Our Story

For over 180 years Canning Downs South has been a pastoral property on Bundjalung country, the home of the Githabal people.

Owned and operated by the Shaw family since 1998 – their vision has been to continue the legacy of these historic and fertile lands through high quality beef production. Proudly supplying ethical Wagyu to consumers worldwide.

“Sheds have been a game changer for us – they have a low footprint, they largely take away the environmental issues, they reduce our impact on our neighbours, and they provide a comfortable environment for the cattle.

“Even though they are a significant investment, it’s a cost that’s very much worth it “

– Sarah Shaw – Office Manager

Our points of difference

Sheds

Our commitment to sheds brings cool, clean, and dry conditions to the cattle.

Flavour and feed

Supplementing feed with orange pulp supports our unique flavour profile. Learn more here.

Genetics

With Fullblood 100% Japanese Wagyu and Purebred F4 cattle our genetics are the real deal.

STEEPED IN HISTORY

Elbow Valley Beef’s integrated cattle production and feeding operation known as Canning Downs South has been a pastoral property for over 180 years. As the southern outstation of ‘Canning Downs’ which was established by the Leslie brothers in the 1840’s, this country was originally Bundjalung country, the traditional home of the Githabal people.

Located on the elbow of the Condamine River, which flows north-west from the slopes of Mt Superbus, this property has had numerous owners.

The Chauvel Family owned Canning Downs South from the late 1880’s, and a notable fact is that General Sir Harry Chauvel gathered horses from the Darling Downs and New England regions to be sent overland to Brisbane and then shipped to South Africa to fight in the Boer War. Find out more about Sir Harry on Our brands because we named our purebred line after him.

The property was purchased by the current owners, the Shaw family, in 1998 who had a vision to continue the legacy of these historic and fertile lands through high quality beef production.

OUR ETHICAL FEEDLOT JOURNEY SO FAR

In 2004, construction of the feedlot began, and a 999 head feedlot license was approved in 2005 and supply of cattle destined for export and domestic markets commenced.

Ten years later, the feedlot was expanded to 2500 head, followed in 2019 with an increase to 9400 head capacity and a major shift to producing and feeding Wagyu and Angus genetic beef cattle.

2019 also saw the completion of the first housing shed, and through to 2021 another three sheds were constructed including an industry first 480-metre-long structure.

Our fourth shed became fully operational in middle 2023 and our fifth shed filled up in the first half of 2024. The final and sixth shed is now going up to begin to house cattle in late 2024 and be completed in early 2025.

COMMITTED TO 100% SHEDS

We have been encouraged by positive customer feedback on the improvements in meat quality. Quality coupled with best-in-class animal welfare and minimised environmental impacts means we are now committed to a 100% shed system as we continue to grow.

Learn more

Who We Are

Family owned and operated; Elbow Valley Beef sells exclusively from the Canning Downs South operation. Canning Downs South is a property and business in the picturesque Elbow Valley on the Southern Downs of Queensland. Over time other properties in Queensland and New South Wales have been added to support the business through backgrounding, breeding, and cropping operations.