Koojan Downs feedlot powers Harvey Beef expansion and delivers gains for WA cattle producers

Western Australia’s biggest cattle feeding facility is hitting its stride, with Koojan Downs near Moora nearing full capacity just four years after opening. Operated by Harvest Road — the agriculture and food division of Tattarang — the grain-fed facility has become a key part of the group’s broader strategy to improve cattle supply consistency, product quality, and market access for WA producers. Koojan Downs and its supplying cattle producers have become a cornerstone of the group’s strategy to transform WA’s cattle and beef supply chain, holding more than 20,000 head of cattle and with a licence to double that. Tattarang chief executive John Hartman opened up about the facility’s success to a room full of hundreds of agricultural stakeholders at the recent Bringing Dowerin Downtown 2025 luncheon in Perth. The facility, located near Moora, opened in 2021 and sources cattle from across WA to finish them for premium export markets. Mr Hartman said Koojan was complementary to existing feeding operations servicing domestic supermarkets, and gave farmers — who had been integral to the facility’s success — “another market opportunity” to sell their cattle. “Despite its abundance of grain production, WA has historically lacked large scale cattle feeding facilities,” he said. “This, along with summer backgrounding capacity in the southern ag region, is a key enabler to address the seasonality, quality and consistency challenges. “And it was the genesis of our development of the Koojan Downs feedlot facility.” Harvest Road’s investment in Koojan was part of a long-term plan kicked off in 2014 when parent company Tattarang acquired Harvey Beef. Since then, more than $500 million has been invested to upgrade WA’s beef supply chain — from feedlotting and backgrounding to processing and export. About 1400 cattle producers work with and supply cattle to Harvest Road. And now, the investment is paying dividends — for Harvest Road and its cattle suppliers alike. Since opening, Koojan has helped Harvey Beef — WA’s biggest accredited export beef processor — increase throughput by more than 60 per cent — from 120,000 head to more than 200,000 in the past financial year. It’s also contributed to a significant rise in average carcass weights, from 267kg to nearly 300kg, and a step-change in product quality. The operation has also become a significant buyer of local grain, purchasing nearly 60,000t of barley from WA farmers. Mr Hartman said the company’s goal was to build a sustainable, high-quality beef industry in WA that could compete globally and provide strong returns to producers across WA. “These results represent a broad cross-section of cattle producers working on their own operations to improve genetics and adjust turn-off timing,” he said. “These results are a fantastic achievement as a collective industry, and I’d like to congratulate cattle producers for the progress we’ve made together so far.” Heading into the “next phase” of the Harvest Road journey, Mr Hartman said the company would focus on three key things — growing market share, continuing to invest in the WA supply chain, and continuing to increase collaboration opportunities. But he said the business and industry could not grow without collaboration, which was “key to unlocking future growth potential” of the State’s cattle and beef industry. Tattarang, the private investment group of Andrew and Nicola Forrest, has been quietly but significantly reshaping and investing in WA’s regional industries in recent years, from beef to seafood, to energy, minerals and apparel. Mr Hartman said agriculture was part of the Forrest family’s DNA, with Mr Forrest growing up on Minderoo Station and Nicola hailing from a NSW farming family. He said Tattarang’s aim — to invest to create long-term value while driving positive outcomes — was strongly aligned with investing in agriculture in WA. “As an investment group, we believe that WA’s agriculture industry is uniquely placed to capitalise on the growth in global food demand, in particular demand for high quality and sustainable protein,” he said. “We’re excited about the opportunity for beef, as emerging economies, particularly in Asia, continue to develop.” Harvest Road this month welcomed a new chief executive, Harvey Gaynor, replacing interim CEO Tim Wood.