As the prolonged drought on the Darling Downs continues to bite hard, Ramsay district cattle breeders, Ian and Katrina Bebbington have off-loaded as many cattle as possible.
In a good season, the couple carry 100 stud Charolais breeders plus progeny including growing out 40 sale bulls and heifers. They also run 40 Charolais crossbred breeders and grow out these calves to feedlot weights.
The Bebbingtons would also buy in 100 steers from nearby Warwick or Toowoomba saleyards at an average weight of 250kg. These too, would be grown to 400 to 420kg and sold into feedlots or to Ashton’s Butchery, Pittsworth, to finish for the local butcher trade.
They are currently carrying 200 mixed head, with all stock being hand fed, across 375 hectares at Mt View and Headington Hill.
“We are probably back to carrying 50 cows and calves, and our sale bulls and heifers,” Ian said.
The Bebbingtons started buying in hay in April last year, and so far have spent in excess of $100,000 buying fodder from South Australia.
“We have been trying to source agistment as far north to Gympie and south to Casino without any luck, but are still looking and searching for grass,” he said.
The Bebbingtons recently found some agistment country at Upper Pilton, and have placed 40 stud breeders there.
“To find this grass we jumped in the car and we actually knocked on doors asking in the hope some farmers would have spare grass that we could use,” he said.
“We have some very kind neighbours with one letting us run 20 heifers on his country, while another has taken 10 cows to help us out.
“We had a slight reprieve in 2017 when ex TC Debbie dropped 75 millimetres in one fall, but overall our rainfall over the past three years has been the lowest since the 1918-19 drought.”
Normally the couple would have 200ha under crop, but again due to the season this has not eventuated.
In normal times sorghum and mung beans are grown as a cash summer crop, while barley is grown in winter. Forage sorghum and oats are grown for stock feed.
If there is not a break in the season by the end of February, the Bebbingtons will apply to the Toowoomba Regional Council for approval to graze stock on the road side.
The couple are already prepared and have their ‘caution cattle on the road’ signs painted, but are hoping they will source some more agistment.
Ongoing push to save genetics
Ian and Katrina Bebbinton are hell bent on saving the best of the genetics in their Charolais herd as the drought on the Darling Downs continues for its third year.
“We have already sold all our commercial cattle, and culled heavily our stud cattle, but we need rain and grass desperately,” Ian said.
“But we are getting to the stage now as to where to draw the line as we can’t continue to cull.”
The Bebbingtons time their joining for the cows to calve down from March to October to avoid calving in the blistering summer heat.
Normally, 20 per cent of male calves are steered and grown out to feedlot weights along with the culled heifers.
The Bebbingtons keep the top 25 to 30 heifer calves as replacements breeders, or to be sold as stud heifers.