Host:De Grey Station – Bettini Beef (this includes Mulyie Homestead, our southern side of the highway homestead, managed by Douglas “Duggie” Brownlie)
Owners:Mark Bettini with parents John & Ethel Bettini
Region: Pilbara, WA
Rainfall: 350mm
Nearest town for shopping, doctors etc. Port Hedland, a good 1 hour drive (80km bitumen & 20km dirt) nearest roadhouse is Pardoo
Number of cattle: approx. 20,000 head
Number of staff:De Grey Station has 9 full-time staff and 12 seasonal staff
Size of Station: De Grey Station is approx 400,000ha
How often & how is the mail delivered: Mail is collected generally weekly on the town run at our Post Office Box
How often & how is the stores shopping done:Usually once a week we do click & collect with supermarkets in Broome
How far off the bitumen are you: 20km
Hi, I’m Mark Bettini and along with my children Luke, Grace and Clare, my parents John and Ethel, my siblings and their families we are a family owned and operated agricultural business, with pastoral properties in the Pilbara Region of Western Australia.
Bettini Beef was incorporated in 2018 and prior to that we were Bettini Brothers. A family business established in the early 1970s with properties all around Western Australia. From humble beginnings on Boolathana Station we then took a leap purchasing Rocklea and Ashburton Stations before selling a number of years later to buy our home, De Grey Station.
In 2014 we expanded the business purchasing Mallina, Sherlock and Pyramid Stations, to then add Warambie Station to the portfolio in 2017.
Our business focus is to achieve the world’s best practices in the production of safe, ethical and sustainable beef, whilst preserving the land for the prosperity of future generations.
We run a Grey Brahman and Brahman-cross cattle herd across our Pilbara properties selling our cattle into multiple markets both domestically and internationally with a recognised quality product.
We have two homestead sites on the station, with the main being De Grey Homestead. Where we accommodate 5-20 staff throughout the year, nestled along the De Grey river with the mouth only 20km downstream and the beautiful coastline at our ‘doorstep’ it’s a sea breeze paradise.
Mulyie Homestead on the southern side of the highway accommodates 1-6 staff throughout the year, also nestled on the De Grey river with beautiful ranges, red rocks and watering holes, it’s a picturesque heaven.
We hope you enjoy our stories and encourage you to ask us any questions or provide feedback. May we support and educate each other to achieve greatness.
Feel free to follow us on social media #BettiniBeef to keep updated on our adventures.
Episode 9: Mark Bettini – managing drought and Cyclone Veronica in the same week
Mark Bettini is the co-owner and manager of Bettini Beef – a family business which manages 5 cattle stations across 1 million hectares in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. In this episode Mark shares his experience of going from managing drought conditions after a poor season in 2018, to managing for flood and the […]
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Episode 8: Hayley Goad – overcoming discrimination in the ag industry
Hayley Goad is the Office Administrator for Bettini Beef – a family owned business which manages 1 million hectares in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Don’t let her job title fool you though – she spends as much time out on the station as she does in the office! In this episode, we sit […]
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He’ll fly a bullock up your arse
Host: De Grey Station Written by Mark Bettini, Owner – De Grey Station Mustering pilots get to see many funny things – bike riders are always good for a laugh. When they stack it they quickly look around to see if anyone saw them. Once you have determined if the rider is ok I think […]
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Of droughts and flooding rains – Part 3
Host: De Grey Station Written by Mark Bettini, Owner – De Grey Station The next morning, I awoke to a flood! The Degrey river was about a meter below my house yard fence (not quite in the pool!) and flowing over its banks just downstream of the homestead. It was almost up to cyclone Rusty […]
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Of droughts and flooding rains – Part 2
Host: De Grey Station Written by Mark Bettini, Owner – De Grey Station Throughout the dry summer I found myself spending a lot of time on my phone checking out websites looking for rain. When one website didn’t give me a good forecast I’d move to the next one. The long-range forecast was for March […]
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Of droughts and flooding rains – Part 1
Host: De Grey Station Written by Mark Bettini, Owner – De Grey Station “I love a sunburnt country, A land of sweeping plains, Of ragged mountain ranges, Of droughts and flooding rains. I love her far horizons, I love her jewel-sea, Her beauty and her terror The wide brown land for me!” – Dorothy Mackeller […]
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Gap Year in the Pilbara
Host: De Grey Station Written by Steph Rose, 1st year Stationhand – De Grey Station Ever since I graduated from Harvey Agricultural College, I’d wanted to head north and have a go at working on a station. Little did I know that my 2019 New Years Resolution to do this, would come to life within a month. […]
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The “Office Lady”
Host: De Grey Station Written by Hayley Goad, Office Manager – De Grey Station There are days when that term “Office Lady”, bloody annoys me. If you’ve read my previous blog, you’d know by now that I haven’t spent my career in an office. I’ve built up (hopefully) a respectable career in the agricultural industry […]
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Shepherd to Ringer
Host: De Grey Station Written by David Corpe, 2nd year Stationhand – De Grey Station It’s not surprising how many Kiwis come over to north Western Australia to muster cattle for a living. The adrenalin, the long days, the heat and dust of the red dirt coursing through your veins. Its vastly different to home, rolling […]
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Waddles and glares
Host: Mulyie Homestead (De Grey Station) Written by Alex Blood, Luke Ready and Callana Toyne Recently a Stress-Free Stock Handling course run by Bruce Mainard was conducted at DeGrey station, the following is an account by a few of the staff members who attended. Alex Blood, WA, second year ringer Poly and stockwhips to waddles […]
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The 2 wheel bandit
Host: De Grey Station Written by Jemma Kitton, 1st year station hand – De Grey Station After having a taste of life in the north late last year, there was a need for me to go north again to experience a whole season as a ringer. Coming from a family cropping enterprise in Mullewa, WA, […]
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The highs and lows of mustering
Host: Mulyie Homestead (De Grey Station) Written by Duggie Brownlie, Overseer It had been a long day, mustering in a mob of cattle that didn’t really want to be mustered that day. It was mostly through river country and while the horse crew had done their best, us fools on motorbikes had spent a lot […]
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How rough are ringers?
Host: De Grey Station Written by Trent Walk, Mechanic – De Grey Station My girlfriend and I decided that we should pack up our lives in NSW to try our hand at the station life in WA, her as a ringer and me as the mechanic. I’ve always been mechanically minded. I enjoy figuring out […]
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Office live versus station life
Host: Mulyie Homestead (De Grey Station) Written by Duggie Brownlie, Overseer Office Life Station Life 5 AM Still in bed Waking up to the splendours of pre-dawn 5:30 AM Still in bed Home cooked bacon and eggs for breakfast 6 AM Still in bed Team meeting, discussing the days plans and preparing work vehicle, Be […]
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From Perth to the Pilbara
Host: De Grey Station Written by Hayley Goad, Office Manager – De Grey Station So, how did I go from the Perth Hills to the Pilbara… well let me tell you my story thus far. I had a taste of agriculture as a child and whilst in high school. It was an escape route for […]
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Staffing on a station
Host: Mulyie Homestead (De Grey Station) Written by Duggie Brownlie, Overseer Ah yes, staff… they can make a bad season easy and a good season seem like the end of the world would be a good thing. They come in many different shapes and sizes, breeds and races, and more personalities than you can poke […]
