Cows on a plane — an epic journey from Tullamarine to Chennai

Paul McVerry is an experienced cattleman and a stud breeder, who had a wild vision to fly a gift of cattle to India with the help of winemaker Dan Murphy. (R)

New Zealand-born cattleman Paul McVerry has been surrounded by animals his whole life, and not just in cattle pens or in sheep yards.

Paul has accompanied thoroughbred horses on weeks-long ship journeys across the Pacific ocean. He's been stuck with prized bulls in the back of a truck going the wrong way down Broadway in New York City.

After being with animals on land-bound vehicles and sea-faring vessels, eventually Paul thought, "Cows can fly."

In the 1970s, thousands of cattle were being slaughtered in Victoria and southern New South Wales because of ongoing drought. At the same time, the dairy industry in India was struggling due to generations of inbreeding.

Paul saw an opportunity to solve both problems, and loaded the world's first ever airborne cattle onto a stretch D68 at Tullamarine Airport, bound for Chennai.

This episode of Conversations explores farming, agriculture, epic journeys, foreign aid, animal welfare, animal transport, charity work, Mother Teresa, India, Tullamarine airport, Melbourne, Darwin, Chennai, Hong Kong, travel, plane travel, aeroplanes, airplanes, weird cargo, genetics, cross-breeding animals, diverse gene pool, insemination.