Cattle station
In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm (station is equivalent to the American ranch), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a grazier. The largest cattle station in the world is Anna Creek Station in South Australia, which covers an area of 23,677 square kilometres (9,142 sq mi; 5,851,000 acres).[1]
Improvements
Each station has a
Children were originally educated by correspondence lessons, often supervised by a governess, and via the School of the Air, but many children in remote areas went to boarding school for their secondary education. The Royal Flying Doctor Service is available to remote stations in outback Australia.[2]
Outstations
Historically, an outstation was a subsidiary homestead or other dwelling on Australian
History
Charles Brown Fisher and Maurice Lyons, a Melbourne magistrate stocked Victoria River Downs in the early 1880s. Drover, Nathaniel Buchanan (1826–1901), overlanded 20,000 head of cattle from Wilmot to Victoria River Downs in c.1881 to establish their cattle venture. Previously Nat had from 1860 to 1867, stocked and managed Bowen Downs Station near Longreach, Queensland. Buchanan was associated with the opening up and stocking of several cattle stations in the Victoria River district and the Ord River region. The Gordon brothers and Nathaniel Buchanan took up Wave Hill on the Victoria River in 1883, one of the first cattle stations established west of the Telegraph Line. Their nearest neighbour was 200 miles (322 km) away.
By 1898 James Tyson (8 April 1819 – 4 December 1898), held 5,329,214 acres (2,156,680 ha) including 352,332 acres (142,585 ha) freehold. His stations included Bangate, Goondublui, Juanbung, Tupra and Mooroonowa in New South Wales; Heyfield in Victoria; and Glenormiston, Swanvale, Meteor Downs and Albinia Downs, Babbiloora, Carnarvon, Tully, Wyobie, Felton, Mount Russell and Tinnenburra in Queensland.
Sidney Kidman (1857–1935) set up a chain of cattle stations along the sources of water, from the Gulf of Carpentaria, into South Australia to be within easy droving distance of the Adelaide markets.
Aborigines have long played a big part in the cattle industry where they were competent stockmen on the cattle stations of the north. In 1950 it was legislated that the Aboriginal workers were now to be paid cash wages.
Many cattle stations were established along the Great Dividing Range where only cattle raising was possible because of dingo attacks on sheep. The original Kunderang Station, on the eastern fall of the Great Dividing Range was taken up by Captain George Jobling as an outstation, and later sold under the Subdivision of Runs Act 1884. Kunderang was one of the few Great Dividing Range stations which was inhabited. The isolated homestead here, was built of solid Australian red cedar (Toona ciliata).
Several major events have affected cattle stations starting with the
Zebu cattle were imported from
The Brucellosis and Tuberculosis Eradication Campaign (BTEC) was a national program to eradicate bovine brucellosis and bovine tuberculosis that commenced in 1970 after years of local jurisdictional activities. In the 1970s, interest rates soared and the American beef market collapsed causing the beef depression. A fat bullock was then worth less than a pair of locally made elastic side riding boots. The cattle herd was reduced to 21.8 million by 1978 in the wake of this crash.[10] Roads and communications were further improved as a result of the Tuberculosis Eradication Campaign. In 1979, a disastrous drought struck and continued into 1983 becoming one of Australia's worst droughts.
Helicopters were now being used to assist in mustering in the 1980s.[11] Australia entered the Japanese beef market in 1988 with improved expectations for a better future in the beef cattle industry.
Cattle empires
The North Australian Pastoral Company Pty Limited (NAPCO) is now one of Australia's largest beef cattle producers, with a herd of over 180,000 cattle and fourteen cattle stations in Queensland and the Northern Territory.[12] The Australian Agricultural Company (AA Co) manages a cattle herd of more than 585,000 head.[13] Heytesbury Beef Pty Ltd owns and manages over two hundred thousand head of cattle across eight stations spanning the East Kimberley, Victoria River and Barkly Tablelands regions in Northern Australia.[14]
Cattle station has a parallel term, sheep station, for those stations carrying sheep rather than cattle. In most cases the stations are in a rangeland context on pastoral leases. Many are larger than small countries. Some stations are not exclusively sheep or cattle stations but have a mix of cattle, sheep and even goats to make the owner less vulnerable to changes in the wool or beef prices.
The phrase is also in traditional Australian English to denote something large and/or important.
See also
- The Speewah
- Pastoral lease
- Sheep station
- List of pastoral leases in the Northern Territory
- List of pastoral leases in Western Australia
- List of ranches and stations
- Intensive animal farming § Cattle
- Muster (livestock)
References
- ^ Mercer, Phil (9 June 2008). "Cattle farms lure Australian women". BBC. Retrieved 9 June 2008.
- ^ "Air supply: Flying doctors deliver vaccinations to remote Outback stations". ABC News. 19 August 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
- ISBN 9781925022902. Retrieved 2 August 2020..)
{{cite book}}
:|website=
ignored (help) (Book details here - ^ "R7756 Cattle Creek outstation, 1962". Wave Hill walk-off. Archived from the original on 17 August 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
- hdl:10070/260128. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
Residence at the former outstation was ephemeral during periods of cattle working in the Cattle Creek area. Permanent residence was at Wave Hill Homestead where a few Aboriginals still live.
PDF - ^ "Sturt Creek Outstation". S. Kidman. 14 December 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
- ^ Phelps, Mark (27 June 2019). "Daly Waters: Murranji offered with 12,000 cattle". Katherine Times. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
- ^ "Pigeon Hole". Heytesbury Cattle Co. 20 February 2015. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
- ^ Taylor, Peter, Pastoral Properties of Australia, George Allen & Unwin, Sydney, London, Boston,1984
- ^ Austin, Nigel, Kings of the Cattle Country, Bay Books, Sydney & London, 1986
- ^ Lane, Megan (15 February 2011). "Helicopter cowboys of Australia's Outback". BBC. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
- ^ North Australian Pastoral Company
- ^ AACo Archived 29 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Heytesbury Beef Archived 3 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine