The Boundary Rider’s Report August 2023

Welcome back to The Boundary Rider’s Report.  It has been a hectic year with a female and bull sale all within 5 months of each other.  We are currently preparing for the forthcoming breeding season and the seasonal changes we are facing with current El Nino Predictions. In a word, a few challenges lie in front of us.

Here at Bald Blair, we continue to monitor stock health in preparation for the breeding season in a dry spell.  We continue to destock where we can.  On a positive note, the springs have all opened up and water is flowing well into dams and the catchment.

Bull Sale Thankyou

The Land Bull Sale Report: Click here

Thank you to all the bidders and underbidders of our 51st Annual on property Bull Sale.  We truly appreciate your continued support of our breeding programme here at Bald Blair. 

We trust, your Bulls have fitted into their new homes by now, and are ready and waiting for the next breeding season. 

For us a new generation of calves continues to hit the deck, which is great to see;  and planning for the next generation is well underway. 

Thank you to Rangers Valley, https://www.rangersvalley.com.au/  for your support.  To be able to once again offer beef from our own steers for lunch at our sale is a great indication of our production systems working to get steers up to the Valley and meet specs for this branded product. 

Thank you Peter, Sharon and Tom Dundon and Emily Brett for preparing the Black Market Branded steaks to perfection. https://www.mla.com.au/ https://www.quadrantaustralia.com/ 

To everyone who helped, in the lead up to the sale and on sale day, Thankyou.  Thanks also for the support of all our family, we truly appreciate it.

Seasonal Update at Bald Blair

We have received a couple of mm of rain in the last week, which has freshened up the pastures, and there is a possibility of further rain in the next week or so also.  We have had strong winds in the past few days, the evaporation is high.  Our soil moisture probes indicate soil moisture at depth (approx 50cm) is holding in the basalt soil areas, and diminishing in the areas with lighter soils;  both soil types are diminishing in the topsoil.  https://www.precisionpastures.com.au/ 

The rain charts for the year in the Guyra area show over 500mm for the year to date.  https://www.eldersweather.com.au/local-forecast/nsw/bald-blair 

Market Update

We are off loading any surplus stock as we speak, both cattle and sheep, doing what a lot of others have or are doing at this time.  A quick look at the MLA EYCI, shows a very strong downward trend in the cattle market, the EYCI is at 517 cents, just over half what it was in October 2022.  I would suspect this to continue for a time yet, at least until we get some rain. https://www.mla.com.au/prices-markets/cattle/eycireport/. 

Most importantly it is important to continue to try and make good decisions.  We continue to offload what we can and add to feed reserves when and where we can.   With breeding just around the corner, and cows still in good condition our goal is to maintain a reasonable condition for AI. 

Gross Margins & Genetics

This is an interesting article by Al Raynor for Beef Central….“It can often be easy to overlook the impact that increased weight at joining, achieved through better genetics for growth, will have on a herd fertility levels.  Combine this improvement with improvements in other traits such as calving ease, shorter gestation lengths and shorter days to calving and the cumulative impact on the production levels within a herd becomes significant.” 

https://www.beefcentral.com/genetics/weekly-genetics-review-gross-margins-genetics/ 

We have been working on this philosophy for years at Bald Blair in our stud and commercial herds and can vouch for the benefits of getting cows and heifers back in calf year in year, out to name one important benefit.  Please feel free to give Sam a call on 0438 792 140 to discuss further.

BredWell FedWell

We are very appreciative of the opportunity to host a BredWell FedWell workshop next year.  So keep Friday 15 March 2024 free, this workshop will be held here at Bald Blair, Guyra.  These workshops are very good and well worth attending.  More details will be available closer to the date, and we’ll keep you updated through subsequent boundary riders reports. https://www.mla.com.au/extension-training-and-tools/Bred-Well-Fed-Well/ 

Kelly’s Cottage Farm Stay

Kelly’s Cottage is fully renovated with a new kitchen and bathroom.  The cottage sleeps 6 and enjoys lovely views over the farm.  We are available for farm tours.  Please see our website for bookings or contact us directly. https://www.airbnb.com.au/rooms/37866065?guests=1&adults=1&s=67&unique_share_id=292f443e-f202-4b4c-82fe-90c7f550a88c 

Photo credit: Struan Pearce, Stud Stock Sales.


Keep in touch and see you all soon.

Sam & Kirsty