Just like that, we are half way through 2022! Mustering season is in full swing and we couldn’t be more thrilled at how happy and healthy our cattle are coming in.
Our first muster was in April, walking all those beautiful cattle up the Degrey River was such a sight. Ears bopping, weaving through the trees, green grasses, a pleasant mob of last year’s weaners (young cattle).
We put a lot of love and time into all of our cattle but we pay special attention to our weaners. Ensuring they have the nutrition they need during the weaning process is very important to us. We provide them with extra minerals and vitamins through a custom made lick which sets them up for their new life away from mum.
It is also at the weaning stage in a cows life that is best for education, much like teenagers! We educate our weaners through a simple and practical set of tasks, this not only achieves decreased animal stress in the yards but also increases weight gains in our cattle. Cattle, much like humans, will eat less (or not at all) in times of stress so we use the following methods to impede this from happening.
We work with them to establish movement as a mob, this is called ‘droving’. It involves us moving them together around the yards creating good flow and movement at a walk. A quality stop on a mob is also really important, it is to ensure when we are mustering and moving cattle we can have them stay on a water point and get a good drink.
Our third step is what we call the drafting game, it is when we ask for them to walk single file (aka draft) past us from the mob to the next part of the yard. It allows them to gain confidence in stepping out of a mob when asked. And the last step is letting them walk up the race (a corridor built in the yards for cattle to walk through single file, mostly used for us to vaccinate them), they have a great opportunity to check it out and have some fresh hay and water waiting for them at the other end of it.
We follow these simple steps with every weaner we raise to give them a boost of confidence and independence when going out into their new mobs.
The musters since April have continued to go smoothly and we attest this very much to the dedication to our weaner education program throughout the years.
As for the Farm in Badgingarra, the trucks from up at Yarrie Station have started rolling in which complements the excellent start to the season we have had down there. An early break in the weather has allowed us to finish our pasture seeding with high hopes for good crops and pastures this year.
The cattle from Yarrie Station are being introduced into our rotational grazing system, it involves us shifting our mobs continuously into new paddocks to allow rest in between for all the pastures. This system is also integrated into our land rehabilitation trials and soil improvement areas. It is especially important for us to look after our pastures as we don’t use growth hormones in any of our cattle, so highly nutritious feed is vital.
The crew is ready to knuckle down, skill up and smash out the rest of our 2022 mustering season, bringing you the freshest and most flavourful beef!
