Written by Sarah Johnson It started off as a distant dream back when I was in high school. You know.. the good old year 10 subject “careers”, when it’s that dreaded time where you’re almost an adult and have to start making career choices. Everyone else was expressing that they wanted to become lawyers, engineers, […]
Luke Hayes was born a 6th generation pastoralist on Deep Well Station in Central Australia. You’d be forgiven if you assumed that Luke was planning to continue in the same line of work as the previous 5 generations of his family – it just makes sense, right? However, that is not Luke’s story. As a […]
Written by James Christian There’s nothing more satisfying than having a property owner leave you in charge for a bit while they take off on holiday, and when they return you can honestly report that nothing is broken or lost, and that the livestock are healthy and fat, the dams are full and the grass […]
Tanya was raised on a cattle station north of Alice Springs during the 1960s and 1970s. The stories from her childhood sound like something out of book – too wild and wonderful to be true. As it turns out – they are so extraordinary Tanya has published them into a memoir called An Alice Girl, […]
When is it too early to ask your new boss about the existence of aliens? Day two, probably. So we’re out on a windmill run. The station owner might need a hand pulling a windmill (or is it pulling a bore? Not sure….) As he climbs the precarious ladder up the side of this rusty […]
A copy by memory of poems by W. DeBeuzeville, who worked for Berte Wilkinson at Yallowin (a stock dealer in the years 1905, 1906, and 1907, before the days of motor cars). When the boss bought home a wife Yes, he’s married is the old boss now, And leads a quiet life A sitting round […]
Welcome to the final Central Station podcast for 2020! As per usual, you’re listening to me, Steph Coombes, who is the host of this podcast and who also manages all of the Central Station platforms. Today’s episode has been inspired by Lucy Daley, who featured on Episode 52. When asked what message would she put […]
Written by Lara Jensen, Wondinong Station I answered the knock at the door the night my brother and his two friends were killed. It was just before midnight when two local police officers arrived at our Murchison homestead. Shearing was due to start the following day. Around our kitchen table, we learnt that three beautiful […]
Welcome to the Cattle Station Classroom In today’s lesson we are going to be learning about livestock agents. Most of us kind of know the basics of what a livestock agent does – buy and sell livestock – that bit is pretty obvious, but there’s a fair bit more to it and that’s why I […]
ICPA Australia is calling on the Federal Government to formally recognise the role that parents play in distance education with the launch of Geographically Isolated Distance Education Day on 1 December. The day recognises and honours the ongoing plight of geographically isolated families who must educate their children at home at all times. A heightened […]
Welcome to the Cattle Station Classroom In today’s lesson, we’re going to be learning about Personal Locator Beacons. It’s something we all hope we’ll never have to use, but unfortunately I do know a few people who have had to use theirs. But, what actually is the difference between a Personal Locator Beacon, and an […]
In today’s episode I’m chatting with Lucy Daley, who lives on a property called Katherine Downs in the Northern Territory. Lucy has managed to fit an awful lot into her life so far, including going droving, living overseas, running a cattle station with her husband, obtaining a fixed wing licence and having 4 kids! Lucy […]
Written by Kate Fairfax – Margaret River Station, WA On a scale of one to ten, how dangerous is a chicken? I mean, compared to the feral bulls, snakes, crocodiles, wild cattle and dingoes that live in the Kimberley, I wouldn’t have thought chickens could be any worse than a 3… and it’d have to […]
Welcome to the Cattle Station Classroom In today’s lesson, we’re going to be learning about radio communication. A two-way radio is a fairly standard piece of equipment in the beef industry, and for the most part we simply dial in to a channel, press a button, and connect with someone at the other end. If […]
This article has been contributed anonymously under the pen name “Howgirl Cowgirl”. I’m a bit of a hippy at the best of times, there’s no denying that. So it’s no wonder that, when faced with the prospect of raising babies, I like to break convention and embrace new age ideas. My poddy calves were the […]
Welcome to the Cattle Station Classroom Podcast. In today’s lesson we are going to be learning about The Bullcheck Test. To do this I’m going to be joined by Dr Tracy Sullivan. Dr Tracy Sullivan has extensive experience as a large and small animal veterinarian, researcher and a decade’s experience working as an accredited bull semen morphologist. She is an active […]
In todays episode, I’m chatting with Sarah Cook, who not only manages a cattle station in the Northern Territory, but is the President of the NT Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that after 12 years in this industry, I only recently learnt about the issue that we’re going to be […]
Hooley dooley! It’s already November, and jobs for the 2021 pastoral season are not only being advertised, but filled! Here’s a list of handy articles to read while you’re on the hunt for your first (or next) job: So you want to be a ringer? So you want to be a ringer? Part 2 Tips […]
Prompted by the personal observations of Chris Henggeler that span 40 years I hear, I forget… I see, I remember… I do, I understand … thank you for that quote, Jim! What could pastoralism do for Australia, if consumers understood the challenges facing us in our back-yard? Apart from remoteness, we are only limited by our […]
Welcome to the cattle station classroom podcast. In todays lesson we are going to learn about the Australian Beef Report. The Australian Beef Report shows you the financial and production performance of family owned beef businesses in Australia. It has been written for profit focussed producers, industry service professionals and other industry stakeholders who would […]
