When tucking into a juicy eye-fillet steak, you might prefer to avoid considering the age of the animal you're eating.

Most beef you eat comes from around two-year-old cattle.

But some Australian farmers are putting age front and centre, with brands like Vintage Beef and Old Cow betting consumers will spend more on older animals otherwise destined for pet food and hamburgers.

Older cows have often been dismissed as tough and tasteless, so their meat has gone into low-value products, but dry-aging their beef is proving a hit with chefs in Australia and abroad.

,A Brazilian-style barbecue over hot coals is the preparation of choice for vintage beef at Gunns Plains, Tasmania. ( ABC Landline: Margot Kelly )

Why use old animals?

Cows used for breeding are kept on the farm for around five to eight years and some stay for up to 12 years.

The cows generate value from passing on their genes, not from their own meat quality.

Beef processor Greenham noticed breeders from small family farms in high-rainfall areas were graded surprisingly well with Meat Standards Australia and had impressive marbling, or intramuscular fat.

Dishes like this steak tartare using beef from old cows are becoming increasingly popular in fine dining. ( Supplied: Stefano restaurant )

"Their cows really never have to go without grass," managing director Peter Greenham said.

"They've got grass 52 weeks of the year."

After selling meat from older animals to high-end restaurants in Melbourne and Sydney for a few years, the company launched a branded Vintage Beef product which is gaining traction in the export market.

"We've just got it into one of the highest-priced steakhouses in Chicago and it's also in the menu of quite a few of the big places in LA," Mr Greenham said.

The company is pursuing opportunities in China and Singapore.

Fifth-generation beef producer Nelson Bonney never expected his breeding cattle to be plated up in high-end restaurants.

"We tend to think of old cows as burger meat," Mr Bonney said.

"It's interesting that old cows taste good and have got this beautiful meat in them."

Suppliers like Mr Bonney receive $80 to $150 per head more than they would without the brand.

Chef Massimo Mele educates Nelson and Donald Bonney on how he prepares their meat.

They hope establishing a brand now, while the market is high, will ensure the older animals retain a price premium if conditions change.

The variability in size and flavour of older animals is a potential barrier for restaurants embracing the product.

"As chefs, we tend to think everything needs to be really consistent to create efficiencies but I think it's really good to get back to the product," chef Massimo Mele said.

Know your cow

Dairy farmer Ben Geard shows his prized cows at the Hobart Show every year and uses it as a chance to bridge the rural/urban divide.

He starts with the basics: there is a difference between a dairy cow and a beef cow.

But Ben's own entrepreneurial spirit has blurred that distinction.

After a few chefs mentioned that old dairy cows in Spain were known as a delicacy, he experimented with dry-aging one of his own retired animals.

The Geards started experimenting with dry-ageing their Holstein Friesian cows after meeting Hobart-based chef Analiese Gregory. ( ABC Landline: Margot Kelly )

The experiment paid off and he is now sending the meat from his Holstein Friesians to restaurants across Hobart under the brand Old Cow Co.

Natalie Geard is using her marketing experience to turn around poor perceptions of old cows.

At the end of their milking life, the old cows enjoy six months on good pasture so they put on more weight.

Franklin Restaurant head chef Analiese Gregory said she was pleased Australians were eating dairy cows.

"It seems like a more fitting end, or a nicer end that respects the animal," she said.

"I used to live in Spain and the famous steak they have there is all actually 10 or 12-year-old dairy cow."

Analiese Gregory prepares Old Cow dry-aged beef. ( ABC Landline: Margot Kelly )

Dry-aging 101

Dry-aging involves dehydrating the meat in climate-controlled rooms for 80 to 150 days or longer.

The process makes the beef more tender and brings out the rich flavours.

"They are working animals and they've been working for 10 years being milked so the meat is tougher and there's a lot of connective tissue," Ms Gregory said.

"The meat does need that time for the enzymatic breakdown to make it tender."

Dry-aged beef has been particularly popular in high-end restaurants. ( Supplied: Stefano restaurant )

Watch this story on ABC TV's Landline this Sunday at 12:30pm or on iview.