RM Williams made Texas longhorns familiar to Australia but growing the breed is challenging

The Guinness Book of Records in 2022 reported the longest spread of cattle horns to be 323.7cm on a Texas longhorn steer called Poncho Via. (ABC News: Lucy Cooper)

American Texas longhorn cattle may be the trademark of one of Australia's most iconic brands, but when RM Williams was established there were very few — if any — in Australia.

A dedicated couple in north Queensland now has one of the biggest herds of Texas longhorns in Australia.

Michael "Mick" and Lynda Bethel have been breeding Texas longhorns on their 445-hectare property for more than 20 years and giving visitors a taste of Texas for the past 16.

"It just started off as a love and a passion, never thinking in our wildest dreams we would make a living out of Texas longhorn cattle," Mr Bethel says.

Mr Bethel says the breed that is the basis of the RM Williams logo is culturally and historically significant.

"If it wasn't for Texas longhorns there wouldn't be cowboys and cowgirls," he says.

The breed's history spans hundreds of years.

"Their ancestors were the first cattle ever introduced into the new world, the Americas in 1493 and later those cattle evolved into what became known as Texas longhorns," Mr Bethel says.

The cattle roamed wild for generations but in 1865, at the end of the American Civil War, that changed.

"There was a big demand for beef and hide and tallow up in the north after the war and there was a humungous supply of Texas longhorn cattle running wild in the south," he says.

"So the demand was met when they started driving those big herds north, there were literally millions and millions of cattle walking north, it was the biggest overland movement of livestock the world's ever seen."

Very horny genetics

The Bethels have been breeding full-blooded Texas longhorns since the 1990s, a feat only made possible by importing semen and using artificial insemination.

"Not as many good quality Texas longhorn cattle would be here without the AI [artificial insemination] for sure," Ms Bethel says.

"To be able to import different genetics each year from the US keeps our herd ticking over."

At the "longhorn loveshack", Ms Bethel is entrusted with the process to preserve the quality and longevity of the herd.

"I love the excitement; I love the breeding side of it," she says.

"[Demand] is growing in Australia; we get inquiries from all over Australia."

It's not just the quality of their cattle that the couple has improved but also, most importantly, the horns.

"They won't grow the big horns unless they've got the good genetics," Mr Bethel says.

"Can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear."

One of their young cows, Milly, is bearing the fruits of their genetic labours.

"[She's the] fastest cow in history to reach the mark of 90 inches [2.3 metres] from tip the tip, she got there before her third birthday and there's no other cow in the world that's ever done that," Mr Bethel says.

The Bethels are proving not everything is bigger in Texas.

"It makes you feel proud as an Australian to be able to do what longhorn breeders have been trying for years and years, decades in the US to achieve, and we've done it here in 25 years," Mr Bethel says.

Life after death

They also raise Asian water buffalo, Scottish highlanders, American bison, African watusi, and sardo negro cattle.

"They [tourists] are just blown away. They just can't get over how close you can get, how spectacular they are, the colours, the size of the horns," Ms Bethel says.

The rare bovine breeds and Texas longhorns aren't just pretty to look at.

"At the end of the day, they all do get eaten," Ms Bethel says.

Mr Bethel says the beef meat from a longhorn is "really, really good" but, as a saddle maker by trade, he also enjoys polishing their horns.

"Another saleable part, a very processable part of the animal is their horns after they die," he says.

But it's their living animals that continue to bring the Bethels so much joy.

"Being amongst the longhorns, seeing the joy in other people's faces is what I really like," Ms Bethel says.

"I'm excited to think that they want to come and I'm excited to be able to show them what we do."

Mr Bethel says the work is fulfilling.

"If you can do what you love and love what you do, you never have to work a day in your life," Mr Bethel said.