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Sustainability

Sustainable Grazing & Eco-Friendly Tourism at Leahton Park

At Texas Longhorn Tours, based at beautiful Leahton Park, sustainability isn’t just a goal — it’s how we live and operate. Since purchasing the property in 1998, we’ve proudly shared it with visitors from around the world, offering a truly unique agritourism experience since 2009.

Running a tourism venture on land that’s also our home and livelihood presents constant challenges — and sustainability has been key to overcoming them. Even through repeated droughts, we’ve maintained healthy, thriving pastures to support our iconic Longhorn herd, ensuring every guest enjoys an uninterrupted, enriching experience.

25+ Years of Regenerative Grazing Practices

We’ve been practicing careful, semi-rotational grazing for over 25 years. This method has resulted in:

  • Healthier pastures
  • Increased growth of beneficial legumes like Seca, Verano, and Townsville Stylo
  • A natural resurgence of desirable native grasses
  • The gradual replacement of less desirable species
  • Reduced spread of invasive annual weeds

Since purchasing Leahton Park in 1998, we have undertaken an active woody weed eradication program. While invasive woody weeds are a widespread issue in Charters Towers, they are now virtually absent on this property. These ongoing grazing practices minimise erosion risk while maximising sustainable land use. These results aren’t just good for the land — they’re essential to the long-term success of our tourism and cattle operations.

Educating Through Experience

As a dedicated agritourism business, we bridge the gap between city and country life. Our tours are built around storytelling, giving visitors insights into our grazing methods, pasture care, and the realities of sustainable land management. It’s more than a tour — it’s a hands-on lesson in rural resilience and stewardship.

Low-Impact Tourism

All of our experiences are conducted using horse-drawn wagons or low-impact UTVs, minimising environmental disturbance and allowing pastures to naturally recover with each wet season.

Investing in a Cleaner Future

In 2024, we took another step toward sustainability by installing a solar power system to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. The system includes:

  • 18kW of solar panels
  • A 10kW inverter
  • A 37kWh battery

Panels are discreetly mounted on the eastern and western sides of a large machinery shed, optimising sun exposure without causing any visual impact. An electric, New Zealand designed Tuatara work 4x4 UTV was purchased in 2024 to utilise any excess solar energy produced to further reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.

Partnerships, Accreditations & Ongoing Commitments

Leahton Park is accredited with Meat & Livestock Australia’s (MLA) Livestock Production Assurance (LPA) program, which ensures on-farm food safety, biosecurity, and animal welfare standards for Australian red meat producers.

Texas Longhorn Tours has applied to Eco Tourism Australia for the Strive 4 Sustainability Scorecard and is actively working toward achieving a strong sustainability rating.