Midfield Meat appeared in the Warrnambool Magistrates' Court for a one-day committal hearing on Tuesday and was committed to stand trial after pleading not guilty to two charges of failing to provide a safe working environment under the OHS Act.

The charges related to an incident on December 15, 2017 when 49-year-old Warrnambool Midfield Meat worker Pat Smith was attacked by a large bull at Dunkeld farming property 'Wandobah'.

Prosecutor Duncan Chisholm said Mr Smith was weighing cattle when he was mauled by the bull stag - an animal that had been incorrectly castrated so that one testicle, as well as levels of testosterone, remained.

He said the victim sustained a serious "torso impact injury" and was found unconscious by Wandobah owner Craig Oliver, who attempted CPR but Mr Smith could not be revived.

Mr Oliver was one of seven witnesses cross-examined during Tuesday's committal hearing.

He told the court that about half of his 900-acre farm was used for growing bulls for six to eight months before they were sent to the abattoir.

He said in his 20 years working with Midfield he had never seen anything "remotely like" what happened on the day of Mr Smith's death.

Mr Oliver said about 6am on the day of the incident he moved a herd of cattle into the yard to be weighed by Mr Smith.

He told the court he noticed the animal was "bellowing and marching up and down", and that he and Mr Smith knew it was a stag.

"But I was never concerned that this was an aggressive animal," he said.

The court was told Mr Oliver was working about five kilometres from where Mr Smith was weighing the cattle when he received a phone call from the victim at 8.53am.

There was no response and the farmer assumed the phone call was an accident.

At 9.20am Mr Oliver arrived at the stock yard to find Mr Smith lying injured and unresponsive.

He told the court he saw the stag in the southern-holding pen behaving "aggressively".

"The animal was completely crazy," he said.

"I've never seen behaviour in a bull, steer, cow or anything remotely close to the way that animal was behaving and the level of aggression that it was showing."

Police arrived to find blood splattered on the inside of the yard, on fence railing and nearby vegetation.

The bull was isolated and subsequently put down.

University of Sydney Associate Professor in livestock production Russell Bush told the court he had "no criticism" of the stock yards at the Dunkeld farm.

But, he said two handlers should have tried to isolate the stag from the rest of the mob in order to avoid "the potential unpredictably of the animal".

Midfield was committed to stand trial and will appear in the county court for a directions hearing on March 10.

Have you signed up to The Standard's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in the south-west.