Animal Health & Husbandry
1 August, 2026
Breeder keen to help the next generation
WITH a lifetime of involvement in the beef industry, including breeding, showing and judging successes, Julie Pocock is perfectly placed to help the next generation of breeders.
Julie has joined Genetics Australia’s (GA) beef team at a good time for the industry and is keen to continue her passion for assisted reproduction.
She’s enthused about the outlook for the beef industry and the chance to be part of the growth in GA’s beef team, where she will work in semen sales and supporting producers with their breeding programs in the field.
Based at Thornton near Toowoomba, Julie runs Ellendale Simmentals with her husband Travis Iseppi, producing bulls for northern Australia.
A vet nurse by trade, Julie has a genuine passion for assisted reproduction, whether through artificial insemination, embryo transfer or IVF.
“This job goes hand-in-hand with that,” she said.
“The breadth of what Genetics Australia has to offer is exciting and I cross lots of different parts of the business, not just semen sales.
“There’s already a great line-up of bulls and it’s a great team to work with.”
A vet nurse by trade, Julie previously worked in sales with pharmaceutical and genetics companies and was keen to take the next step in her profession.
The timing is good with Julie predicting a positive future for the beef industry.
“There are parts really struggling because it’s dry but there are other parts having a really great season and areas sitting on some really good dry feed,” she said.
“Good strong prices and feed in the paddock mean people are reasonably positive about the state of the industry. If the weather gods are nice moving into spring, we should have a pretty positive breeding season.”
Ellendale Simmentals shows and fits seedstock cattle across Australia.
“You’ll see us judging or showing at most royal shows and a few country shows as well,” Julie said.
When judging, Julie admits there’s always some personal preferences at play but said she liked to work from the ground up.
“If you’re not ticking the structural soundness box first and foremost, you can have all the performance in the world but there’s no longevity there,” she said.
“For me, structural and reproductive soundness are the first selection criteria and we move on to the other traits from there.”
Ellendale, one of the first breeders in the country to breed predominantly solid red Simmentals, has won multiple grand champions at royal shows and bred the first female Simmental to take out the Brisbane Royal Interbreed title.
“It was very exciting to do that with a completely home-bred cow,” Julie said.
Julie grew up in a family of Simmental breeders.
“I’ve been with Simmentals my whole life but can work with all beef breeds,” she added.
She is also passionate about support and education for young people in the industry, and has enjoyed watching their children (aged nine and 12) compete with great success in youth shows across eastern Australia.