jumbuck news - Jumbuck Pastoral
Transcription
jumbuck news - Jumbuck Pastoral
JUMBUCK NEWS Volume 12, Issue 3 October 2013 Europe, seeing Chinese processors eager to lock away supply for both Chinese domestic and European demand which seems to be growing. A personnel appointment in the recent past which deserves particular attention. Danielle Goodwin was promoted to overseer at Mulgathing. Well done Danielle. Reiterate the invitation for Jumbuck staff to poke your noses into Jumbuck House, if and when in Adelaide. Just a brief hello is always well-received and staff in the office enjoy catching up with station staff. Jock conducting a Rawlinna Station inspection. MD’s Comment Hard to believe that this will be the last newsletter for calendar year 2013. How quickly the year has passed. What a difference a change in government has made to the feeling of our economic prospects and we hope that Tony Abbott can work some magic through dialogue with Yudhoyono in Indonesia. Much needed rain has fallen over most of the Jumbuck Pastoral interests in the past three months and we are now reasonably well-placed on most stations but will need more rain to comfortably get us through the summer. We have spent a brief period of time together in New Zealand and in north western Queensland recently. Very different parts of the world. Queensland in grip of a severe drought having received only 30% of their annual average over last years’ wet season, resulting in significant herd reductions and precious little feed on the ground over a big part of the State. The Kiwis are renowned for and do intensive farming very well – necessity being the mother of invention there! Hats off to them though, they are the masters of innovation. We also witnessed a lesson on the Rugby field, as the All Blacks unceremoniously dismantled the Wallabies in their second Bledisloe clash in Wellington. Callum & Jock The rebound in sheep prices and particularly wool prices in recent weeks augurs well for the current financial year with renewed demand for wool tops from JUMBUCK NEWS 1 Ω STATION NEWS Blina The later part of the Dry Season is now upon us. Most feed has hayed off significantly and temperatures are in the low 40’s daily. We have been feeding a significant portion of the breeders urea based loose lick, to help them carry through until the first storms break. Cattle sales for the year just finished have been back in both price and also in numbers. Turnoff weights in contrast have been exceptional. Heifers have been fairly difficult to move and steer prices ordinary. However there have been encouraging signs moving forward. On the back of suggestions that Indonesia may accept some heavier cattle next year, we have adjusted our sale program slightly. We have held onto steers up to 290kg and heifers up to 270kg. It is far too early to speculate how the market of 2014 will come up, however with a change of Government here and an election due next year across the Timor Sea, things will hopefully strengthen. We have had the best part of six weeks away from cattle work. We have been able to attend to many maintenance issues in this time. Concrete pads under mills, erecting new fences, rolling up old fences, plastering troughs and breaking in horses. It has been good to also have a few weekends off. It is great to see all the improvement work steadily coming along. We have also spent a fair amount of time fighting bushfires and anticipate a few more before the end of the season. We have also had a packed social schedule, with Rodeo’s and Race meetings every other weekend. The crew are looking forward to hooking in for the second round and saving some money again! Well at least I hope they are. Lauren Vaughan won the ladies buckjump at Halls Creek and Casey Schmidt won the Stockman’s Race at the Picnic Races aboard ‘Safar’. Us lads also achieved a few minor places in the Saddle Bronc and Station buckjump events. Ex Blina plant horse ‘Benji Vienamen’, whom we donated to the bucking string after a string of offences, is now a star Saddle Bronc horse. By far the highlight of the Rodeo Season was the Broome Rodeo, which has not been held since 2006. Under lights and in front of a crowd of over 3,000 it was a huge event. We welcome to the team Cassandra Gray, who has taken over in the cook house from Jenny Hosking. Stu Jones is now working the CAT 938G loader which has come across from Meda, rebuilding wingbanks on dams and fixing erosion around the run. It will be great to get to some of these earthworks jobs. Andy Hallen will hopefully get some scrub cleared on the D4E in the coming months, opening up fence lines north of Ellendale. We have just started the second round of the breeders and it will be all go for the next eight weeks. I think that we may be on track for a record weaning in 2013, which will set us up for volume sales in 2014. With a bit of luck, we can snare a few early storms in November. Matt Wood Ω Bulgunnia The North West Pastoral country has been at its blooming best over the past 3 months with every conceivable type of wild flower and weed imaginable. After some good rains that were reported in the last newsletter, we had even better falls in July of 45.4mm, which was very slow JUMBUCK NEWS 2 falling and wide spread. Since then we have only had 1.2mm in August and 1.6mm in September. The country is still holding on but is now showing signs of wilting and going to seed which will leave a massive seed bank for the next big rains to come. With this enormous ground cover we now sit and hope for a wet summer without the dry thunder storms and lightning, as it will not take too much to set the place alight. The other down side is of course the blowfly, which we are just starting to see a bit of. Lamb marking crew 2013, Kerry Fullwood, Jacob Shrodter, Jemma Hugo, Tegan Gleeson, Richard Beaumont and Josh Davis. Wild flowers as far as the eye can see. Since last newsletter we have been busy with lamb marking recording a credible percentage given the dry conditions at mating and the poor condition of the stock. The rains came in time as the ewes had picked up in condition which made mustering a little easier. By the time we finished marking, the last lambs were enormous and everyone was glad to see the back of them. A welcome surprise was the 52% from the maidens. When they started lambing it looked like a very ordinary percentage, but towards the end they picked up. Lucky to have all my children home for lamb marking who enjoyed helping outfrom left Katherine, Brendan, Daniel (partially obscured), Dad, Kristy and Christopher 2nd photo Christopher and Katherine. JUMBUCK NEWS 3 Work has continued on the new fencing at Pennyfather/Vokes and the never ending grating replacement at Ooraminna shed. We also had to replace a few bearers and footings in the Bulgunnia shed and unfortunately a majority of the old grating could not be reused so we have had to replace this with new grating as well. A new bore has also been drilled next to the homestead which was needed due to the existing one failing after the big flood in 2011. New Fence - Pennyfather – Vokes. Soil samples taken every metre from new Homestead bore. We have also been able to utilise the services of Richard Armour to clean out Bradman’s well and install fluming and back fill. Those of us who can remember back to the eighties, when Richard was manager at Bulgunnia, the Homestead kitchen was renovated and made larger and an underground cellar was dug out and built. The Jackaroos at the time which included myself and Dominic Jennings were made to dig the cellar by hand to a depth of some 20 feet. My point to this story is it took 30 years, but finally I was able to make Richard Armour go down a hole and DIG DIG DIG, very satisfying and a good result too as we managed to clean out 12 feet of mud, rock and old wooden posts originally used to line the walls of the well. JUMBUCK NEWS 4 Crutching trailer in full swing. On the staffing front Jemma Hugo is gaining more and more experience daily and is genuinely interested in the work. She is still having the occasional lie down when out on her bike, but is staying upright more often these days. Down you go Richard and start digging -Dirty work but someone has to do it. We are currently well into crutching and after a very rocky start we have been able to get a few done, to date we have completed just on 9,000 with approximately 14,000 to go, not quite halfway. Jemma Hugo enjoying the hard work, yes that is a long tail lamb. Josh Davis has stepped up again and has taken the lead in the paddock whilst mustering on several occasions. Josh has been with Jumbuck for nearly 12 months without a holiday and is looking forward to November when he can have a couple of weeks R&R (provided we have finished crutching by then). JUMBUCK NEWS 5 Josh Davis. My daughter Katherine has returned again to help out over crutching. For some reason she forgets what it was like last time, and how sore the backside becomes after days on the bike. Our replacement cook arrived in July with very big shoes to fill. Annie Robinson came to us from the foot of the Snowy Mountains, whilst she has enjoyed a mild winter I don’t know if she will be looking forward to our hot summer. Annie is very experienced and has got the staff wrapped around her finger; she even lets them decide in turn what desert they would like that night. Someone tested her and asked for chocolate éclairs and true to form she produced them, well done Annie. Foolishly posted on face book: “First time riding a motorbike in months and managed not to fall off! Yay!!” No guessing as to how long that lasted, exactly one day. And then she followed it up with this little gem on Facebook: “Have had to remind myself of 4 things since moving out here: 1. There comes a point where no matter how long or hard you scrub, the dirt will not come off! 2. Unless you apply COPIOUS amounts of sunscreen THREE times a day, you WILL get burnt... 3. No matter how flimsy or insignificant a single twig or leaf may look, when riding a motorbike at 60km/h, it will sting when it whips you. And finally, 4. Sheep are like children... - they change their minds every two seconds - they stop walking when they get tired and refuse to move on - AND they insist on playing hide and seek in every patch of scrub!!” Annie Robinson hard at work in the kitchen. Kerry Fullwood continues to perform at the highest level in the Overseers position and her profile which is included in this newsletter makes for very entertaining reading. Once again a big thank you to all my staff for a good effort over lamb marking, and with not much of a breather straight into crutching, well done. Peter Marshall JUMBUCK NEWS 6 Ω ↓ Ω Commonwealth Hill Significant winter rain fell in mid-July, bringing up probably the best quality herbage we have seen since before the drought. Lambs were marked in July/August and barely fitted in the cradle from mid-July onwards. We finished up with a total of just over 70% which is a shade less than last year, but have no doubt that these lambs will survive right through the summer with minimal losses compared to last year. Well done to the crew here at Commonwealth Hill, especially Chris Bowler who picked up 80% of them. Wet weather brings bogs Mr Fix It to the rescue. Which Manager in the North West Pastoral area has been awarded super hero status after numerous rescues to staff being bogged or broken down? Just like superman, to be a truly great super hero you have to wear the undies on the outside. Due to recent early rains we have develop quite a serious fire problem especially in the north west of the station. We will be extremely lucky to get through summer without fighting fires. Butterfly tank on the Aurora line has finally got water in it and after numerous attempts of trying to get water up the old fibrolite line and two km of poly later we have had a win. A 30,000 gallon poly lined tank was also constructed at Problem by Richard Armour. This should help the Columba line JUMBUCK NEWS 7 through the summer as Wildingi will be dry within the month. Crutching is underway at the moment and should be finished within a week. Jared Cox and Co have been good to work with, with exceptional wool picking by Paisley. It would be good to have them back next year. On the employment front, we said goodbye to Nathan James at the end of lamb marking who left to pursue his career in the music industry as a DJ. We wish him all the best. Kiwi pilot Jamie Havill will be leaving us at the end of crutching. Apart from being a good pilot, he can take his hand to almost anything on the run and he has a sense of humour as dry as cement powder! Good luck with your flying career and keep in touch. Simon Robinson Ω The same sheep 5 months later! Ω Gunbar Since the last newsletter we have received some good falls of rain which has given us good feed through the winter. The feed is turning now and we could really do with some good spring rain to make an exceptional season. The winter rains ran some water into the dams but the majority of the dams are not full. Shearing has been completed with 15,718 shorn at Tiarra for 467 bales and 30,520 shorn at Gunbar for 798 bales. All sheep cut very well with 11 drop wethers cutting 7.5kg, ewes cutting up to 6.7kg and ewe hoggets cutting 6.9kg. There were some very good cuts for the special studs. All sheep came off the board in very good condition and should join very well in November. Some wether lambs ex Commonwealth Hill agisted at Geranium in April 2013. Likewise the sale sheep look very good and will sell well in the Hay sale on the 20th. September. We will have 7,000 sheep in the sale. The older wethers and ewes will go over the hooks to Fletchers in Dubbo. Both ewes and wethers will have some good carcass weights. The station rams are looking very good this year and will arrive in very good condition. The wheat crop on the irrigation is going along nicely and will be given another water to finish it off. We have had a couple of staff changes since JUMBUCK NEWS 8 the last newsletter with Tamara Wetheral leaving us and Samantha Lees joining us for a couple of weeks work experience. Dominic Jennings. Ω Repairing burst diesel tank. This was filled with water before welding to avoid explosions! Branding Station Rams. Station Rams heading back to the paddock. Drafting Hoggets for classing. Wheat crop irrigation. JUMBUCK NEWS 9 uncomfortable with added difficulty when they were moving the vehicles around the sloping ground. A very good effort from Alison Finch and her hard working team to finish in time for the workers to move straight into shearing Mike Cochrane Ω McCoys Well Shearing with the blades – as it was done 150 years ago! Ω Glen Devon The year has moved around so fast as shearing time is upon the Glen Devon staff again with the experienced Libby Langley and Travis LeRay who help with all aspect at the yards. I am predicting another good shearing with little to no problems. It must feel sometimes like a production line at the back of the shed but, of course, it is a crucial job just the same. After a disappointing amount of losses during lambing, there has been little to no losses from the time of lambing to now. This has been a relief to us regarding our off shear sale lambs, who will be up for offer this year. It is good to report that the number of good quality lambs this year is a big improvement on last year. The weed spraying I have done after winter has been less than I wanted to do. This has been mainly due to the weather, with the high winds or the rain which preceded it. Rainfall for the months of August was 96 mm and 70 mm for September. The olive grove has just had its annual pruning. Many of the days during pruning were also hampered by rain and wind. This made the job that little As I write we are experiencing some inclement weather with very strong winds and some rain. Up to 20mm is forecast, but I think the NNW winds might make that unlikely. The strong winds have been a regular occurrence since the end of this winter. Since our last report both Lamb Tailing & Shearing have been completed. The main lambing was unusually late this year and our lambing percentages averaged 56%. We finished shearing on September 12th this year, after a busy 2½ weeks. The Lyco wool press electric motor gave up on day 2. A hired TPW press was quickly sourced on the same day, which allowed the shearing to continue. Emma Howie and Clinton Hahsey joined the team for the shearing period which helped the wheels to turn a little more smoothly. We ended up pressing 244 bales of wool. A portion of this year’s sale sheep are loading tomorrow morning (weather permitting) with 06 drop ewes sold on hooks to the Lobethal meatworks and 12 drop ewe and wether hoggets being trucked to the Jamestown markets. The rainfall year to date sits at 208.6mm. We’ve had an unusually wet and not so cold winter this year, which has seen the winter annuals grow very well. This has left us with an abundance of clover which I have never seen here before. bit JUMBUCK NEWS 10 Graeme Barry Ω essential to get bulk of stock work done in the cool of the morning and late afternoon. Madura Plains All the sheep off shears have been placed out and settled into their paddocks well and truly. Major effort from all staff involved. The ewes are in great order for their lambing time. We have and are dropping very good numbers around in the ewes. We have a lot of herbage and some areas spear grass so the lambs, which are on the ground, are in great order. We have had great general falls in September which is really helping the ewes along with their lambs. Very much looking forward to lambing. Considering 2012 we did not even get a lambing really. Since placement we have been maintaining waters and bores. We have managed to finally equip Firestick back up bore hole with a HDF pump Jack and a RK120 Kubota engine. This hole has not been equipped since established in September 2005. Also we have been getting all equipment ready for 2013 lamb marking i.e. Camping kitchen, panels, panel trailer and bikes up to sound condition for mustering and marking. I would also like to thank all my staff for looking after things very well whilst I was on annual leave. Matthew Haines Ω Meda and Kimberley Downs. After a reasonable first round of mustering, we find ourselves preparing for a second round muster. With daytime temperatures starting to push up into the forties, early starts and working into the evening will be Have managed to get sale cattle out the gate, after at times, a logistical nightmare. Sale prices were well down. On the positive side, sale weights as a result of good seasonal conditions were up. Normally by this time of year feed has hayed off and protein content very low. However, this season after good falls of rain in May and June quality of pasture has remained high. As a result cattle have held their condition. If we are lucky enough to get some early storms in November /December, stock will go into 2013/2014 wet season in good order. This should result in a big calving in 2014 and indeed, above average turn off weights. With stock only just starting to really come on to manmade waters, we have had not had to as yet, pump water with diesel. With the media constantly reporting positive news with regard to live export, one would think things are improving. However, on the ground it is still hard work for producers and exporters with export permits hard to come by and no real certainty and direction in the market. The year of the broken bone is perhaps the best description, with Don Harris breaking several bones in his foot whilst working on a windmill. Then somehow managing to get himself down! This left both Don and myself on crutches at one stage. However, thanks to Stacie Stamatas and Matt Smith who stepped up, to keep waters checked, machinery rolling and general maintenance done. Staff have certainly been busy competing in various events on the West Kimberley calendar. Most attended and competed in rodeo and campdraft events at Fitzroy Crossing, JUMBUCK NEWS 11 Derby and Broome. Some success in the campdrafting with Troy Haslet picking up a second and Bryce Hughes a third in the beginners draft in Derby, both on young horses. Meda also picked up a second in the station challenge at Derby, which is a very competitive event and a lot of fun for competitors and indeed spectators. Troy Haslet also picked up a second in the bull ride at the Derby Bullarama. The Derby picnic races were a very successful day for Meda. With Augustus winning the head honchos race and then Maverick winning the Margaret River cup both with Troy Haslet aboard. The cup is at last on the mantelpiece at Meda after being at Napier Downs for the last seven years. With Candis Fraser picking up a second in the clumpers race and Alex Laurisson, a second in the ladies and stockman’s race a great day. Thanks also to Meg Ross who has done a great job and has kept a constant supply of food coming from the kitchen. And indeed kept us all entertained with her antics and in no doubt as to what the rules are in the kitchen and dining room. Jamie Laurisson Ω Maverick celebrating his Cup win with jockey, Troy Haslet. The Meda Crew – L-R Jo Zanker, Ashley Morrow, Alex Laurisson, Angus Laurisson, Troy Haslet, Georgina Laurisson, William Laurisson, Candis Fraser and Bryce Hughes. Ω Mobella Mobella has received another helpful 68mm of rain, this has put us on average rainfall for the year and whatever we get heading into the last half of the year is a bonus. Thankfully most of this recent rainfall fell in the space of about two days and filled up Pelican dam for only the second time since it was first dug out in 2002! The speargrass is out in force and the wildflowers have really kicked off this year in particular with the discovery of a white Sturt Desert Pea... in Callum paddock... with Callum sitting beside me in the passenger seat of my Toyota! It is the first time I have seen one of these although I hear they are quite common in good seasons. I would like to congratulate Dechlan O’Neill on a fantastic job of cleaning out the drains on Pelican Dam with our Case tractor with grader blade attached, it took him all week but the results speak for themselves. Well done. Dechlan also had a chance to try his hand at a bit of flying and proved to be quite handy, for the first time in a long time our missed ewes over lambmarking were well down to average 6%... a credit to both our pilots Dechlan O’Neill and Jamie Havill from Commonwealth Hill. JUMBUCK NEWS 12 I would like to thank Peter Marshall for lending us the Bulgunnia plane to help us finish our mustering in good time. Lamb marking saw us with a total of 78.9% across the board, not a bad figure considering the conditions the ewes joined in, although I attribute these figures to the amount of feed the lambs were dropped in. We were doing quite well percentage-wise until our maidens naturally dragged us down, our best mob were our ’07 drop Blue tag ewes in the Dipthong and Quarrion area. These old girls gave us 520 lambs off 488 ewes for a figure of 106% which I was really not expecting; our Blues went on to give us 105% collectively. In our other age groups we averaged 80% in our Oranges, 91% in our Whites and 53% in our Greens. As I am writing this we are well into the swing of crutching with Lou Cox and his men chipping away at hopefully about 14,000 all up. With any luck we should be finished well before the Glendambo races, as I’m sure Tash Masters will be entering her TTR 250 this year. Since the last newsletter we have lost our long term station hand/cook Cody Gair as she has moved on from Mobella to a station hand position at Mt Lyndhurst in the north east of SA. On behalf of the rest of the crew and myself I would like to wish Cody all the best for her new endeavours. We were not short of a cook long before Alex Neal joined us from Tasmania; she has hit the ground running with the arrival of the crutchers and has handled the pressure quite well. I would like to extend a warm welcome to Alex and new comer Rachelle Cuzens who has joined us from Dalby in Queensland. And as always I would like to thank my ever trustworthy crew of Tash Masters, Dechlan O’Neill and Carissa Perrett for helping me though yet another lambmarking with ease, let’s hope crutching goes just as well. Not to forget David Flint our resident pom who will be heading off after crutching. Good luck with your travels mate! Ben Hammond Richard Armour was here mid lamb marking to arrange the construction of the new 25’ Southern Cross syphon mill at Tartan Dam. The mill crossed the Tanami from Brooking Springs in the west Kimberley via Bruce Radford. In the space of about a week Richard and his two trusty offsiders (backpackers Malte Pontow and David Flint) had the new mill fully erected on the North West wall of the dam and ready to be plumbed to pump water to Carldour tank in the near future. We have had a few more Mobella Movie Nights since the last newsletter and they seem to be a real hit with the locals. A great chance to catch up with mates and watch one of the latest flicks and it seems the culture might spread even further to other stations outside of Jumbuck. At this rate we might have a full blown outdoor cinema experience at the woolshed one day! Ω Water running into Pelican Dam. JUMBUCK NEWS 13 Carissa Perrett pushing up on the crutching trailer. Red and White Sturt Peas. Mobella is looking a picture! “Here is a photo of the dingo I got in a trap today... the bastard got about 100 of my lambs! Just killing them for fun. I've been on his case for about a week now and it's just such a relief to have gotten him.” Ben’s words – which show how serious the Dingo problem is for most of our Stations. JUMBUCK NEWS 14 Pelican dam after the rain. Ω Mount Victor As the dust settles, the sheep are gone and the woolsheds are looking forlorn, after weeks of frantic activity; a slight feeling of anti-climax prevails. The Mount Victor crew enjoyed their first full weekend off in nearly two months. With the trials and triumphs of shearing behind us – 26,500 shorn, the wool cut down but that was expected and 560 bales of wool – but the sheep coming off the board in tremendous condition, full of fight and flight. Sale sheep at Jamestown; purple tag wethers making $61, old blue ewes $51. The sheep stood up well, equal to any in the yarding after improvements in our preparation; the buoyant market is in contrast to last year’s flat. Michael and Anne Whillas, with their plane, were again brought in this year, primarily to assist in the extraction of the sheep from the Plumbago Hills. The crew thought this a tremendous innovation in such extreme terrain, saving hours of body and bike breaking labour. Twelve paddocks were cleared in four and a half days. The drench gun and the Powerdoser were a daily curse, with Avenge’s solvent perishing “o” rings and hoses at a staggering rate. The oral drenching of all lambs with Biostart increased the workload in the yards and at times the straggler lambs almost made us buckle, both mentally and physically. The staff held firm and did the job with no complaint. The meticulous application of Avenge and Extinosad was a credit to all. Most of my staff moved into the 1500 club – putting 1500 sheep through gates or into the yards solo; a great achievement. Courtney Wait, taking on some of our rougher little hills that make even the best of us draw rein, came to ground jarring her neck and spine severely. To her disappointment she missed most of shearing and has still not returned. We hope she will soon. Having a player down so early into shearing does put the pressure on. Eliza, my eldest daughter jumped into the breach for seven days, the homestead becoming a crèche for granddaughter Jaye. Kerry and Bronwyn didn’t seem that fazed by the extra responsibility. After Eliza, we had Alistair McLatchie doing a week’s work experience for Peterborough TAFE. He did mention that the experience was far more intense than he had expected. Leah, my second daughter, also returned to Mount Victor for a long weekend, putting in to lighten the load. Youngest daughter Alexis was also in the yards whenever she could escape the school room – her last shearing before boarding school next year. At Plumbago Patrick was his usual competent self, doing all that was asked of him, with little fuss and a lot of mischief. We were ably assisted by Josh Mahoney, Patrick’s son, doing work experience from school. He seemed to think it was a lot better in the yards than in the classroom. “Canada” alias Kelsey Merritt, our go to girl in the yards, did all with no fuss. She proved her flexibility as she took on the bike, while Eliza managed the yards for her JUMBUCK NEWS 15 short stint. Sarah Simmons had a love hate relationship with the bike, taking what opportunities presented to rest her weary rear in the yards. Her quiet competence mustering giving me total confidence in her ability. Richard Steel’s drafting ability was again to fore over shearing. Sean completed his twelve months at Mount Victor during shearing. Twelve months where he has shown a dedication to this lifestyle and willingness for hard work. He remarked that it made a lot more sense the second time around, not just a blurred chaos as he remembered it. Sean will turn 21 this week and a spit roast is planned at Plumbago shearer’s quarters to celebrate. Colin Andrews was here during shearing, giving the homestead and quarters some much needed maintenance and freshening up the paintwork. Bronwyn returned from her prolonged convalescence to the kitchen a week before shearing, to keep everybody well fed. Kerry returned to the schoolroom with a sigh of relief. Sean Harrison celebrating his 21st birthday at Mount Victor, with a lamb roast and a glass of red. Kelsey Merritt is to his right. He had a party at the Plumbago shearer’s quarters on the Saturday night. The unflagging good humour of the staff over such a gruelling period was an inspiration. I wish to thank all of the crew for their tremendous effort and determination in getting the job done. The staff and family enjoyed a pizza and pool night that celebrated the end of shearing. It was difficult to recognise the girls in their dresses as the same grubby station hands from the yards. Our thoughts now in the short term are directed toward getting what few sheep that aren’t placed to their permanent abodes. Then to the never-ending list of maintenance and improvements, that are all geared towards getting the greatest number of sheep into the shearing yards again next year. Richard Williams Ω JUMBUCK NEWS 16 Sarah Simmons backlining. Mulgathing It is crutching time again at Mulgathing. We have only been into it for the last week, due to wet weather holding up the Springfield Shearing down south. Fortunately for us, this meant our Rams and a couple of hundred stragglers got shorn in record time, with the team travelling all the way up here to keep busy waiting for sheep to dry out. Mt Victor Friday dress up night. L-R Nana Williams, Sean Harrison, Kelsey Merritt, Alexis Williams, Richard Williams, Jaye Parker, Eliza Parker, Leah Williams, Sarah Simmons, Richard Steel, Bronwyn Foster. Lamb-tailing was a little slower than we had hoped for this year, but all for good reason! After the first week we received nearly three inches of rain which put a big dampener on all activities for the next week. We eventually got to the end having marked just under 75% and expect we will mark a few more over the course of crutching during the next three weeks. It is amazing what a good winter rain will do. We have now received 180 millimetres for the year, and the country is looking fantastic. The winter feed that has germinated as a result of the most recent rains has been a big benefit to our lamb drop. It surprised me over the course of tailing the incredible gains in lamb weights from week to week! Kelsey Merritt, Alexis Williams and Sarah Simmons – Cut Out night. Putting sheep through the gate at Dog Grid. Ω The issue now moving into Summer is that this incredible season we have been having now represents a massive fire-risk over more than half the property. It won't be long before the grader will be moving up the roads to alleviate some of this risk. New faces over crutching include Jessica Bateman, Samuel Hugo, Nicholas Cowdrill and Malte Pontow. Malte, from Germany is looking for the 'real Aussie experience' and is now a seasoned campaigner after spending a month with Richard Armour, doing work on all the North-West Jumbuck stations. It is good to see a crew that gels so brilliantly, and all share the diligence and determination to do well. Unfortunately, Sam Hugo after being here for 11 days was involved in a bad accident. We all wish him a speedy recovery. JUMBUCK NEWS 17 Our stalwart Dogger, Alan Single, presses on with the fence. Having persevered with it now for three months, he is getting to know it, having put plenty of posts in and getting a fair bit of foot netting replaced before it gets too hot over Summer. not overly tall or dense, so sheep can walk through it without being debilitated. As well as that, Copper Burr, Wards Weed and Bindii are all full of moisture and protein. This season suits the sheep perfectly, resulting in very low losses and fat, happy lambs. James Barry Ω A slightly under average lambing is a result of last year’s poor season. We averaged 74.8%, giving 13,624 lambs marked to date. We decided to leave the maidens unmustered, as they had clearly not finished lambing. Crutching is in full swing and the crew is camped out again, this time until early December. We are currently mustering and marking the maiden ewes, which saved mustering 13 paddocks at the time, but we are paying for it now with resources stretched to the limit. Fat Ewes and Lambs – check out the feed! I expect that we will mark 2,500 lambs over the entire crutching process. As well as that, we are jetting all sheep in an effort to protect against lice and the dreaded fly. With the AFL footy season now over, the station footy tipping competition has also come to an end. The 12 participants religiously stuck to the rules of stirring, belittling and mocking each other. In the end, Robyn Nash won the competition by a margin of 7. Coincidently, Robyn also ran the competition and is a firm Essendon supporter (CHEATS!). Is it possible that Robyn took some mind altering drug that enabled her to perform so well?! Kat Vine took second place and Dennis Nash came third. Got them all! Ω Rawlinna The season this winter has gone from good to great. We have now recorded 180.2 mm at Rawlinna Homestead (the northern end), 236.3mm at Depot Outstation (the middle), and 215.3mm at Nightshade Hut (the southern end near the Eyre Highway). As a result, we have spear grass that is Recently, I mentioned Supplement Bore, which had lost its supply. After applying ADPA and ALBA, and plunging the bore, the acid was then left for 5 weeks. The result was excellent. The standing water level could not be lowered by bailing, so columns and rods were replaced and the fan let out into the wind. The water being pumped into the tank held sediment and appeared coloured for over a week. This would suggest that by leaving the chemical for the 5 week period, it was able to work its magic well out from the JUMBUCK NEWS 18 bore into the porous layer. If the acid had remained close to the bore it would have cleared up more quickly. A piece of coral was extracted from the Supplement bore during its reconditioning, confirming the Nullarbor spent a lot of time under the sea during the Earth’s evolution. I would be very interested to hear if any other bores are being reclaimed in a similar manner, as success on one bore does not prove anything. Rawlinna Station is seriously big. At times the flow of sheep is never ending, and the muster seems to go on forever. At present, the Rawlinna crew is digging really deep for which I am very grateful. Stock camp went out on the 16th July and most have had less than two weeks under a roof since then. Whilst camping out reduces the amount of driving each day, the days are still long and fatigue is still an issue. My thanks to the entire Rawlinna crew for their efforts and good cheer. Michael Simons. Ω Left to Right....Greta Evans, Tarna Rogers, Kat Vine, Phil Wilkinson, Lindsay Simpson, Monica Wright, Charlotte Brown and Dave Simpson. The photo also includes the stock camp in the background. Lone Musterer in Nightshade Paddock. Just to give an idea of the size of paddocks on Rawlinna – about 20% of paddock is visible and next musterer is 5km away. Mustering Camp in Telegram holding paddock. Michael Simons with a camel or two cut into Dingo baits. JUMBUCK NEWS 19 weather for growing stock out pre summer. It has been a warmer than average spring, with our rainfall on par for average also. It seems at this time of the year we could carry double our normal stock numbers. Our lamb marking went well with our old ewes giving us 99.4%. Sadly this was overshadowed by our maidens, with a disappointing 45% lambing. The warm conditions have also given the weeds a head start. This year our main spraying concern has been capeweed. It seems the more thistles we eradicate, the less competition all the other weeds have. Our spray Contractor has undertaken a very effective program, with pleasing results on both the capeweed and variegated thistle. Sheep on drove - Rawlinna Our main shearing has been completed with only the lambs left to shear. The process was a little more drawn out than usual, with rain and overcast days making it difficult to have dry sheep for the shearers. Our wool was a little better this year, with a lot less coloured and dermo wool coming across the board. The New Zealand team again doing a fantastic job, complemented by Rose and Travis’s excellent effort in the yards. It’s said that an army marches on its stomach and this was manifest in the excellent food cooked by Andrea. Off to muster. Will Collins. Ω The Overseers in the North West Pastoral District. A thoughtful lamb on Rawlinna – the future of the Station. Ω Springfield Our spring has opened with the ideal The Overseer is a vital part of the team running any Station and needs to be able to do all Station jobs proficiently. They need leadership skills second only to the Manager and need to be able to step in and take over the Manager’s job at any time. This article is the forerunner of several more on Overseers. Jumbuck’s North West Pastoral Stations all have exceptionally good Overseers at the moment and it is easy to see where Managers will be sourced from in the JUMBUCK NEWS 20 future. Here is a brief Profile of the four North West Overseers. caught the bus to the Bulgunnia turn off which arrives at 3.30 am. Here are her first impressions: “Getting off a bus on the side of the highway at 3:30am - the usual response I have witnessed many times since: “Holy sh_t, what have I done?!?” After the first day I knew this was what I wanted to do.” Bulgunnia Kerry Fullwood. Born in Perth on the 9th of September 1986, Kerry has one younger brother and is very close to all her family. Kerry spent all of her childhood in Western Australia completing high school at Greenwood Senior High and studied Dance, Drama, Music, Human Biology, English and Maths. She then went onto study at Murdoch University where she started, but is yet to complete, a double degree in Molecular Biology & Biological Sciences before making the big move to come out West in May 2008. She also has completed a certificate 3 in Agriculture, sheep and wool production. Previous employment included a stint at Coles where she vehemently points out she was not a check out chick. She also spent some time on Minderoo Station in WA. When I asked her what made her decide to come out here her reply was: “Working on a station is something I had always dreamed of doing, but never had the opportunity. One day I decided that was that, and applied to various agriculture companies, only Jumbuck replied. Looking back, with no prior experience I am not surprised that nobody else picked me up. I have always been very independent, and although my family did not want me to come at first, after I was here about 12 months they figured out that I wasn't coming home anytime soon.” Kerry started as a Jillaroo on Mulgathing Station in May 2008 before being promoted to Overseer on Bulgunnia Station in April 2011. Kerry, like many before her and after her, What about gardening: your hobbies other than “Ballroom & Latin dancing, not that I get much opportunity.” Favourite part of the job you enjoy doing: “Riding my bike (she owns a KLX Kawasaki 250S)/stock work & windmill work.” If you could be anybody in the world who would it be: “It's taken me 27 years to become happy with who I am and I wouldn't want to be anybody else.” Advice for anybody thinking of coming to Jumbuck: “Use your Common Sense, not that it is very common anymore, and practice patience. Have your own moral compass to do what you know is right, simply because it IS right. This is a lifestyle, not just a job.” Future plans, dreams or aspirations that you won't mind being printed in the newsletter: “Well, my plan was to be married with 4 kids by the time I was 24. Clearly that hasn't happened so I'm just winging it and taking life as it comes.” Where do you see yourself in 20 years’ time: “Another tough one... I'd like to think out here teaching the next generation (hopefully improved upon the current JUMBUCK NEWS 21 generation after the world has had at least one apocalypse) how to do this job like they did 50 years ago, because it will have reverted back to that way by then - and living at Goode Outstation! Horses and manpower!” By her own admission Kerry is a recovering chocoholic with a penchant for jellybeans. She is also an extremely hard worker, honest and reliable, if I could clone her I would. Peter Marshall Ω Kerry enjoying a holiday back in Perth. Early days – Mulgathing Station. New Year’s Eve dress up 2011. Kerry’s first bike – Yamaha XT 250. JUMBUCK NEWS 22 man, coming from working as a fitter and turner for 9 years in Stawell, Victoria. When he first arrived, it was shearing at Commonwealth Hill and there wasn’t much time available to instruct him on the requirements of the dog fence. He was made useful around the Homestead repairing motors, trailers and vehicles for a couple of weeks. He was fairly skilled in this department. After a few months on the dog fence it was apparent that his talent was wasted and he was probably too young for the reclusive nature of a boundary rider. Amy Heenan was from Horsham, which is only a stone’s throw from where Stawell is and they knew nothing of each other before they worked here. Amy had been a Jillaroo at Bulgunnia and then at Commonwealth Hill for a year and she was in the process of moving on from Commonwealth Hill when Ash showed up. After some subtle match making by the manager and overseer, funnily enough Amy decided to stay. So Ashley, along with Amy, took on a couple’s position at Mobella. Amy being the cook and Ash being a station hand under Ben Hammond. Whilst at Mobella, Ash and Amy got engaged and planned to marry on the 12th of November, 2011. Whether it be coincidence, or something else that brought these two together in remote SA, we will never know. Kerry in the drafting yards. Ω Commonwealth Hill Ashley Cooper. After 12 months at Mobella, Ash and Amy decided to move on and start a new life and family for themselves working for the Banyandah Pastoral Company, near Moulamein NSW. During their time working for Banyandah Pastoral Company, their son, Riley John Simon Cooper was born on the 17th of December 2012. Ashley, Amy and Riley Cooper. Ash Cooper first started with Jumbuck Pastoral on the 10th of Feb 2010 at Commonwealth Hill as the dog fence patrol In early 2013, and after two years away from Jumbuck, Ash and Amy decided to move back to Commonwealth Hill and take on the overseer’s position which was a win for Jumbuck and bad luck for Banyandah. They started here at Commonwealth Hill in April 2013 and are going strong. We are very fortunate to JUMBUCK NEWS 23 have Ash, Amy and Commonwealth Hill. Riley here at and is now appointed overseer at Mobella station. Tash looks forward to managing for Jumbuck Pastoral in the future, she loves this part of the country and we couldn’t be happier to have her as part of the crew at Mobella. Mobella Tash Masters. Ω Mulgathing Danielle Goodwin. Danielle Goodwin commenced with Jumbuck Pastoral at Mulgathing Station only 2½ years ago. Her first day happened to be Good Friday in 2011, and despite her accompanying me for a 'quick trip' out to West Well to pick up a 'few stragglers' on this day she is still with us! Something that she does not let me forget about too often. Tash Masters. Born in Kingoonya, you could say that Tash has always had an affinity for the North West pastoral and whether she is here in body or spirit, she never really leaves. After 12 years of ‘school of the air’ Tash's first job was 2 months’ worth of work on North Well station right next to home. She started as a mere lackey in the yards but by the end of her stint she was mustering out in the paddock with the rest of the crew. She was asked to stay on and after 3½ years she had a certificate 3 in agriculture with honours and was ready for a transfer to Conmarra Station just outside of Kingston in the south east. After returning to the North West pastoral yet again to work on North Well and Wilgena and on various stations for shearer Doug Millhouse, Tash decided to hone her skills in the paddock even more by contract mustering. Tash was made aware of an opening with Jumbuck Pastoral as overseer at Mulgathing in 2008 and has never looked back. After four and a half years of dedicated service to Mulgathing, Tash was ready for a change The only daughter born to Terry and Anne Goodwin, Danielle spent her childhood growing up in and around Grafton, New South Wales. Horses have always been a passion for Danielle, having grown up with them from a young age, not being able to recall a memory without horses around. This passion grew into an obsession, with her talents taking her as high as the New South Wales State Sporting and Campdrafting Championships and the Australian Bushman's Campdraft and Rodeo Association Championships, amongst other Campdrafting and Sporting events. When she goes back to Grafton Danielle is always lending a hand at any close Racetrack or Arena she can get to. As a part time job while at School Danielle spent some time working at Yulgilbar Station with a contract worker. During that time she spent many days cutting fence posts and fencing, along with lots of cattle work. JUMBUCK NEWS 24 When she wasn't spending time with her beloved horses, Danielle kept herself busy with Hockey and Football (of the NRL variety, not aerial 'ping-pong'!!) She was selected to the State Football under 19's Girls team, but a knee injury soon put that to an end. Mulgathing has been a different direction for Danielle. Firstly, very little horse work and secondly, no cattle! It has had its difficult moments for her, as it would for anyone, but she would not have it any other way. Over the last two and a half years I have seen the 18 year old that first started with me, grow and mature into a person who has become an integral part of Mulgathing's operation. Danielle received the promotion to Mulgathing's Overseer in mid-August of this year. She is very excited at the opportunity to improve her knowledge further with the bigger steps she is now taking to fill this more demanding role, and describes her entire experience with Jumbuck Pastoral as, "A Journey: You only get out what you put in, so aim high and you won't be disappointed." James Barry Ω Danielle setting up to pull a bore. Ω Gunbar - Work Experience Report From day one I knew that working on Gunbar Station would be well worth it. On the first morning Jenny and I woke up at quarter past five, had breakfast, and then headed off with Dominic to Tiarra where we were to load sheep onto trucks. However, we didn’t even get half way there when the phone rang to tell us not to go because they had received too much rain for the trucks to get in, so we went back to the homestead and waited around until 7.30am when the overseer, Alan, gave us our orders for the day. The work I did during my ten days at Gunbar ranged from chasing and loading sheep onto trucks; water runs; fixing fences; finding pipes; branding and drafting sheep; and attending the Annual Hay Sheep Sale. At the Hay sale I got to meet Jock MacLachlan and Peter Wilson, who was the manager when my dad was the overseer on Gunbar. During my time at Gunbar we loaded and sent off about 14,000 sheep – far more than I had ever seen before! Danielle blowing a bore out. From day one I started on Gunbar Station, for work experience, I knew that this was what I wanted to do as a career. My ten days here have been great. There was not one morning when my alarm went off and I didn’t want to get out of bed. Every morning it was an adventure to JUMBUCK NEWS 25 know what we will be getting up to. Even when I had to get up at 4.40am I didn’t care because I knew I was getting up to something I loved. Samantha Lees and tapped it on the bench, closing the gap, replaced spark plug. M: After about 2 minutes of trying to start bike saw SH laughing and made him fix his bike. Result: No clear winners at this point... to be continued... Ω -------------------------------- It Must be true! North West Manager ordered a pair of RM Williams Springside leggings. He carefully measured his calf and sent the measurement of 30cm to Jo in the Office. The leggings duly arrived and promptly came back to the office with the comment: “These are too small. My Dog can’t even wear them.” We rang him and passed on the information that the Dog Board were hunting a monster dog on his station. “What’s this about a large dog? I haven’t seen any for weeks” The reply: “You said your leggings were too small and your dog couldn’t wear them. Well Jo can wear them, so how big is your dog?” Turned out that he had a 40cm leg and the leggings were what had been ordered! No further comment on the dog was made! -------------Station hand vs Manager SH: Put one apple sticker on the gear stick knob of Ms’ cruiser. M: Went through fridge and then onto cold room and proceeded to take every sticker off 4kg of apples and stuck them to SHs’ helmet. SH: Took half of the apple stickers off his helmet and scattered them through the front of Ms’ cruiser. M: After removing the apple stickers from said cruiser proceeded to take cover off SH’s air filter on his motorbike and stuffed it with two rags to block air flow, replaced cover. SH: After a good hour or so doing everything else to figure out what was wrong with his bike asked M for advice and was finally pointed in the right direction. Took the sparkplug out of Ms’ motorbike As you and your dog get older you form a unbreakable bond and become inter sink with each there, well Libby and her dog Jim have that relationship as she knows how many barks Jim has in him for the day so, as it nears the end of a in the yard Libby will tell him “Jim, Stop barking you know you’ve only got a few more barks left in you today” ------------------------------------------------------- A Great Bush Poem The sun was hot already - it was only 8 o'clock The cocky took off in his Ute, to go and check his stock. He drove around the paddocks checking wethers, ewes and lambs, The float valves in the water troughs, the windmills on the dams He stopped and turned a windmill on to fill a water tank And saw a ewe down in the dam, a few yards from the bank. "Typical bloody sheep," he thought, "they've got no common sense, "They won't go through a gateway but they'll jump a bloody fence." The ewe was stuck down in the mud, he knew without a doubt She'd stay there 'til she carked it if he didn't get her out. But when he reached the water's edge, the startled ewe broke free And in her haste to get away, began a swimming spree. He reckoned once her fleece was wet, the weight would drag her down If he didn't rescue her, the stupid sod would drown. JUMBUCK NEWS 26 Her style was unimpressive, her survival chances slim He saw no other option, he would have to take a swim. He peeled his shirt and singlet off, his trousers, boots and socks And as he couldn't stand wet clothes, he also shed his jocks. He jumped into the water and away that cocky swam He caught up with her, somewhere near the middle of the dam The ewe was quite evasive, she kept giving him the slip He tried to grab her sodden fleece but couldn't get a grip. At last he got her to the bank and stopped to catch his breath She showed him little gratitude for saving her from death. She took off like a Bondi tram around the other side He swore next time he caught that ewe he'd hang her bloody hide. Then round and round the dam they ran, although he felt quite puffed He still thought he could run her down, she must be nearly stuffed. The local stock rep came along, to pay a call that day. He knew this bloke was on his own, his wife had gone away, He didn't really think he'd get fresh scones for morning tea But neither was he ready for what he was soon to see. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief at what came into view For running down the catchment came this frantic-looking ewe. And on her heels in hot pursuit and wearing not a stitch The farmer yelling wildly "Come back here, you lousy bitch!" The stock rep didn't hang around, he took off in his car The cocky's reputation has been damaged near and far So bear in mind the Work Safe rule when next you check your flocks Spot the hazard, assess the risk, and always wear your jocks!” Written by Peter Blyth of Salmon Gums. It was a real event that inspired this original poem! ---------------------------Sam Hansford came into Jumbuck House for some work experience. Walking to work in the morning, she noticed that she could hear footsteps behind her. They were quite distinct above the music in her headphones. After increasing her speed had not shaken off the footsteps, or the conviction that she was being stalked, she risked a glance behind her. There was nobody there! Been a long time since Sam had been in high heels and she was listening to her own footsteps! --------------------------When asking Malte Pontow about his time with Richard Armour and asking him what he learnt, the response was "I learnt the names of one hundred different tools..... and one hundred different insults!!" Ω Ω Footy tipping. The Jumbuck House Footy Tipping Competition has finished for another year. There were no surprises in the final placement of tipsters. Alison Finch, despite professing to know nothing about Football, was a clear winner. HGM and Jennifer Baker shared second place and Monica Walker was fourth. Photographic Competition The conditions of the Photographic Competition have changed and all photos sent in to Jumbuck House will JUMBUCK NEWS 27 automatically be entered. If one of your photos has been sent in by your Manager, please let me know as Managers are not eligible to enter the Competition. Ω Prestigious award for Tiarra. Births, Engagements, Marriages and Deaths, Congratulations to the Nash family on the engagement of Belinda Nash to Dustyn Fry. ------------------Congratulations to Ben Hammond and Carissa Perrett, of Mobella, who will be married on the Sunshine Coast on the 2nd November 2013. This will be followed with a Blessing in Kenya on 16th November 2013. Ω Congratulations to the Lee’s at Tiarra, Dominic Jennings and Doug Millhouse on this professional job. Ω JUMBUCK NEWS 28
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