Mission

We endeavour to supply our clients with high quality Angus genetics that are fertile, structurally sound, easy doing and low maintenance without compromising the importance of growth and carcase performance.

Our goals at Landfall are:

1. To provide our clients with superior genetics to help them achieve a sound investment and help to improve their bottom-line.

2. To produce genetics which perform well under the natural environments of Australia.

3. To have relationships with our clients of high integrity.

History

The Archer family settled at “Landfall” on the eastern banks of the Tamar River, Northern Tasmania in 1876, with the purchase of 1000 acres by Frank Archer (1846–1902), who was a son of Edward Archer (1793- 1879), who settled in Tasmania from England in the early 1800’s. Frank and his wife Marjorie had eight children, with their son, Gerald (1877–1949), being in charge of cropping and his brother Hedley (1883– 1929), the head of livestock. After Hedley’s untimely death resulting from a fall off his horse, Gerald purchased his brother’s share and continued with cropping, wool production and commercial cattle.

Gerald’s only son Rob (1915-1983) continued to farm Landfall in partnership with his sister Geraldine and established the Landfall Angus Stud in 1948 with the purchase of twelve foundation females from the Australian mainland. He continued his father’s tradition of selecting larger framed, feminine type cows. Rob found that the sires from “Naranghi” in Victoria, at that time bred by Mr. John Bott, were consistently breeding progeny that excelled in fertility and growth. They complimented the Landfall cows very well. These sires were used for 20 years.

Rob and his wife Heather, had six daughters and one son, the present Gerald (1955-current). Gerald’s passion for farming was evident from an early age with his continual desire to favour work on the farm over his education and socialising. In 1974 Gerald embarked on a journey to Victoria to work with Harry Williams at Victoree Angus. It was here Gerald met his future wife Lou, the eldest daughter of Harry and Betty Williams. This further strengthened the bond between the Archer and Williams families, initially developed when Rob Archer and Harry Williams served together on the national council for Angus Australia. Gerald and Lou were married in 1976 and moved into the historic mill homestead on Barnards Creek at Landfall, built in 1845.

Gerald continued to work at Landfall, gradually assuming more responsibility for the management of the operation, until Rob’s death in 1983, at which time Gerald acquired Landfall. During Gerald’s tenure he focussed closely on the genetic improvement of the herd continually travelling domestically and internationally to source genetics for use in the Landfall herd. Gerald introduced performance recording into the Landfall herd and was one of the early adopters of Breedplan to enable the measurement of Landfall genetics alongside others in the industry. Along with Lou’s brother Rob Williams, Gerald was responsible for the importation of two notable bulls from North America, Power Play and Scotch Cap among others. Both these sires were used heavily throughout the breed and had a considerable impact on the development of the modern Angus animal.

Gerald and Lou have three sons and two daughters Ed, Will, Frank, Ellie and Mimi who have all had varying roles in the business during their early adult years.

Today

Ed and Frank along with their partners Kate and Zara, officially took on the management of the Landfall operation in 2013 and now farm across two main properties in the Tamar Valley. They are assisted by a valuable team of employees, in particular Ellie’s husband Tim Wheeler, who has been involved at Landfall on and off over a near 20 year period. Gerald is still actively involved in the business heading up the majority of the development work that takes place across the properties.

In recent years the introduction of irrigation and intensive rotational grazing has seen the herd grow dramatically in size, now consisting of in excess of 5000 registered animals. This spring will see 2500 registered breeders calving to predominantly AI and ET pregnancies with a focus on increasing the rate of genetic gain in a sustainable manner. The Landfall philosophy has always been to run the cattle under commercial conditions to ensure the relevance of the genetics to the commercial beef sector. This belief has been developed and passed down through the generations by family members with a genuine passion for the breeding of good quality, high performance and no-nonsense cattle that get the job done.

The sixth generation of the Archers at Landfall has its very own Robbie and Hedley Archer, who are two of eleven grandchildren to Gerald and Lou.

Our Tasmanian, King Island and Flinders Island clients are strong supporters of the Landfall program and the client base has extended across all of the South Eastern states of the mainland.

We would like to thank our clients, employees, contractors, agents and associates who over the years have contributed so very much to make Landfall the success it is today. Three employees who need particular mention are Roy Wickham, Henry Morice and Taffy Jones who along with their families gave decades of service to Landfall.