The Boundary Rider's Report April 2020

Sam & Kirsty White • Apr 20, 2020

The Boundary Rider's Report April 2020

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April 2020 Boundary Rider’s Report

Welcome to the April 2020 Boundary Rider’s Report. We hope you and your family are safe and well and #stayingathome in the new COVID-19 world we live in. While self isolation on a farm is relatively easy for most, we are very aware of the impact COVID-19 is having on families, friends, the beef industry and world at large.

Snapshot
Bald Blair Angus is located East of Guyra on the Northern Tablelands of NSW.
We have an elevation of between 1280 and 1420m above sea level.

Area: approx 2000 ha over 4 properties.

Enterprises

Angus Stud, commercial Angus herd, crossbred and merino sheep. Our herd is considerably different to 18 months ago, with our cow numbers back 40% prior to drought and our ewe flock back 50%. This has given our country much needed time to recover, and recovery is occurring; the business impact as a result of these stock reductions will also take time to rebuild.

Seasonal Snapshot
Rainfall: Our average rainfall is between 750-1000mm.
Rainfall for the year to date at Bald Blair approx 470mm; April rainfall 32mm so far. The water cycle appears refreshed with all springs open, dams full and the creek has flown for nearly 4 months straight. Remembering 2019 (who could forget) our annual total rainfall was approx 270 mm in this area.

Grasses have grown, natives (microleana, red grass etc) and improved perennials (Phalaris, Cocksfoot and Fescue etc); weeds have also grown (predominantly Amaranth, Cooch, Watergrass etc).

Bald Blair Angus Bulls

We are busily preparing our bull sale team and look forward to this year's sale. Quite obviously Covid 19 restrictions will determine the sale format somewhat. Our sale will go ahead, social distancing obligations will apply, plenty of handwash, a good dose of common sense and there will be changes to the function of the canteen. We invite you to consider the option of presale inspections, we have two side by side Buggy’s for use, which allow social distancing to be maintained, and we will ensure these vehicles are cleaned prior to use and after use; this will allow good time to inspect stock without large crowds.

Should you then wish to attend our sale then you can, we will have seating arrangements set to ensure social distancing clearly marked. Alternatively, if you wish to use an online sale facility, through Auctions Plus, then we will have good images of our bulls and their pedigrees and EBV’s available closer to sale.

We will keep you posted of any changes that could or may result in changes to our sale, because of any COVID 19 restrictions.
In the meantime, are you registered with AuctionsPlus? As our bull sale will have an online presence we strongly encourage everyone to create an account with AuctionsPlus and become familiar with the platform prior to the bull sale. A number of sales have been held exclusively on AuctionsPlus and at this stage we will be having a physical auction inclusive of AuctionsPlus as we have done for the last few years (with social distancing obligations as discussed earlier).

There will be an option to bid through your agent if you prefer.

Here is a link to what the bull sale will look like online - except the bulls will be black.. http://demo.hub.auctionsplus.com.au/auction/95#/_
How to register - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J06A61WphPY

How to bid - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hetm5buLKBc&feature=youtu.be

Inspections are welcome anytime at Bald Blair, and we will follow strict COVID-19 safety procedures. Please call to make an appointment on Kirsty 0427 722 908 or 0438 792 140 or 02 6779 2141.

We have submitted the 200DW for the stud weaner heifers and bulls. We continue to assess these animals as they come through the yards and are supplementing them with DDG pellets while they are on good quality pasture to ensure their rumen function is growing following their early weaning and start to life in the worst drought for us on record. Their recovery is so far amazing, with growth rates at approx 1.5kg/hd/day.

The bull sale team is going well. Rotating each week on high performance pastures at Bald Blair.

Roger Evans, Bovine Scanning Services, scanned our stud P Heifers last week, their 600D data has been submitted, and we look forward to the next TACE run with updated genomically enhanced EBV data. Bulls are next.

Activities over the past month

Our Millet crop (Pearler Hybrid Millet from Barenbrug seeds. From memory we sowed at between 8 and 10kg/ha) has been cut and wrapped in silage wraps; while not prolific, it suffered some water stress and as a result didn’t grow as well as it could have; go figure! It suffered a frosting but the product looks good and I’m sure our cattle will enjoy it this winter. I often learn most when things do not go as well as they could have, it was my first attempt, and I am sure will get better with time.

The Sorghum crop (Banker Forage Sorghum/Sudan. Sown at 7kg/ha) was a ripper! We got a great number of bales, some of which we will consider selling a little later.

Both these varieties are suitable for the New England, also both suitable for cattle grazing or silage production.

Sam, Abbott and Arthur planted 150 native trees and shrubs into one of our tree guards to provide shade and shelter in one of our paddocks that desperately needed trees. It is great to start renewal of our tree stands, not to mention spend great time with our boys.

Please provide us with your postal address if you would like to receive our printed newsletter and bull sale catalogue. kirstywhite@baldblair.com.au

Please feel free to contact us on Sam 0438 792 140 or Kirsty 0427 722 908.

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