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2021- The Gascoyne region is renowned for its quality produce from tomatoes to bananas, to what comes off the reef and some prime cuts of beef.
From the 31st of July to the 18th of September 2021, the Gascoyne region will come alive as the Gascoyne Food Festival rolls into town once again, bringing with it some of the state’s finest chefs and a swathe of self-confessed food fanatics.
Like past years, the food festival will see over 10 unique dining experiences popping up at picturesque locations across the region. There’s the indulgent Long Table Dinner on a leafy banana plantation in Carnarvon; an authentic ocean-to-plate, beachside feast at Island Life Festival on the remote Dirk Hartog Island; and a Shark Bay seafood-fuelled dinner on the shores of Monkey Mia.
This year, Harvest Road Beef is back on the menu in a big way. You’ll see it pop up on the menus at a number of events over the two and a half weeks, but it will be the unchallenged star of the show at Australia’s Biggest BBQ, served by the world’s largest monolith, Mount Augustus. Think thick, juicy beef steaks, succulent ribs, and a dessert you’ll want to hang around for, all served under the shimmering night sky.
So, who is Harvest Road Beef?
Harvest Road Beef is Western Australia’s largest beef processor. They’re a vertically integrated ‘gate to plate’ beef business, which means every single step involved in the process of getting high-quality beef on your plate happens in-house, from the rearing of the beef on their owned land to the packaging and distribution of the finished product.
They’re in the business of ethically and sustainably produced beef, so all cattle is raised in line with the highest animal welfare standards in Australia. But, they don’t just breed cattle, they also invest significantly into their own breeding and genetics programs with the aim of producing a line of cattle that’s best able to thrive in the harsh northern Australian climates.
By no stretch of the imagination is this a small operation. Harvest Road Beef rears its herds over six large stations which, along with their state-of-the-art plant, cover some 1.3 million hectares of remote land in the northern reaches of Western Australia. There may be a massive amount of land and an even larger number of cattle to contend with, but, thanks to the vertical integration of the company, 100% of the beef that comes out of Harvest Road is fully traceable.
This is how the Gascoyne Food Festival is able to serve you the finest cuts, brought to you by Harvest Road’s two Gascoyne stations, Minilya and Brick House.
Minilya Station, managed by Gina Mckee and Bryce Pilbeam, lies along the North-West Coastal Highway and spans a whopping 273,000 hectares. Bordering the Minilya and Lyndon Rivers and Barrabiddy Creek, the station is also a natural flood zone that supports a variety of pastures and native saltbush growth. In time, this station is pegged to become Harvest Road’s specialist Wagyu breeding station.
The second Gascoyne station, Brick House Station, sits some 20km from Carnarvon and covers 225,000 hectares. Managed by Aaron and Tash Land, this station produces more than just cattle with varied pastures, legumes, and herbs also being grown on the property.
It’s will also be the site of Canapes on the Gascoyne on the 10th of September. Guests at the event can see the sprawling station in all its dusty red glory, and get as close to Harvest Road Beef’s ‘gate to plate’ philosophy as physically possible with an indulgent evening of canapes prepared by chef Sophie Budd, live music, and local beverages.
Tickets to the Canapes on the Gascoyne will go on sale soon.
