CENTRAL Australian beef breeders are experiencing their second bumper season in a row thanks to good summer rain and recent winter rain.
Subscribe now for unlimited access to all our agricultural news
across the nation
or signup to continue reading
Nobody is getting ahead of themselves though, says Northern Territory Cattlemen's Association Alice Springs representative Alex Port, due to softening livestock prices and the caution that naturally comes with "growing beef in the desert".
The region has varied production systems, with a mix of British and Bos Indicus breeds.
Herefords, Murray Greys, Shorthorns, Angus and Charolais are sent south, while breeds like Droughtmasters, Santa Gertrudis and Brahmans are sent across to Qld, with some enterprises sending the odd load to Darwin for live export.
"In this Central region there was good summer rain and grass growth was looking good before it started to hay off a bit," Mr Port said.
"Most parts have gone on to get at least 30 to 50 millimetres of rain in the past fortnight.
"It's a seriously good dose of winter rain which will set everyone up really nicely for the rest of the year provided it stays warm enough and we don't get too many frosts."
Mr Port said while beef prices had slid, most acknowledged they are still better than three years ago.
"Everyone would like it to tick up, but around here there are a lot of long-term family and heavy breeder operations so people generally take it in their stride," he said.
At Hale River Homestead, a "little 60 square kilometre block" 115km east of Alice Springs, Sean Leigh said while dry spells were always expected, the season was shaping up really well after 50mm in the past fortnight.
"It's as good as you'll see the country," he said.
"It'll bring up a bit of herbage and a bit of warm, sunny weather will kick the buffel (grass) along."
Mr Leigh breeds Droughtmaster bulls, selling 40 a year to local clients ,and said while the market had come back a bit it was still "pretty bloody good".
IRRIGATION AND FEEDLOT MAKING ORANGE CREEK MORE DROUGHT-RESILIENT
An hour or so south of Alice Springs lies the 2360 square kilometre Orange Creek Station, intersected by the Hugh River and near Stuarts Well.
Owner Wally Klein said the country was looking "unbelievable" after 60 millimetres of rain in past month. The station has an annual average rainfall of 250mm and has received 180mm for the year to date.
"We had a really good summer rain and now we're getting some winter rain which we haven't had for about ten years," Mr Klein said.
"The herbage, wildflowers and winter growth like burvine and parakeelya is outstanding fattening feed.
"The cattle are absolutely booming, you'd reckon you're in the South East somewhere driving around."
The Kleins run about 3000 Poll Hereford breeding cows.
Calves are weaned into an on-property feedlot and sent south to Naracoorte at eight to twelve months of age.
The Kleins take advantage of good times by trading cattle including Brahmans, Santa Gertrudis, Angus and Droughtmasters.
The feedlot is stocked with silage, lucerne and oaten hay from 50 hectares of freehold irrigation. Two solar bores are capable of pumping a total of 40 litres a second for eight hours a day, while a generator kicks in to pump at half speed for another four hours.
Mr Klein said the underground water source they sat above at Orange Creek was "unbelievable" in both quality and volume.
The Kleins have a licence to use 1000 megalitres a year and have a commitment from the NT government for another 50mL per pivot as they develop.
Mr Klein said the water table "hadn't moved an inch" in his time at Orange Creek.
The oasis in the desert is a peculiar sight as you drive along the Stuart Highway and has also been used to grow crops like triticale, beans and potatoes, and sorghum in the summer months.
It allows the Kleins to get 10 to 12 cuts of lucerne every year - as quick as a three week turnaround in the summer months.
"The feedlot and irrigation gives us the opportunity to only sell the best cattle," Mr Klein said.
"Even in a dry time, any cattle that are a bit light in condition can be kept in the feedlot bit longer to put extra weight on.
"It's a spoke in the wheel of making us viable in the dry times. I don't like the term drought-proof - we're never going to be drought-proof - but we can become more drought resilient."
"We never lose sight of the fact that we live in the driest part of the continent and we know it's going to get dry again."
Last year was one for the books with high cattle prices, a good season and low interest rates. Things are still good in 2023 despite prices softening, and interest rates rising.
"We just got spoilt last year," Mr Klein said.
"If we can average $1000 a head per calf per year we can make station country work at that sort of money."
Last year, they made $1500-$1800 a head for weaners and $2700 for aged cows. Recent sale cows returned $1300, while 12-month-old weaners are making $1000.
DRY TIMES NEVER FAR
While conditions have been good of late in Central Australia, dry times are never far around the corner.
Northern Territory Cattlemen's Association Alex Port said in recent conversations with producers, many had said they were expecting a dry spell soon enough.
"I did a lap around the Barkly region recently and something that stuck out was the number of people talking about the impending dry and the El Nino," he said.
"Whether they think they're due a dry spell in the five-year cycle, or because of El Nino, or because it's just been so good for a while now, there's a lot of people coming to the same conclusion for different reasons that conditions could be about to get a little bit tough.
"Everyone's acutely aware that drier times are probably around the corner."
Subscribers have access to download our free app today from the App Store or Google Play
