-makers and businesses, it is important to think about what will they think of the decisions we made along the way. Were we bold enough, did we think far enough ahead and what were our guiding principals," Mr Harris said.

"Most importantly, will it be obvious to the future generations whether or not we were purely surviving or trying to thrive."