WHEN I last spoke to S. Kidman & Co pastoral manager Paul Quigley in August, Anna Creek station in South Australia was receiving cattle from the company’s northern properties and adding value to them as they progressed to southern meatworks.
Now with the foreign-investment exclusion of Anna Creek from the sale of the Kidman property portfolio, cattle are being moved to other Kidman properties to facilitate a separate sale of Anna Creek.
With about 14,000 cattle at Anna Creek and indifferent seasonal conditions at some of the other properties that are close enough to take cattle, this is no small task.
Fortunately Macumba to the north, which adjoins Anna Creek’s outstation The Peake, is having the best season that manager Eddie Nunn has ever seen there. Mr Nunn has managed Macumba for 14 years and has been around that area virtually all his life.
The season got off to a good early start in November then received good rain around Christmas and through January.
Mr Quigley said that despite haying off a bit it is looking good and they will be able to put a fair few cattle in there. Heavier steers in particular will be moved up to Macumba and finished there this year.
Other cattle will head to Channel properties Morney, Durrie and Naryilco and if Durham is fortunate enough to jag another rain, it would be able to accommodate a few as well.
Storms boost Channel properties
AFTER a visit around the Channel properties Mr Quigley provided an update on seasonal prospects. Storms have been the saviour so far this year with the exception being good flows in the Farrars and Morney creeks.
Where country has had follow-up rain, pig weed and button grass has followed and the bit of run-off has replenished surface water. While these grasses are relatively short living they provide good feed and the surface water is taking cattle pressure off the bores and allowing them to spread out.
Mr Quigley described most of the Channel properties are faring well enough if not better than six months ago.
Morney has had a good start. The flows in the creeks provided a good flood out on about a half of their flood country which Mr Quigley described as looking fantastic.
They have also had a couple of good rains so the country has improved markedly since Christmas. Even the Mitchell grass is coming back now.
In contrast to Morney, Durham was becoming a cause for concern but a couple of good falls of rain in the past few weeks has made all the difference. The run off has not only replenished surface water but also provided some flood in low-lying country which will result in a bit of feed.
The run in the Cooper over the past two months has been a good channel run but needed to be 6-12 inches (15-30cm) higher to flood out. With the rain they have had they will be able to carry their cattle now. Like Durham, Naryilco’s flood country on the Cooper is waiting for more than a gutter run but it has had the benefit of storms with some paddocks getting a follow up. Wherever that has happened there is some surface water and a bit of feed. Numbers there haven’t changed much and are well down but the cattle look amazing.
Durrie is much the same with scattered storms providing a bit of feed and surface water. Further out things haven’t changed much at Glengyle. They have had some scattered storms there and a bit of a run in the Georgina which will fill a few waterholes and their first couple of lakes but the run in the river is not going to be of any benefit as far as flood water goes. But as with the other properties the cattle look well.
Being able to spread the cattle out has allowed an increase in numbers over the past 12 months from a low point of less than 1000 head to about 4000 at present.
Livex focus for northern properties
WHILE the boat trade out of northern Australia remains as strong as it is there is little likelihood of cattle coming from Kidman’s Kimberley and Barkly breeding properties to the fattening country of far south-west Queensland.
Mr Quigley said it was pointless to bring cattle down to the Channels while the job is so good up there. He said if they had good rivers they would be more inclined to look at buying steers for the Channel blocks rather than bringing the Brahmans down.
Both Ruby Plains and Helen Springs are looking for rain in the next month to six weeks. Ruby had a good early start in November and their cattle were lifting from back then. But at Helen the rain did not come until Christmas. Good rain followed over the next two to three weeks but since then there has only been scattered storms.
Both need further rain to make a season of it and from reports that Mr Quigley has received it would seem much of northern Australia is in the same situation.
“If this is the end of the season then I think you will see a fair few cattle moving quite early,” he said.
Already the April market is being talked down. A good finish to the season could make a huge difference.