Channel Country beef ready to fire

Controlling 196,000ha of land around the Hamilton and Burke Rivers – the 81,000ha home block of Polygammon 80km east of Boulia, 30,350ha that make up Paton Downs close to Boulia and another 85,000ha in Lorna Downs below that – the Schofield name will celebrate a century in the district in 2015.

Once all a part of Warenda station and owned by cattle baron Sid Kidman, Robert Schofield’s grandfather took up Paton Downs in 1915 and his father added Polygammon in 1950.

Together with country at Glenmorgan in southern Queensland, where Robert’s brother lives, the Mitchell and Flinders grass plains that host the mythical Min Min Light are prime country for cattle breeding.

Robert and his wife Dixie run a Brahman herd crossed with Droughtmasters and aim to keep a 75:25 ratio for the hardiness offered by Brahmans that’s so often needed in the dry climate.

“They can walk, and they seem to be the last to go off and the first to pick up,” Robert said. “I might put Santas over them, to make them that bit softer, but I’ll never go away from the 75 per cent Brahman content.”

Despite the wrap, he was surprised at how well his cattle survived the drought.

After sending his fat cattle straight to the meatworks, he put heifers into feedlots for the first time ever when his usual option of selling to restockers dried up, and his steers went to Glenmorgan, leaving him with a core breeding herd and some heifers.

“We poured a heap of lick into them – we were feeding 16 tonne a week at the peak – and being Brahman they walked a lot to look for feed,” Robert said.

With a total of 150 bulls needed for his operation he usually replaces 10 to 15 a year, sourcing paddock bulls from a mixture of places, Clonlara Droughtmaster stud at Glenmorgan, the Curran family at Rio, and locally from Rondel Droughtmasters at Winton, as well as from Tartrus Brahmans at Marlborough.

Once a standard management practice, Robert is now questioning whether he will continue using hormone growth promotants.

“For the last 20 years I’ve been giving them the 400 day Compudose while they’re still on their mothers – it gives you an edge out here,” he said.

“But I didn’t do it last year, and I’m debating whether to do it again.

“It gives you an extra $70 to $80 but there’s a lot of markets that don’t take them now, so it’s no use having $70 of meat on them if it’s not wanted.”

In the meantime his country received between 100mm and 150mm of rain in February, the first decent rain for months.

“To the west our country looks ordinary but to the east, it’s all good,” is Robert’s summary.

It’s enough to get himself and his mustering team of sons Trent, 23 and Michael, 18, ready for action once again.