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.

Introduction!

Welcome to the October Boundary Rider’s Report - August was a blur and we are not sure what happened to September or October and here we are in November.

Season:

Rainfall: Our average rainfall is between 750-1000mm, year to date 702 mm to the end of October. Storm rains have just arrived.

We are enjoying a magnificent spring. Great Rain, and great grass growth; plus a plethora of weeds. The knodding thistles are going gang busters and we have unfortunately lost one cow to bloat already. We have bloat licks out and mineral supplements out for the cattle to help them adjust to the green flush. I was only reflecting this morning, on this time last year, what a difference a year makes.

What's on our plate:

Q bulls had their 400 day weights done and ready to be submitted to breedplan. We will be assessing them closely to see how they are progressing and are very happy to be able to rotate them onto fresh pastures each week. The bulls have already received their tick vaccination to ensure they are ready to go North once they have passed all their other stringent requirements to be part of our 2021 bull sale team.  

Before a Bald Blair Angus bull is offered for sale we aim to complete all below:

• birth weight, 200, 400 & 600 weights 
• Scanning for EMA, Rib Fat, Rump Fat, IMF 
• Single Step Genomically Enhanced EBV’s
• Temperament Scoring of Docility
• Tested negative for pestivirus (Ear Notch) & vaccinated
• DNA testing for parent verification - either full parent verified or sire verified
• Recessive gene status
• independent structural assessment
• full drench and vaccination regime
• Semen Morphology test by a Veterinarian
• Australian Cattle Veterinarians BIO check - JBAS 8
• over a century of selection.

We are in the middle of our breeding season. We have completed our first and second round of AI with the assistance of Peter Brown and his team at Bovine Breeders. The cover sires are out. We are very happy with our team of home bred cover sires, NBB N112, NBBP69, NBB P52, NBB N243.

As part of drought recovery our pasture renovation program continues to evolve with the sewing of new pastures. Rye grasses combination pastures have been planted already. Country is being fallowed for new pastures to go in early in the new year. Diversity, diversity and more diversity in seed combinations is essential for us as we put in these new pastures. It has been a massive relief to see our existing pastures recover from the devastation of 2019. We have been surprised about the seed bank led recovery and variety of plants growing in paddocks that unfortunately were reduced to such a low pasture density never experienced here before. Paddocks that we thought would need to be renovated are recovering well enough and with our low stock numbers have plenty of time to recover before stocking rates grow again.

The cattle market is at all time highs, long may it continue. The demand is driven by restocker demand, and strong demand for our product and the prediction of a La Nina event and the subsequent rain associated with it, and the need to restock to stay in business, so as to service our costs going forward.  

We have just released 300 rainbow trout fingerlings in the lagoon and a dam near the woolshed. Fingers crossed they survive and we can enjoy some fishing in the years to come.

Our farm stay is going well - we were booked out over the school holidays and enjoyed hosting some lovely families and professionals who all took a great interest in the farm and wanted to learn more about how their food and fibre are produced. Check us out at https://www.baldblairangus.com.au/farm-stay-with-airbnb We are also featured on the Stay in the Bush page and there are some stunning places to stay check them out at https://www.stayinthebush.com.au/

Our online store is open for business - we have Bald Blair Angus enamel cups and hand towels if you are looking for a unique gift for family and friends. https://www.baldblairangus.com.au/store

Activities over the next month:

• Spraying nodding thistles,
• Monitoring cover sires,
• Lamb marking,
• Calf Marking,
• Mowing lawns.

 

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