Australian Talk.

[Australian Cattleman]

Thought I'd start up another segment for the Australians with input from all on the board.
The weather at our place is cooling down a little. The deciduous trees are all starting to change. The oaks,maples,willows are all browning up. Its still green though we need another drop of about 50mls (2 inches). Further down the Tablelands ther's already been a frost a couple of weeks ago. Its been down to about 4C so far but only on a couple of mornings,been OK since. There's supposed to be some storms coming through today. Hope I get my lawn mowed before it comes. Still waiting to have our new yards finished,so its curtailed the yard work for a while.Waitng for a new crush unit to arrive from Toowoomba. Then the welding can start. My new heifers have settled in well,joined up with the other girls. Buffalo fly are still about,causing a nuisance.
Better go and do some work.
Colin

[Bek]

Thanks for starting a new one, Colin, the other one sorta went missing

Hasn't rained well here for a while, so it's starting to dry out a bit.
We haven't had too much of a problem with Buffalo Fly up here, which is surprising, because they're usually a real nuisance.

It's still reasonably hot up here, coldest it's got to is about 12 or 13C. I want it to be colder...still hitting 32C during the day occasionally.
But still better than Adelaide which was up around 40C for a few weeks.

Hope you and yours are all doing well Colin

Cheers,
Bek

[mwj]

Has the dry weather left your wheat growing regions? We all watched your wheat shortage a couple of years ago but have not seen much since then. The weather in the central US is starting to point towards spring and people and animals are in a much better mood Last year in April we got some extreme cold weather that stunted the grass and it never fully recovered so We are all hoping for a normal spring season. Thanks for the update from your part of the world.

[Australian Cattleman]

Some of our grain growing areas have done well for rain but others in the southern areas are still very dry. Queensland and the northern parts of New South Wales are pretty good. There have been devastating floods in the central Highlands of Queensland about two months ago. Some cattle breeders lost thousands of breeders when 20 to 40 inches of rain fell over a very short period. One stud breeder lost many magnificent Brahmans and all their semen stocks. The town of Emerald (west of Rockhampton) was inundated for a number of days. The inland parts of Australia have had their best soaking for 10 plus years. The Darling River which flows into the Murray is running right through for the first time in many years. This waterway used to have paddlesteamers come many hundreds of kilometres up the Darling to pick up wool in the 30's and perhaps 1940's. The past few years there has been much contoversy with cotton growers in Queensland where lots of the tributaries feed from,using too much water in huge off river dams etc. Thus depleting the natural flow of the river. The same happened with the famed Snowy River,which was (some of its water)changed to flow westward into the Murray instead of its eastery route. So ends todays geography lesson.
Colin

[Bek]

We seem to be the only part of Queensland that hasn't been flooded.
We're very dry here at the moment, but as I type it's raining, so hopefully there may be a turnaround.

The Central Highlands, aswell as the Flinders region were the worst.
I've had to put off two trips to Charters Towers due to the flooding.
One when the actual storm had just hit, and another 3 weeks later, and the waters hadn't subsided on the Belyando stretch just south of the Towers.
Finally getting up there in 3 weeks if all goes to plan.

[Australian Cattleman]

We have had two frosts the last two mornings. Yesterday it was down to minus 3 and this morning was a hot zero. Far too early for frosts. We generally get one about Anzac day (25th April) But in the old days it has been known to get them on the 1st April. The frost knocked a few plants in the garden.
Colin

[bward]

I am having 45 Gert breeders from Australia coming to see me ( well my cows) on April 20th. They are travelling through the US and Canada and stopping at my place for lunch and a quick farm tour. Are any of you online Aussies part of that group?

[Australian Cattleman]

Cool again here tonight. Three frosts in the past mornings. Cold change on the way,snow down south and in Tasmania down to low levels. Hope we aren't in for a long cold winter. We are about a month too early for the cooler weather.
bward, Let us know after the Santa breeders from Australia have visited. If you recall any names let us know. I know a few breeders that might go on the trip. There are many good Santa cattle in Australia. The Walker family from Cumberland at Longreach,The Greenup family from Rosevale at Jandowae, Queensland, The Bassingthwaight family Yarrawonga/Waco at Wallumbilla Queensland and maybe an Atkinson from near Rockhampton. I would guess that any of these persons could be on the trip.I would rate these breeders as some of the best of the breed here in Australia.
My dad managed a property for the Hordern family who are still very involved with Yulgilbar Santas. my late father was about when the first King Ranch Santa Gertrudis came to Yulgilbar. They initially crossed them with Devon cattle (not South Devon the rich red ones from the north of Devon),they were an excellent cross over the hardy coastal acclimatised Devons. Yulgilbar were the number one stud in New South Wales then they went into the doldrums for a number of years. Thankfully they are now fast rising to the top with a new manager. They show the santas in lead competitions as well as carcase comps and unled classes. I love any good cattle of any breed.
Colin

[Killala]

bward, let us know if any South Australian breeders visit you... I know most of them. I have also worked for several top Santa breeders in Qld, so will probably know one or two of your visitors!!

The weather here today is absolutely horrendous! We have had winds of 90km/h, while other parts of the state have had them up to 40km/h. there is a little rain interspersed amongst it but we need a fair bit more to make a difference. I've been feeding cows for the last few weeks and if we don't get a good rain soon will probably have to do so well into winter.
Anyone go to Sydney? It was a great show for Shorties, taking out the Urquhart and the Hordern trophies yesterday. For those who aren't aware, the Shortie cow took out the Urquhart: Moombi Daffodil X12 (bred and owned by Lester and Sonya Job, Cumnock NSW) with a top heifer calf at foot by a bull my boyfriend's sister bred. M Daffodil then teamed up with Polldale Ablaze (bred and owned by Kim Williams and family, Dubbo (I think) NSW) to take out the Hordern. Apparently everybody thought the Shorties were deserving winners. The cow recently took out Interbreed Female at the Dubbo Beef Spectacular.
Well that's my bit of news for today. Hope everyone is well!!

[Australian Cattleman]

Makes a nice change to have other breeds winning interbreed comps than the usual Angus and Charolais. Bet the Shortie breeders were excited.
The weathers been stable here today. The cooler weather will reach us Friday. Expecting a big minus here Friday. better let the water out of the pump. Haven't froze one for a few years. Darn Buffalo fly are still about even after the minus three and two zeros.
Colin

[Australian Cattleman]

Needed to pull this topic to the front again. Been cool here with about 20 mls over the past ten days. Still need 50 to 60 mls to set us up for winter. Got our first load of rhodes grass round bales yesterday,ready for a long winter ahead. Our heifers start to calve in about three weeks,all in calf to Brahman bulls. Our cows start to calve about 3 weeks after that,to Brahman,Angus,Hereford and South Devon.

[bward]

I hope the Aussies show up. We have had beautiful weather for the last while and now this weekend is supposed to be cold and snow. We can handle them once they get here but I am concerned about highways and road conditions for the bus on route to here. If they want to see Gerts in a winter climate, they are going to get a wish granted!

[Australian Cattleman]

If you can post some pictures of the group would be great. I'd say most of your visitors will be from the warmer climes of Australia. Anyway our cold areas have nothing on Canada or the US. We whinge about the cold but have no cause to really when compared to you people. I often think when I'm down at the yards feeding up on a frosty morning (1/2 inch ice on the wooden rails) what it would be like wading through the snow. I guess maybe some of the catle might be shedded. How different our world is. We only have to go less than an hour east to get to warmer humid weather. We are at 1,000 metres (3,000 feet) We have most of our country at that level apart from two blocks (one at 1500 feet and one at 3,500 feet) The block at the lower level we run our Brahman cross heifers on to join then they come home to calve. We find our British breeds do much better in the better higher country.

[marimus]

We haven't had too much of a problem with Buffalo Fly up here, which is surprising, because they're usually a real nuisance.

Don't worry, we still have plenty of the little buggers. Coldest morning so far has been 12 as well, the black speargrass has browned off after seeding, but the rhodes is still lush green.

One of my brothers mates from school runs a bakehouse in charters towers, apparently its the good one in town (main st).

[Australian Cattleman]

Had 45 mls of most welcome rain these past 5 days. Parts of the mid north coast of our state have had minor to moderate flooding with falls of rain up to 12 inches. Parts of the state that had good rain earlier in the year have reverted back to dry but not drought. Overall the state isn't too bad.Cattle prices remain variable though. We sold cattle at Warwick (just over the border) last week and recieved 12cents/head more than we would have received at our local yards. There's just not enough competition here.We have few head to go to the meatworks next week at Inverell.
Colin