The Boundary Rider's Report May 2025
The Boundary Rider’s Report May 2025
Welcome
It has been a whirlwind since our last Boundary Rider’s Report - we have been in the World Angus Forum bubble and what a wonderful bubble that has been. More on WAF below.
School has returned for Term 2 and we are missing one of our most improved Jackaroo, Arthur. In the holidays, both Abbott and Arthur rode in the Tour De Rocks cancer charity bike ride from Armidale to Woolgoolga - an amazing event. You can still contribute here:https://www.tourderocks.com.au/ . Arthur also served in the TAS Guard at the Dangarsleigh and Armidale ANZAC Day services for the first time this year. Lest We Forget.
This blog is now available as a podcast - so if you find it easier to listen to information about the cattle, climate and agtech issues to name a few, please tune into our podcast version of the April blog, which includes additional information and insights.https://www.baldblairangus.com.au/podcast
Bull Sale
SAVE THE DATE: 1pm, Tuesday, 5th August 2025
Bulls all going well in preparation for this year's sale, with 600 day weights and traits being conducted by Roger Evans this week and another opportunity to tighten up our bull sale team. Freeze branding will commence next week also. Full Steam ahead. Keep an eye on our website for more updates over the next few weeks.
We will have on offer over 100 bulls including rising 2 yrs, 18 months and yearling bulls.
Sire Lines on offer will include some exciting new sires for your consideration, Sterling Confidence Plus 804, SS Brickyard, Tehama Patriarch, in addition to Sitz Resilient, Myers Fair n Square, Millah Murrah Paratrooper, and our own sire Bald Blair Sterling S86, NBB21S86 to name a few. More information on this years reference sires will be available on our Website soon.
More information will be available on our website as we get closer to the sale.
CLICK HERE
Calendar link:
https://www.angusaustralia.com.au/event/bald-blair-angus-bull-sale-5
To receive a copy of our bull sale catalogue, we’d be happy to send one your way. Please forward your postal address toKirstywhite@baldblair.com.au.
Bald Blair Angus 2025 Open Day: Wednesday 23 July 2025
This year will see a change in format, with our Open Day being shifted forward to the 23rd July. We are looking forward to hearing from Simon Quilty at our open day. We had the opportunity to hear Simon at the Angus Conference in Brisbane, and are again looking forward to seeing what he has in store for us. Please join us to hear all about the latest market updates and predictions from Simon on the directions of beef prices. I can assure you this guy knows his stuff and is worth the listen to, so come along. https://agritrends.com/
Tea and coffee will be available from 10am & bulls in yards for inspection.10am Morning Tea & registration available for bull sale, Inspection of bulls in yards
11.15am to 12 noon Guest Speaker Simon Quilty
12pm to 1pm Lunch served
1.05 pm to 1.45pm Guest Speaker Simon Quilty Q & A session
1.45pm Sam thank Simon and close.
REGISTRATION ESSENTIAL FOR CATERING PURPOSES
https://events.humanitix.com/bald-blair-angus-open-day-with-guest-speaker-simon-quilty
World Angus Forum Wrap up
The World Angus Forum has been an incredible event, with many people in attendance. We started with the Harbour Cruise in Sydney and the vibe was very friendly as everyone reconnected or connected for the first time on our shared values of family farms, legacy, environmental stewardship of land and love of angus cattle
The Teys Angus Shoot-out event in Tamworth was great. We sent 5 steers to Jindalee feedlot and we were thrilled to be named in the top three for Carcase Team Performance and placed in 7th in the overall team performance out of 64 teams. Congratulations to the Munro family for cleaning up at this event.
Sam stayed on in Tamworth and was the MC for presentations by Angus Gidley Baird, RABO Bank
CLICK HERE, Sam and Jenny Bailey which were extremely powerful
CLICK HERE. He was also the moderator for the JBS talk - for more information
CLICK HERE. A huge congratulations to the oragnising team from Angus, Jack Phillips for his contribution in setting up a facility that allowed a lot of Angus Producers to display their stock to other Angus Exhibitors and the international guests who visited Australia for the Forum. Some 4,000 people attended this event. Wow.
We were very humbled to host the Angus Trek at Bald Blair on Monday, 5th May with over 300 visitors from overseas and across the fence. We really appreciated the opportunity to host this visit, a once in a lifetime opportunity for us. Thank you to our amazing team for all your assistnce in hosting this visit. Please see below for links to videos, photos and media covering the event.
We then drove to Brisbane for the World Angus Forum, which included drinks, dinners, discussions and more. With many delegates in attendance from overseas and within Australia. Some highlights included the presentations from John Eales AM, John Stika on Certified Angus Beef, Dr Frank Mitloehner on Livestock Methane (truly remarkable), Dr Anneline Papayachee on nutrition, Prof Alison Van Eenennaam on DNA and Technology, Prof Sam Clark, Low Methane Beef, Michael McQueen on working with Gen Z, Simon Quility on the very positive prices we are about to be experiencing.
Our key take home messages were - the amazing angus community we are part of, the power of connecting with the livestock industry, the importance of sharing our story, the ongoing debate between methane and carbon emissions and the power of marketing a quality brand like Angus. The AngusYouth were outstanding - their commitment to legacy, stewardship and cattle were inspiring. So keep breeding and growing out angus cattle.
A heartfelt thank you to Sinclair Munro, President of Angus Australia, Tim Britton Secretary General of World Angus Secretariat (retired), Erica Halliday, Scott Wright, Nancy Crawshaw, Jake Phillips and the team at Angus Australia for pulling off an incredible event that pulled the international angus family together for a short time in Australia and will lead to continuing relationships into the future.
Video of visit to Bald Blair Angus CLICK HERE
Photo Gallery of visit to Bald Blair CLICK HERE
The Land story of visit to Bald Blair (paywall) CLICK HERE
Season
Autumn has been very kind to us with plenty of rain and no frosts yet! All our plantings have been completed, albeit a little later than usual. Soil moisture levels are still high. The temperatures remain a little warmer. Rain so far this year at Bald Blair has been big. This is in contrast to our southern states, S.A. and parts of Vic and even parts of Southern NSW.
Markets
Congratulations to our clients on your successful sales at the local weaner sales. It was great to witness the reward for your effort and breeding programs at the sales. Some of the highlights included: Bluey Newsome, Jane and Mal Moffatt, Kerry and Anthony Bull, Troy and Kellie Ward, John Reid, Simon Ball and family, and Mathew Fahey and his family. Apologies if we have missed anyone, and we are sorry to have missed a few of the sales. Thankyou for advertising the use of our bulls in your herds; we appreciate it. The forecast is positive according to Simon Quilty at the WAF and we look forward to hosting him at Bald Blair on Wednesday, 23rd July - details above. https://www.mla.com.au/prices-markets/cattle/eycireport/
Cattle
We have only just finished weaning our commercial herd at Gatwood. A few months later than usual, which we have put down to wet weather and World Angus Forum. As you can imagine the calves are large and in need of a good week of livestock handling lessons in the yards for a week. They will be worked through the yards morning and night and introduced to dogs, bikes, buggies and horses before being treated on Friday and moved to our finishing block down the road. Some of the steers are not far off feedlot entry.
The cover sires S86, T23, and our new sire U207 are out with the autumn herd and we are fitting in a embryo program for our autumn herd as well.
Sheep
The lambs are still gaining weight and the sooner we get them off and make way for the steers and heifers the better. Rams are out doing their thing.
Elders Feeder Ready Program
We really appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with Elders on their Feeder ready program tailored for feedlot and backgrounder demand. We provided the steers for the photo shoot - best wishes for the program Adam Turnbull and Ashleigh White.
MLA Transport Hub
Livestock Transport is an essential part of our red meat supply chain. The video below encapsulates and shares the complexities and considerations for all involved when preparing and moving livestock. It centres around the top tips for livestock transport. Well done Sharon Dundon and Alice Mabin.
https://www.mla.com.au/extension-training-and-tools/resource-hubs/transport-hub/
COURSES
Using BREEDPLAN Information in Animal Selection
Join the ABRI Extension Services team for a free one hour webinar which outlines how BREEDPLAN information can be utilised, alongside visual assessment, in animal selection. Suitable for both commercial and seedstock producers, this webinar will cover how to interpret BREEDPLAN EBVs and Selection Indexes, a guide to using these in your animal selection decisions, and how to search the online database to create a shortlist of animals with suitable genetics for your operation ahead of sale day.
Location
Online event access details will be provided by the event organiser
Using BREEDPLAN Information in Animal Selection | TryBooking Australia
MLA Events - now available on a map
LOOKING
The “bulls on the bridge” photo taken by Alice Mabin in April 2015 has been featured on our website and bull sale catalogue for many years. Then to our surprise it was taken up by the marketing team behind the World Angus Forum and featured on the lanyards, official program and signage at the gala dinner. We thought we might make the most of this collaboration and put it up on the side of the New England Highway just past the Black Mountain Nursery on your way North to Guyra. So next time you are on the road - please keep an eye out for our new sign.
LISTENING
We have our own podcast, The Data Breeder and have recorded the latest episode based on the April Boundary Rider’s Report, plus information about the female sale. We also plan to make the speech Sam gave to the visitors to Bald Blair as part of the World Angus Forum into a podcast - this will hopefully be released in a week or 2.
Listen to it here on spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/0L1Q7z4xFxdONLXZi1USW3?si=Kpi9B0NaSS-L9G1UiuzXhQ
Or here on apple https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-boundary-riders-report-with-sam-white-and-rebel/id1574009246?i=1000695160437
READING
Pandaemonium: The media outlet exploring print and digital mediums that support innovators, creators, business builders and self-starters living outside the traditional metropolitan mould. https://www.pandaemonium.org/
WATCHING
Khan Horne NAB R&A Outlook video: Making the most of surplus funds (including Farm Management Deposits)
https://youtu.be/EtOZp0VWXqw?si=SS0biOdbXlFGQ68_
Wild Mountain Thyme is a 2020 romantic comedy film written and directed by John Patrick Shanley, based on his play Outside Mullingar. The film stars Emily Blunt, Jamie Dornan, Jon Hamm, Dearbhla Molloy and Christopher Walken.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Mountain_Thyme_(film)
Sam & Kirsty
samwhite@baldblair.com.au 0438 792 140
Kirstywhite@baldblair.com.au 0427 722 908
