Welcome to the November Boundary Rider’s Report blog post from Bald Blair Angus.
We really appreciate the feedback we received from our first Boundary Rider’s Report. Thank you for your interest and that is why we are back again with this one.

Snapshot:
Bald Blair Angus is located East of Guyra on the Northern Tablelands of NSW.
We have an elevation of between 1280m and 1420m above sea level.
Area: approx 2400 ha over 5 properties (1 leasehold).
Enterprises: Angus Stud, commercial Angus herd, crossbred and merino sheep.

Seasonal Challenges:
Rainfall: Our average rainfall is between 800-850mm.
I have been listening to colleagues and friends and hearing their stories, what is good is the number of different strategies people are taking during this drought, selling out, partial destocking, destocking completely, whole herd agistment, confinement feeding, sacrifice areas, early weaning.  These are all great strategies that are showing people are making tough and necessary decisions that best suit their circumstances.  What is important is that we all keep making decisions. Keep talking.

What's on our plate:

Artificial Breeding of our stud herd is done and dusted for another year.  With our hardest conditions yet, we were able to still AI and while the results will no doubt be down we felt it was still necessary to continue the on going genetic improvement of our herd using new young Bald Blair Sires, other Australian Sires and some exciting new North American sires.  
Lamb marking has commenced also, lambing percentages are down considerably due to the drought conditions, merino ewe joined to Border Leicester rams, marked at 65% lambs, our lowest rate in over 30 years, the first of our Crossbred Ewe flocks down to 117% lambs.  We still have more to do so will have a better idea by next week of the impact of this drought on lambing success rates.

Activities over the next month:

Reading
Call of the Reed Warbler – A New Agriculture, A New Earth - Charles Massy
On the waiting list for Alice Mabin’s “The Winding Road” check it out at http://almabin.com/buy/the-winding-road/
Down to Earth – the Planet to Plate Podcast.  From the USA , from their website - the Down to Earth is a podcast about hope. As climate change collides with our industrial food system, we focus not on doom but instead on people who are developing practical, innovative solutions. We invite you to meet farmers, ranchers, scientists, land managers, writers, and many others on a mission to create a world in which the food we eat is healthy—for us, for the land and water from which it springs, for the lives and livelihoods of the producers, and for the planet.
https://downtoearthpodcast.libsyn.com/how-to-deal-with-mental-and-physical-challenges-on-the-farm-and-beyond

Social Media

#stayinthebush https://www.facebook.com/Stayinthebush-114257640010434/
We welcomed our first guests to Kelly’s Cottage our Airbnb – a lovely family from France. They loved the cottage and farm tour.  Their review “Lovely place to stay. The view at the morning is amazing.” Please check out this link and if you would like to visit our farm please book a date.