It’s been a long road back to achieving success at Eidsvold’s annual cattle show and sale for Richard Reiser after the devastating floods in 2013.
The cattleman’s 3035 hectares property, called Ormsary on the Burnett River, suffered major damage including the loss of his family home after a cyclone event brought big rain north of the region. And, while Cyclone Debbie has made landfall a long way north of Mr Reiser’s property it has managed to put the studious cattle breeder on edge.
“Our property had a lot of fences destroyed and a set of cattle yards washed away, but we didn't lose any cattle because they were all able to get to higher ground,” Mr Reiser said.
“The biggest loss was our family home being washed away because four generations of my family grew up in that house.
“While this current weather system created by Cyclone Debbie is expected to weaken significantly by the time it travels our way, the potential high rainfall it brings is always bitter, sweet for us now.”
Mr Reiser said losing the old family home was extremely difficult, but is happy he’s found some success.
Meanwhile, his recent win at Eidsvold’s cattle show and sale has helped his family move forward from the losses suffered during floods in 2013.
Mr Reiser said losing the old family home was extremely heart breaking, but his wife Jane Carroll and the surrounding rural cattle community provided plenty of support.
“Eidsvold is a hub for the region’s cattle industry and numerous livestock producers suffered substantial property damage and livestock losses,” he said.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s Queensland regional director Bruce Gunn said current Cyclone Debbie is likely to maintain strength for some distance overland with damaging to destructive winds delivering significant rainfall as it tracks to the west-southwest across Queensland. The Bureau has now issued flood watch warnings for the central west and the Darling Downs region in Queensland.
This news has put the Eidsvold cattleman on edge.
“Losing our family’s old home was heartbreaking but achieving success at the Eidsvold show and sale really helped the healing process, plus it’s good to know we’re back on the right track with our cattle business,” Mr Reiser said.
“The Eidsvold region is renowned for its high quality beef cattle and there are plenty of excellent cattle breeders around here.”
Mr Reiser runs a purebred Santa Gertrudis cattle herd with 200 breeder cows and turns-off cull heifers at 12-months-old plus heavy feeder weight steers or if the season allows he grows steers into bullocks to about two and half years old.
He added selecting high quality bulls helped maintain a productive cattle business.
“I felt guilty for some reason for losing our historic family home on my family’s cattle property, but floods are just a part of nature and there’s nothing we could have done,” he said.
“Time heals and it’s great to be able to share the joy of our cattle’s win at the Eidsvold store show and sale with my wife and family.”
Mr Reiser’s feeder steers won the heavyweight feeder class at this year’s Greenup Eidsvold Station Santa Infused Store Cattle Show and Sale earlier this month.
“It took about a year and a half to rebuild our cattle property’s fences and other infrastructure,” he said.
“The homestead is only just finished and it’s always worrying when another high rainfall cyclone event is coming.
“The bureau is expecting the rain to come through on Thursday and of course rainfall is very important for pasture growth and sustaining our cattle operation.
“Floods are just part of life when owning a property on the Burnett River and I guess it can sometimes take as much as it gives.”