SOUTH Burnett cattle producer Mike Bishop says he is determined to have a nucleus herd of breeding cows coming out of the drought.
Mr Bishop, who runs country in the Kingaroy region including the 880 hectare property Tulagi at Johnstown, said experience showed producers needed to plan not only for drought, but also for coming out of drought.
"I have no doubt it will rain," Mr Bishop said.
"We've all been through plenty of the droughts in the past and the one thing we all know is that - even if we don't know when - droughts break.
"If it doesn't, we will stick to our plan of adjusting our herd to the suit the situation.
"The important thing is to make a plan and stick to it."
There's plenty of TLC happening in the Charolais-cross herd running on Mr Bishop's good forest country between Goomeri and Nanango. The females are constantly monitored and any struggling cows are separated and given an additional nutritional boost in the form of a feedlot ration and hay.
That TLC has included providing the herd with 4 Season cow and calf blocks, a balanced mineral block with bypass protein meal, magnesium, selenium and other essential macro and micro minerals.
"It's tough going, but we need to keep these cows producing milk to keep both the cow and its calf going forward," Mr Bishop said.
"Feed is certainly dear, but there is value in productive cattle."
Like many landholders, Mr Bishop has taken the opportunity to bring in an excavator and clean out dams ready for rain.
"I'm predicting good rain for Christmas," Mr Bishop said. "Wouldn't that just be the best present for everyone. Especially if it was about six inches (150mm)."
Mr Bishop is also the coach of the highly successful Queensland Outback Barbarians Rugby Union Club, a touring team, which will head to Ireland for a seven match tour in September 2020.
"There is noting like the networks that exist in rugby," Mr Bishop said. "Wherever you go in the world where rugby is played - even if you have never been to that country before - you have at least 15 new friends the moment you arrive in town."
Mr Bishop is no stranger to global rugby. In addition to Outback Barbarians tours of the US and Canada, he has also served as the coach of the Georgia sevens national team and helped develop rugby in Kenya. In 2018, he also held a rugby clinic in Cuba.
