Welcome back to The Boundary Rider’s Report.

Firstly a huge THANK YOU for the support we received at our female sale last month.  We really appreciate the registrations, underbidders, successful bidders, the Bald Blair team, Elders and Bald Blair P & C catering crew, family and friend’s support.  We wish the new owners all the very best and look forward to hearing how the Bald Blair Angus cattle perform for them.

Link to the Female Sale report in The Land: click here

Season Update

The season is progressing well here with good reserves of feed across all properties.  We have already had a number of frosts up here.  It appears another El Nino event is predicted for later in the year.  Preparations are in place should this eventuate, more fodder, and the continual lightning off of stock. 

Market Update

We have all noticed a considerable change in prices in the last few weeks.  Increased market volatility will be with us for a while as industry gets used to the rebuilt cattle herd of the last few years.  It is important to remember we are selling on a world market, and demand for beef globally remains high.  There are also droughts in other markets which represent opportunities for Australian beef.  Keep up the good work, keep breeding cattle and closely manage costs of production. 

Angus Conference

I recently attended the Angus National Conference in Tamworth.  It was fantastic, I caught up with many friends and colleagues in the seedstock industry.  Well done to the Angus Team.

Bull Sale preparations progressing;

This year's Bull Sale will be on Tuesday the 1st August 2023.  Our bull sale preparations continue,  our bulls have been independently structurally assessed by Dick Whale.  Dr Leisa Brown from Guyra District vets completed our first round of bull semen testing last week.  We have received the results of morphology testing, very positive.   Our Bulls have received booster vaccinations for Pesti, Lepto and Vibrio.  They have also previously received Tick Fever vaccination as well. 

This week we are lining them up for freeze branding.  We are planning to catalogue 100+ bulls this year. 

Bulls are all progressing well, there will be Bulls rising two years of age, Bulls rising 18 months of age plus Bulls rising 12 months of age.  As well as diversity of age there will be diversity of bull pedigrees, with new bloodlines on offer also,  with sons of Sitz Resilient and Tehama Patriarch available to name a few.  We look forward to showing you how these bulls progress.  Keep an eye on our website. 

If you would like to inspect the bull sale team in the lead up to the bull sale then do not hesitate to call me on 0438 792 140 to arrange a time.  We will also have an Open Day on Sunday 30th July for bull inspections. 

Repairs and Maintenance

The Gatwood woolshed has been restumped and looks fantastic.  The stables at Bald Blair have a new roof, gutters and swinging gates.  Kelly’s Cottage has new steps and a refreshed verandah.  Thank you Tom Smith for making this happen.

We have a new fodder shed going up - we are looking forward to having more fodder storage.  This will also enable us to restructure the use of existing sheds to better store our equipment.

Trees

We have another tree guard fenced off out the back and plan to plant another 1000 mixed natives in spring.  It is all about preparation of the site and weed control, weed control and weed control, plus suitable growing conditions.

Bald Blair Public School Centenary

It was a pleasure to attend the Bald Blair Public School Centenary on Saturday, 13th May at the school.  Congratulations to Jane Moffatt, Chairperson of the Centenary Committee for her epic perseverance in making this event happen and for publishing the commemorative book.  A huge effort over years of pandemics and delays.  It was a tremendous event with many local families attending.  The school looks fantastic and is a credit to the students, teachers, staff and P & C. 

The Data Breeder Podcast - 2 new episodes about the female sale with Struan Pearce, Stud Stock Sales and Lincoln McKinlay, Elders Stud Stock: Click here

Keep in touch and see you all soon.

Sam & Kirsty

Photo credits:

Morning view from Kelly's Cottage: Monika Pearce, Stud Stock Sales

Female Sale: The Land

Dogs and puppies: Al Mabin