Ultra dry calls for Ultrablack

"Normally this area has a pretty good rainfall of about 30 inches per year and we'd be well under - I reckon we've only had around a third of that so far and normally it's pretty good here, but obviously not at the moment."

Running Melrose Station, a cattle and sheep property near Killarney, alongside his wife Jodie and sons Clayton, 17, and Tobie, 7, Mr Frank said he had been making a shift towards Ultrablack.

Ultrablacks are renowned for their hardiness, and Mr Frank said the property's original Hereford herd had been all but phased out.

"We're still running about 60 head of commercial Herefords, but we're really heading towards building the Ultrablacks.

"They have a great temperament and black cattle have been popular for a while now with Angus, but we're trying to breed for northern herds.

"We've started breeding bulls to work them into Nindooinbah Stud to be sent into the central and northern markets."

Mr Frank has been working with the Melrose cattle herd as manager for Peter and Colleen Lindores for the past 12 years and said the use of Ultrablack cattle had seen an increase in calving percentages for northern breeders with the Brangus content suiting the warmer climate.

"All the bulls which we had from last year's batch have been sold or gone to Nindooinbah and they'll be sold into the Northern Territory or Western Australia.

"They can handle the harsher climates, so they're a bit more hardy and buyers will usually purchase them at around 10 months, so they can take them up and get them acclimatised so they can get used to the area before they start working."

Mr Frank said calves were weaned at Melrose at about six months of age depending on the season, with steers heading to Whyalla and Beef City feedlots for backgrounding at about 500kg.

"The property here has about 2000 acres (809ha) of dryland cultivation and we grow corn, sorghum, wheat and barley - all forage crops for the cattle.

"I've planted a little bit of corn but it's so dry; I'm waiting to plant another 1000 acres (404ha) of it for silage and I'm hoping that will happen when we get enough moisture."

Corn silage from Melrose Station is fed to the herd and also sold into the local feed market and feedlots which, Mr Frank said, usually returned about $375/tonne.

"We'll be putting in a rotational crop of soy beans for summer once the corn is done and, fingers crossed, we'll get some rain. I'd like to see at least 75ml to keep things kicking along."

Mr Frank praised the nutrient-rich soil of the Condamine River flats, but said he was hoping to move away from cropping.

"I'd like to plant more pasture.

"We have a wide range of protein-rich digit grass here with rhodes, bluegrass and rye for the cattle, but it's hard to get it established in this weather.

"We've been giving the cattle a liquid supplement along with silage - I find liquid is easier than the dry blocks and one less chore I have to worry about and the cattle seem to do well on it."

Mr Frank commented on the current climate of the Queensland cattle market, adding the dip in price was due to the dry conditions.

"As soon as the weather turns I'm sure things will look up."

Not just resigned to cattle production, Melrose Station also keeps a healthy herd of crossbred sheep for fat lamb production.

"We have around 300 head and we've just sold the last of our lambs but because of the dry I had to sell some as store lambs."

Mr Frank sold about 300 lambs at the weekly sale in Warwick to return $120/head.