Host: Wooroona Grazing Co.
Region: Central Highlands, Queensland
Nearest town: Rockhampton/Emerald – both 2 hours in opposite directions
Nearest (and recommended) roadhouse: Duaringa – highly rate the toasted steak sandwiches
Number of cattle: combined carry average across 3 properties is 4000
Number of staff: 3-4
Size of station: The home station is 30,000 acres (12,500 Hectares)
How often and how the mail is delivered: Twice a week, by a mail run car
How often and how the stores shopping is done: Once every two weeks and by going to town and buying bulk.
Blog: https://graziher.wordpress.com
Website: https://www.graziher.com.au
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/graziher/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/graziher/
Hello from “Wooroona”, a cattle property in the Central Highlands of Queensland. Wooroona is a generational cattle property that has been in the Dunne family a touch over 100 years. James O’Grady Dunne purchased it from the Livingston family in 1907 and it has carried down through the generations and here we are today. Six generations later it is a thriving 12,500 hectare property, home to Tim and Kath Dunne and their six children Erin, Claire, Colleen, Kathleen, Patrick and Bill.
Watching grass grow.
Grandad – James ‘Bill’ Dunne, astride a horse outside the second Wooroona homestead (the original burnt down), circa 1930s.
Afternoon tea in the early days of the Dunne family settling Wooroona. Possibly more civilised then than now.
Our family, standing on the grid before the homestead at Woooroona. Taken in 2014 at Easter time.
Wooroona originally ran sheep, which were replaced by cattle due to losses of livestock to spear grass and dingos. It is a mixture of range country and creek flats, with native grasses. European cattle breeds such as Shorthorn and Herefords were stocked for a number of years before moving to the Brahmans around the 1950s.
Art Dunne, Mack & 2 Shorthorns bulls at Wooroona. The two trees still standing today.
The change in breeds came from the area being land that carries the cattle tick and being an area that has its dry years. Where European breeds of cattle will be affected greatly by cattle ticks in and the harsher climates of drought and dry times, the Brahman cattle will endure the dry times as being hardier animals therefore are suited better to the areas conditions.
Calves drafted, ready for branding at Wooroona.
Feeding the weaners.
James (Bill) Dunne (Grandad) decided to trial the Brahman cattle which were a relatively new breed to Queensland. Whether it bears some truth, the tale is told that James Dunne bought the first young Brahman Bull calf for Wooroona in the back of a jeep, tied in a hessian bag.
Assorted mob of cattle ready for drafting, Coffee Pot, a fattening block.
Heading home.
The Graziher magazine is run out of Wooroona by Claire Dunne.
The Bush Babe of OZ
Host: Wooroona Grazing Co. The following is an (updated) article from the Graziher blog. Claire Dunne of Wooroona Grazing Co. created the Graziher blog before developing it into a magazine, which is available here. Mother of two, wife, beef producer and avid photographer; Amanda Salisbury sat down with Graziher in 2014 to chat about country life, […]
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Flying High
Host: Wooroona Grazing Co. The following is an article from the Graziher blog. Claire Dunne of Wooroona Grazing Co. created the Graziher blog before developing it into a magazine, which is available here. Talia (Tay) Sheppard has a high flying job. She is the Chief Pilot for Wrightsair – conducting charter and scenic flights, aerial […]
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What comes with the lifestyle …
Host: Wooroona Grazing Co. I’ve worked across three different countries (Australia, Canada & New Zealand) on sheep farms, cropping enterprises, dairy farms, flower farms and cattle operations, and I wanted to put together a few bits and pieces from people I’ve worked with – I call it the “universal” laws for country and rural enterprises. […]
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From little things, big things grow
Host: Wooroona Grazing Co. “A snapshot of the life of an amateur magazine publisher” Another early morning start at the office. So if I told you that I recently launched a women’s magazine, from middle-of-nowhere Queensland, what would you think? Are you thinking scenes of Mcleod’s Daughters meets Cosmo magazine? Lunching while interviewing the who’s […]
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The run-down on Wooroona Grazing Co.
Host: Wooroona Grazing Co. Naturally, cattle operations are run differently across the country depending on size of land, stocking rates, environmental factors, and the nature of the manager and owner. Here is the quickest overview for how we generally run things across the breeding and fattening operation at Wooroona Grazing Co. I’ll be focussing on […]
