Hillcroft Farms is a 5,000-hectare mixed farming enterprise 160 kilometres south-east of Perth, in the 450mm rainfall belt near Popanyinning. Three generations of the Bradford family run an integrated agricultural business spanning cropping, pigs, and the stud program whose UltraWhite genetics are now found on commercial properties across Australia.
“We're proud of innovating all aspects of our agricultural enterprise, to create a harmonious balance between the environment, productivity and profitability.”
Multiple generations of the Bradford family have shaped an enterprise where cropping, livestock and the environment work in harmony, producing higher quality food more efficiently and sustainably.
For four decades, Hillcroft was home to one of the highest-performing Poll Dorset flocks in Australia and New Zealand. In 2014 we closed that chapter with the sale of a Poll Dorset ram for an Australian record $31,000 - the culmination of 44 years of disciplined selection.
The UltraWhite program had already been running for nine years by then.
The Australian Record Poll Dorset ram: the closing chapter of one breed, and the opening chapter of another.
In 2005, Hillcroft stud principal Dawson Bradford needed to reduce the labour load in his sheep enterprise. He researched the breeds already available, looking for one that would meet his full criteria and none of them did.
So he set out to build one.
Using Poll Dorset as the base, the breed already carried most of the traits he wanted, but it grew wool. Dawson trialled crosses with several shedding breeds before settling on Poll Dorset and White Dorper. The blend captured the best of both: growth, muscling, fertility and mothering from the Poll Dorset; hardiness, do-ability and the shedding trait from the White Dorper.
It took nine years to stabilise a type. The UltraWhite breed name was registered in 2014. Twenty years on, Hillcroft remains its leading producer.
Three additional traits emerged in the breed that weren't part of the original brief:
Those three bonus traits have turned out to be among the most commercially valuable aspects of the breed. They came from the discipline of selecting hard for the original brief, year after year.
“We have designed a progressive agricultural business that meets global expectations through quality, integrity, animal welfare and sustainable land management.”
Hillcroft Farms is committed to operating at a standard that reflects the expectations of modern global agriculture. Across every enterprise - pigs, cropping, sheep - our focus is on producing the highest quality product, acting with integrity, caring for livestock responsibly, and managing the land with a long-term vision.
Our disease & welfare statusSheep don't exist in isolation. Neither does any single enterprise on a working farm.
Hillcroft runs as an integrated system. Our 2,800 hectares of canola, oats and barley produce high-quality straw that goes back into our piggery, and effluent from the piggery is composted and returned to the cropping country. Our 8,000 commercial UltraWhite ewes graze stubbles between crops, lambing three times in two years on feed that would otherwise sit idle.
This isn't sustainability as a marketing line. It's how the business has been designed to work - three enterprises that make each other more productive, more efficient and more durable over time.
Hillcroft country · 5,000 hectares near Popanyinning
We are committed to innovating in a changing agricultural landscape. We adopt smart systems, improving how the business operates and lifting standards across every enterprise. Progress is built into the way we think, plan, operate and evolve.
Modern production carries broader responsibility. Output matters, but so do the standards behind it. Animal welfare, sustainable land management and sound decision-making all sit inside our production ethics - not alongside them.
Our business is built to perform now and strengthen over time. We design for consistent performance, ongoing efficiency, and the long-term durability of the operation. That applies to the land, the livestock, and the way each enterprise integrates.
We operate with honesty, accountability and clear standards. Integrity shapes our decisions, our standards, and our follow-through across production, people, and direction.
We take responsibility for the land, the livestock, and the future of the business. We care for the country with long-term outcomes in mind, hold strong animal welfare standards, and make decisions that protect the strength of the operation for the next generation.
We keep improving how we farm, think, and operate. Continual improvement applies to systems, practices and business direction reflecting our drive to adapt, learn and innovate in a changing agricultural environment.
Hillcroft is run day-to-day by the Bradford family, supported by a permanent team across cropping, pigs and sheep. Full profiles and photographs are being finalised.
Built the stud program and continue to be involved in the sheep enterprise.
Took over management of the farm in 2003, across cropping, pigs and sheep.
Returned to the business in 2022 after Marcus Oldham College.
Returning from Marcus Oldham College, securing the succession plan.
Whether you're considering your first shedding ram or running a large-scale commercial flock, we want to understand your system before we recommend a ram.
1561 Yornaning West Road, Lol Gray, via Cuballing, Western Australia
Postal: “Hillcroft Farms”, Popanyinning 6309 WA