Warwick producer Les Kable was more than pleased with the returns made at the last Warwick cattle sale, with his bullocks averaging $1076.
The third-generation grain grower and beef producer has lived on his property at Emu Vale for the past 65 years, and said the recent spike in cattle prices was a welcome relief.
“The last sale I went to at Warwick was a pretty good one and I got about $600 to $700 for a line of steers which went straight to feedlot,” he said.
“I was very happy with the bullocks; they averaged around 540kg and got a very good return, and that takes the pressure off a little bit after a tough year.”
With the help of wife Dorothy, Mr Kable works his 180-hectare property every day, running about 40 head in his breeding herd.
“We mainly run Black Angus and there are a couple of Hereford cows in the mix – the market seems to respond well to Angus cattle at the moment, so that’s what we moved towards.
“They’ve got a good temperament and produce a good calf, and our commercial bull does a good job.”
Half of the undulating black-soil country Mr Kable uses to farm his cattle has been leased from an adjoining property, with bores now the only source of water for his cattle and crops.
“I’ve got no water in any of the dams and we’re currently relying on bore water to get through for the cattle.
“I’ve got about 70ha of sorghum in that was planted at Christmas time and it wants rain shortly – It hasn’t been too bad but it’s drying off now.”
Mr Kable said the past 12 months had seen the property suffer under drought conditions.
“Even though we’re getting good rain, there’s no run-off water going into the dams. It’s as dry as a bone.
“The cattle are grazing in the barley paddock I’d harvested at the moment, but it’s just about finished, so I’ll plough it up and they’ll be going back onto just ordinary pasture hay like kikuyu and Rhodes grass.”
Mr Kable said grazing his paddocks after harvest gave some relief and was a better option than feeding out by hand.
“I got a little bit of rain through and was able to get a decent crop of barley, and then I baled all the stubble up and that went quickly.”
He said because of unstable prices on the cattle market, it was important to secure supplementary income and grow grain crops such as barley and wheat during winter and sorghum over Christmas.
“I’m just cultivating ground, getting it ready for barley around about May.
“This is rich black soil and it’s undulating country. My grandfather started farming this property and I stayed here because I like farming.
“It’s certainly a lifestyle. Sometimes it can be rewarding and sometimes it can be depressing. I’m really hoping, like a lot of people, that the prices stay like this for a little while longer. The cows are back a little bit but it’s still all right.”
Mr Kable said that if good quality cattle continued to be put through the yards, there was a good chance prices would hold firm.
“But if the dry weather sets in a bit now, the price of store cattle could come back a bit. It’s pretty dear if you’re buying cattle at the moment – cows and calves have been in big money and you feel sorry for people who sold all their cattle when the prices were so low and now they’re trying to buy back in.
“It doesn’t seem fair.”
Although working his property almost single-handedly, Mr Kable said he was still going strong and would hold onto his remaining cattle until next financial year.
“I’m still going okay and every day is a good day when you get out of bed and your health’s all right.”