Thank you for taking the time to check out our March Boundary Rider’s Report. 

We have been following the heartbreaking situation in the Ukraine and flooding disasters in QLD and NSW.  It is difficult to comprehend the devastation on both fronts and our hearts go out to all.  We have struggled to know how best to respond, provide support and carry on our day to day lives as normal. 

The true cost of the floods of the last week in the Northern Rivers district of NSW and South East Queensland and down near Sydney are only just starting to reveal themselves

NSW Farmers has a number of suggestions for how to help with the floods - click on this link https://www.nswfarmers.org.au/

At times like these with increased uncertainty in the world, we remain mindful of the plight of many people in Ukraine.  Our thoughts go out to those trying to feed that nation and the farmers, their families and difficulties they are all now facing.

We are now making a monthly donation to UN Women Australia as they support women and children in difficult circumstances around the world, including Ukraine. https://unwomen.org.au/

On the homefront all is well up here on the top of the Great Dividing Range - we are 1330 metres above sea-level and the Pinnacle at the back of Bald Blair goes up to 1400 metres.  Bald Blair is part of the Clarence catchment and all our flood water heads down to Grafton and Yamba. Our Kolora block is part of the Macleay River catchment, which ends up at South West Rocks.  Our water table is full and any rain we receive is runoff and causes a quick rise in our creeks. 

Caring for our Livestock

Weaning is about to start.  All the calves look well and their mothers are in very good condition.

The 2022 Bull Sale Team, both R bulls rising two year olds at our bull sale and S Autumn Drop Bulls have received their Pestiguard, 7in1 and Vibriovax booster shots.  They are growing out well.

Autumn drop calves have been entered into HerdMaster and sent to the Angus Society for Registration. The year 2022 is the letter “T” and interestingly we have T animals in HerdMaster that were born in 1998 and also 1974!  So we need to change the id of those animals by adding a “+” and then enter this year's calves.  It takes a little longer, but great to know we have digital records that go back that far and HerdMaster still works a treat for recording our stud and commercial records.  As much as we would love a handy app for out in the paddock to enter calves straight into the system the paper calf book is a tried and true method.

Thank you to Jessica Monk, CSIRO for visiting Bald Blair on the 1st of March as part of our participation in the Welfare Benchmarking for pasture-based beef cattle project . This project is also with the NSW DPI and MLA.   The cattle were temperament and condition scored as well as receiving their pre joining treatments.  We completed a survey on our attitude to livestock and livestock handling.  A very interesting session and we look forward to receiving the feedback on our performance!

Thank you Edwina Warby from Black Box Co http://www.blackboxco.com.au/ for visiting us and showing the capability of this product. While it has been designed for the northern herds, we see great potential for the southern herds and look forward to uploading our data to see what potential it has for our decision making processes for our stud and commercial herd.  Well done to the Black Box team.  It is well worth checking out when you get a chance.

Caring for our Country

Thank you Jim Lenehan and team from Lenehan Contracting for planting new pastures at Bald Blair and Kolora.  It was finally dry enough for them to get the tractors moving and with the moisture profile at its maximum capacity the seeds were jumping out of the soil.  The seed combination includes a diverse range of perennial plants . Thank you Paul Harris, Elders Agronomist for your advice and patience. 

Thank you Robert Woods for cutting, raking and bailing the rich clover pastures at our finishing block Kolora.  We have excess feed like most people in our district as we restock from 2019 and it is good to reserve this feed by making hay - while the sun shines and fill our hay sheds.  Always good to know exactly what is in the hay and not pay for transport costs.

Thank you Steph & Deb Sweeney and Simon for planting 600 native trees and shrubs in our new tree guard in Cruckshands and finishing off the riparian zone planting.  Thank you to Black Mountain Nursery for providing us with the last of their native trees and shrubs for the season.  We will have to work out next year's tree guards and order our trees early so we can start planting again in September.  We just can not have enough trees and shrubs at Bald Blair and we are really being rewarded by the shade and shelter for our livestock. 

Thank you Taylor McDonald - the renewal of fencing infrastructure continues at Bald Blair.  New Gateways plus new replacement fences across many areas of Bald Blair.  The internal fences are 7 wire plain wire with a top barb and electric both sides.   It looks fantastic and will make a massive difference shifting stock between these paddocks.  Our work continues with a few more km’s of fencing this year and much more still to do.

Thank you to the team at Precision Pasture   .  We recently reviewed our Part A Carbon Starter Report and soil zone mapping report.  At the same time we reviewed the information on our Colwell P and pH for our high performance pastures.  We have been measuring this information for some time as part of our variable rate fertiliser application program and have come up with some significant savings on fertiliser costs for the year as a result of this work.  We also reviewed the carbon prospectivity reports for Bald Blair and Gatwood and once again really appreciated the opportunity to review our Soil Organic Carbon at Bald Blair and Gatwood to 30cm.  We have now done the Precision Pastures Part A process - “a go - no go” process and have decided to take the next step - Part B, where Precision Pastures will undertake comprehensive soil samples, create carbon estimation areas and we will determine our change of land management strategy for new eligible activities.  Remember it is all about production, improving our production.

Caring for our Community

The Guyra Show was held at the end of February - Hats off to the committee, volunteers and all thoses that supported this important local event by attending.

Unfortunately due to COVID isolation requirements we missed the ABS Conference in Tamworth and the Ebor Beef Forum in Armidale.

Sam is planning to attend the MLA Livestock Genetics Forum in Adelaide on the 5 & 6 April.  Sam will be speaking briefly on the topic “Using genomics in the breeding program.”  For more information about this event go to mla.com.au/genetics-forum-2022 .

Kelly’s Cottage

Kelly’s Cottage has lots of availability!  If you are interested in booking a couple of nights away please go to our website and see the link to Airbnb. Here are some reviews from a recent guests -”This is the perfect farm stay!”,  “Kelly’s Cottage is so peaceful with beautiful scenery not far from the town of Guyra. The house is well equipped with a full kitchen etc that you don’t need to go anywhere. Kirsty was such a lovely host. We hope to come back again soon.”

We have a new Nespresso Coffee machine at Kelly’s Cottage to cater for the conscientious coffee lovers and are very pleased to supply Allpress coffee pods.  Allpress coffee is delicious and is supplied by our exquisite local & online gift shop - Brisk Trading.  For more information check out https://www.allpressespresso.com/community/our-story/  and https://brisktrading.com.au/  

Brisk Trading is currently running a little competition check it out on FB - wonderful prizes - so please check it out and share the post too.

At Kelly’s Cottage you can enjoy a delicious coffee sitting on the verandah watching our fat and happy cattle eat grass (something we can’t get enough of) and when you need some more excitement head into Brisk Trading at Guyra and enjoy some retail, hair (Crop) and beauty (Beauty Basics by Em) therapy.

 
https://www.baldblairangus.com.au/farm-stay-with-airbnb We look forward to hosting our guests and sharing the sights and sounds of Bald Blair.  We often include a farm tour, so if you want to know more about what we do and why, please make a booking.

Contact us: Sam White 0438 792 140  or Kirsty White 0427 722 908