Blog Archive
A quick word about the drought
Drought support is available to help you through the holiday season Individuals, families, farms and communities in drought-affected regions can access a range of national, state and local drought support services. People are doing it tough, and some are reluctant to ask for help because they think other people are worse off than them, […]
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What you’re not being told about Live Export – Environment (Part 4/4)
Host: Dampier Downs Station Written by Anne Marie Huey – co-Manager, Dampier Downs. Find part 1 here, part 2 here, and part 3 here. Northern Australia is a big, empty place. Or at least it seems that way at first glance. Spend some time in the outback, though, and you will discover a tight-knit network of […]
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What you’re not being told about Live Export – Economics (Part 3/4)
Host: Dampier Downs Station Written by Anne Marie Huey – co-Manager, Dampier Downs. Find part 1 here and part 2 here. Live export underpins the economic viability of the northern beef industry. The beef industry in turn contributes significantly to the economic prosperity of northern Australia. There are few other industries (mining and gas extraction […]
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What you’re not being told about Live Export – Animal Welfare (Part 2/4)
Host: Dampier Downs Station Written by Anne Marie Huey – co-Manager, Dampier Downs. Find part 1 here. Live export is the mainstay of the northern beef industry. For most of its history, live export barely registered on the radar of many Australians. That all changed in 2011 when footage of abhorrent animal cruelty was aired […]
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What you’re not being told about Live Export (Part 1/4)
Host: Dampier Downs Station Written by Anne Marie Huey – co-Manager, Dampier Downs. This year has been a year of extremes. We started with an unprecedented amount of rain and the largest flooding we have ever seen. While rain is always a good thing, it was devastating to see our brand-new paddocks wash away in […]
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Only fools and newcomers
Host: Dampier Downs Station Written by Anne Marie Huey – co-Manager, Dampier Downs. Mother Nature is a fickle mistress. At times she can be kind and benevolent, bestowing gentle seasons that fill rivers and water holes and result in a lush carpeting of grass across the landscape. Other years she can be heartbreakingly cruel withholding life-giving […]
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An outback Sound of Music
Host: Yougawalla Pastoral Co. Written by Maartje Heiblom – Governess “Hi there! Wait a second.” Robert pulls his arm out of the cow that is standing calmly in the cattle stand and waves a slimy, red-white string under my nose. “Look, a Fallopian tube!” I smile, this dose of outback Aussie straight-forwardness doesn’t surprise me anymore. […]
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Learning the lingo
Host: Yougawalla Pastoral Co. Written by Brenna Beck – co Manager, Bulka Station I knew I was in trouble when standing in the Christchurch Airport café desperate for a good strong cup of black brewed coffee and there didn’t appear to be a drop of coffee on the menu… A ‘Long Black’? A ‘Flat White’? […]
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Happiness in the desert
Host: Yougawalla Pastoral Co. Written by Jacinta Mills I left station life 2 years ago and I have spent that time leading a bit of a gypsy life and wandering between Perth, Darwin and Broome. By the start of this year I’d finally settled into Broome life with a great job and an awesome bunch […]
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Learning to let go
Host: Yougawalla Pastoral Co. Written by Jane Sale – Manager, Yougawalla Pastoral Company Gus and Til at Mandora. I always wanted to be able to afford to send my kids to private school for their secondary education. We have worked hard to build our business and grow our stations. One of the greatest motivators was […]
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Managing Aboriginal community expectations
Host: Yougawalla Pastoral Co. Written by Jane Sale – Manager, Yougawalla Pastoral Company Haydn and I and the companies we manage have had agreements for agistment and sub-leases on Aboriginal Pastoral Leases since early 2012. This part of our business is very important to us both. Meeting the Mulan Community – Lake Gregory Station. Our […]
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Marriage expectations on a cattle station
Host: Yougawalla Pastoral Co. Written by Jane & Haydn Sale – Managers, Yougawalla Pastoral Company How do your marriage expectations fair over the mustering season? How do you set your expectations when you live, love and work together? A rare photo together. The wife’s point of view… It’s haaaaaaaaaaaard! Don’t get me wrong, one thing […]
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It’s not all beer & skittles (managing staff expectations)
Host: Yougawalla Pastoral Co. Written by Jane Sale – Manager, Yougawalla Pastoral Company Expectations are so hard to manage when you are working in a business relying on the weather, animals and machinery being operational. Then you’ve got cattle markets, living, working with and managing staff. On top of all of this, I am a […]
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New blood
Host: Yougawalla Pastoral Co. Written by Haydn Sale – Manager, Yougawalla Pastoral Company In 2017 we concluded the Sale of Yougawalla Pastoral Company to a Hong Kong Family. The company Jane and I, along with two city-based partners, established 10 years ago with one property and 800 head was eventually handed over to the new […]
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2018 – year of the flood
Host: Mandora Station Written by Caitlin Mills, station co-manager. By March 770ml of rain had fallen on Mandora. The place was wet – I mean really wet, our centennial average is about 350ml, so receiving more than double that really put a damper on things. This was a pretty stressful time for us, we hadn’t […]
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Cyclone season
Host: Mandora Station Written by Caitlin Mills, station co-manager. As you saw in our last story, 2017 had been a year of firsts for us. Cyclone season has been added to that list. Mandora is situated in what is locally known as ‘Cyclone Alley’. We are smack bang in the middle of Port Hedland and […]
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2017 – year of the fire
Host: Mandora Station Written by Caitlin Mills, station co-manager. Now I’m just putting this out there right now, I am in no way a fire expert! Sure, I’ve cooked a few deadly feeds over a camp fire but bush fires are in a league of their own, and they can be very dangerous. So, the […]
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How we got here
Host: Mandora Station Written by Caitlin Mills, station co-manager. G’day everyone! My name is Caitlin Mills and with my husband Ben we are the managers here at Mandora Station. We are super excited for you to join us this week on Central Station. Over the next few days you will read a few yarns about […]
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We did not need wings to escape
Host: Kachana Station Written by Kieren Mooney While recently trekking from Perth up to the Kimberley, I found myself with yet again another opportunity to make the journey out to Kachana Station. It’s not often that such a trip arises due to the isolation and logistical difficulty of reaching the station, as no maintained vehicle […]
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Can it fly?
Host: Kachana Station Written by Bobby Henggeler. Living and growing up on a small station hidden in some of the most inaccessible country in the east Kimberley I think even the pigs would laugh at what I have seen fly! Kachana Station has no road access and is dependant on aircraft for its day to […]
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Kachana’s driveway in the sky
Host: Kachana Station Written by Bobby Henggeler. We have all heard that pigs can fly… so let me tell you a story! My name is Bobby and I grew up and live on Kachana Station in the Kimberley, WA. My family and I are lucky to call a small portion of this beautiful region, home. […]
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What are you doing here?
Host: Kachana Station Written by Jacqueline Henggeler, Owner. Station life and farming were new to me. I grew up in a small village in Switzerland, surrounded by mountains, not on a farm, but in a hotel my parents managed at the time. I never imagined I would one day live in the middle of the […]
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Kachana: A 750mm-rainfall desert!
Host: Kachana Station Written by Chris Henggeler, Owner. “What do you intend on doing with that pile of rocks?” Back then Dad could appreciate the rugged scenery and the good water, but his question at the time remains a reality check to this day. Kachana Rock-Eaters, whose bodies were shaped more like those of grey-hounds than […]
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Bringing Buckeyes to a smoko near you
Written by Steph Coombes, Central Station editor Smoko – the most savoured meal of the day. It’s that burst of calories you need to tide you over from the breakfast you scoffed down at sparrows, until the soggy sandwich in your saddle bag comes out well after lunchtime. Cakes, cookies, slices, sausage rolls – I’m […]
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I’ve got your back
Written by Steph Coombes, Central Station editor Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably seen the video that was posted on the Central Station Facebook page in April. Set to the Sunny Cowgirls song “I’ve got your back”, it featured people from across Australia holding signs of support for anyone going through a […]
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Will the real cattle station please stand up
Written by Steph Coombes, Central Station editor Over a two-week period in July & August 2018, I went on an epic road trip, visiting 18 cattle stations across the Pilbara region of Western Australia. One girl, a Prado, and 6000km of (mostly) open road through God’s country (the Pilbara really is the best kept secret […]
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Not better, not worse, just different
Written by Steph Coombes, Central Station editor. They say, “comparison is the thief of joy”. Nothing good comes from comparing your life to others; even when you find a situation where you come out on top, you’ll inevitably be able to find another one where you come in second best. Even though I’m here writing […]
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I still call Australia home
Written by Steph Coombes, Central Station editor In December 2017, I moved home to Australia after three seemingly-long years in the United States. I say “seemingly” because at the time it felt like forever, but now it often feels like nothing more than a distant memory, a dream that I woke from far too early. […]
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The Bull’s Head Muster
Host: Heytesbury Cattle Company Written by Lea Hamilton, VRD Station. Keep up with Heytesbury Cattle Company on Facebook at the Bull’s Head Bugle page! Heytesbury Cattle Co. (HCCo) runs a quality herd of approximately 160,000 Brahman cattle, capable of selling sustainably up to 40,000 head per annum, each bearing the famous ‘Bull’s Head’ brand. HCCo […]
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Commuting
Host: Kadaitcha Pastoral Company Written by James Christian Since moving from the station to the bustling metropolis of Alice Springs I’ve had to adjust to a number of lifestyle changes. Some of them are probably for the better, some of them make my mother happier, and some of them I could do without. My commute […]
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Solving puzzles
Host: Kadaitcha Pastoral Company Written by James Christian We’ve been solving puzzles in the beef industry since the first caveman rolled his first beast and tried to drag it back to his campfire. What’s the best way to use the animal – eat it or use it to breed more? How do you grow it […]
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Lost
Host: Kadaitcha Pastoral Company Written by James Christian Once I was given the not-too-difficult task of driving a truck and trailers out to a set of yards on a station I’d blown into for a month or so’s work. I’d been to the yards a few days before, though only as a passenger, and naturally […]
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The Battle of Balaclava – ringer style
Host: Kadaitcha Pastoral Company Written by James Christian Though they are clearly worlds apart, there are faint parallels that can be drawn between mustering wild animals on horseback or motorbike, and the Charge of the Light Brigade as immortalised by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, in his poem of the same name. It was during the Battle […]
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Isolated shouldn’t mean alone
Host: Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association Written by Alana Moller – Star of Hope Station, Queensland. My name is Alana. I live at Star of Hope Station, an hour and a half west of Clermont, with my husband Scott and our three girls. The Star of Hope herd. Our eldest daughter is now at boarding school, however […]
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Schooling kids living on the road
Host: Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association Written by Tina Sendall As a family travelling Australia and working along the way, our kids have been enrolled with Distance Education through Hay SOTA in NSW as well as Alice Springs SOTA in the NT. A key factor to this type of schooling is the need for a Home Tutor, and […]
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Gap year govie
Host: Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association Written by Mikayla Schwarz, Governess – Gum Creek Station, South Australia. If people asked me a few years ago in high school what I planned to do in the future, I would have never considered a gap year – let alone being in the outback. My name is Mikayla and I […]
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What! You’re going to be a teacher?
Host: Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association Written by Tannas Godfrey, ‘Barrygowan’ Station, Cunnamulla QLD. We live on ‘Barrygowan’ Station in South West Queensland, the Queensland/New South Wales border runs through the middle of our property aggregation. Our closest major towns are Cunnamulla which is 150km north west in Queensland and Bourke which is 230km south west in […]
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Compassion and Education at Gum Creek Station
Host: Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association Written by Lisa Macintosh, Gum Creek Station, South Australia. Its 2018 and we are very aware that no two people are the same, that everyone can have their own opinion and that we must respect and encourage such. We strive to teach forgiveness, awareness and compassion to our children and neighbours, […]
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One is a lonely number
Host: Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association Written by Lynly Kerin, North Well Station, South Australia. One is the loneliest number, and never so much as it is in the Distance Education schoolroom of a property where you are also going solo in the under eighteen category of its population. Quite often the picture painted of a school room […]
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A station manager’s perspective
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Helen Campion, Owner, Anna Plains Station People ask me what it’s like to live on and manage a remote Kimberley cattle station… After having spent the last 12 years at Anna Plains Station, I can honestly say that this job is probably not what you think it is. In […]
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Missing Anna
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Greta Stonier, 2017 Crew Member. After finishing school, I had no idea what I was going to do with myself… I applied for a few local Sydney Universities, an apprenticeship with the AFL head office, and to a recruitments company for cattle stations on the northern end of Australia. […]
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Gap Year (poem)
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Jackson Scott, 2017 crew member. Don’t be original, it’s all they ever say, but being a ringer, its not ideal pay. Stockmen from the top end, young and hard and mean, but half of them from boarding school, nothing but a teen. Too cool for uni and filled with […]
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My “Plain Life” – a little less cheesy!
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Karlee Barber, Station Cook. My name is Karlee Barber, I am from a small town called Bemboka. On the far south coast of NSW, nestled in the Bega Valley (yes that’s right, the home of Bega Cheese). Growing up I always had an interest in farming and the country […]
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The pretend Jillaroo
Host: Anna Plains Station Written by Natasha Mahar This Broome girl needed some time out and a purpose again as there was way too much binge Netflixing happening while I wondered what to do next in my life. My dear friend Helen, aka Mrs Boss made the call… “Tarshy, get your arse down here to […]
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Proving our sustainable credentials to consumers
Host: AgForce Queensland Written by Cass Heal, AgForce Projects Co-ordinator. AgForce has been the unifying voice for Queensland’s beef, sheep and grain producers since 1999. Our strength continues through our membership and a strategic vision to secure the productivity, profitability and sustainability of the agribusiness sector. AgForce has approximately thirty staff based in Brisbane and regionally around Queensland. Growing […]
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Beating the cycle
Host: AgForce Queensland Written by Amelia Shaw, AgForce Policy Officer. AgForce has been the unifying voice for Queensland’s beef, sheep and grain producers since 1999. Our strength continues through our membership and a strategic vision to secure the productivity, profitability and sustainability of the agribusiness sector. AgForce has approximately thirty staff based in Brisbane and regionally around […]
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The problematic Pimelea plant
Host: AgForce Queensland Written by Marie Vitelli, AgForce Weeds Policy Officer. AgForce has been the unifying voice for Queensland’s beef, sheep and grain producers since 1999. Our strength continues through our membership and a strategic vision to secure the productivity, profitability and sustainability of the agribusiness sector. AgForce has approximately thirty staff based in Brisbane and […]
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A slice of life
Host: AgForce Queensland Written by Sharon Purcell, AgForce Southern Inland Queensland Regional manager. AgForce has been the unifying voice for Queensland’s beef, sheep and grain producers since 1999. Our strength continues through our membership and a strategic vision to secure the productivity, profitability and sustainability of the agribusiness sector. AgForce has approximately thirty staff based in Brisbane […]
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Helping landholders fight the scourge of wild dogs
Host: AgForce Queensland Written by Brett Carlsson, Senior Wild Dog Coordinator. AgForce has been the unifying voice for Queensland’s beef, sheep and grain producers since 1999. Our strength continues through our membership and a strategic vision to secure the productivity, profitability and sustainability of the agribusiness sector. AgForce has approximately thirty staff based in Brisbane and regionally […]
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My first muster
Written by Emma Moss Before I share the story about my first muster I want to explain a few things and will continue to do so throughout my story. Many explanations/words will be obvious for most people, but I didn’t know much before I started, and I still have a long way to go. All […]
