Big Cattle Expansion Over Tasman

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31802, 5 October 1968, Page 10

Big Cattle Expansion Over Tasman

“The money and technical know-how that is going into the development of the beef cattle industry in the northern part of Australia is quite phenomenal,” said Mr P. H. Elworthy, of the Craigmore Farming Company at Maungati in South Canterbury recently, in commenting on a recent visit to cattle-raising areas in central and northern Queensland.

Today there were more than 3.5 m breeding cows in Queensland and 8m in Australia, and an economist at the Australian National University was quoting a figure of 30m breeding cows in seven years. The average level of cattle carrying in the area he visited was about eight beasts to the square mile, but in some areas it was 30 or more, indicating the potential. The two factors in development were water and subdivision. Water was reached by drilling sometimes to a depth of 1400 ft, which was quite

expensive, and the aim was to have water holes every four miles or even less. The growing season extended only from nine to 20 weeks and while there was tremendous growth in this period the feed tended to deteriorate in the weather to a point where the protein level was less than necessary to sustain store cattle, but with use of urea and other such modern techniques it might be possible to do a great deal with this growth. Mr Elworthy found that cattle in this area were mainly Shorthorn or Shorthorn cross with cattle men now using Brahman or Santa Gertrudis bulls over them. Because of the dry spells experienced, fattening mainly took two years and a half. Cattle roads established by the Government, which were just wide enough to take the cattle trains, had greatly facilitated the marketing of the stock, and Mr Elsworthy was intrigued to find that cattle were bringing $22 per 1001 b at Cloncurry and $25 per 100 at the coast while he was there while the figure was only $lB in New Zealand. “I have been trying to find out why there should be this difference," he said. Mr Elworthy was impressed by the way that the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and the Department of Primary Industry were supporting the cattle men with advisory services. The Government too, in particular the State Government, seemed to want to encourage people into the area and was looking after them with tax concessions so that people did not have the feeling that they were being taxed out of existence. Mr Elworthy said he had been led to the belief that Australia and New Zealand

might well get together in the promotion of meat and particularly beef. This view, he found, was shared by quite a number of Australians he had met. Such a joint activity could also well develop new markets like the Meat Export Development Company. He felt that much benefit would come from such collaboration, although all sorts of reasons might well be put up against it. In the area that he visited Mr Elworthy found that company farming enterprises, mainly English financed, were providing the capital for development of this country and the opportunities for young men in farming who would not otherwise be able to go into farming. If the development of this country had been left to Australian capital and personnel only, he said that progress would only have been minimal. As far as New Zealand was concerned, Mr Elworthy said he felt that farming was still going to rely on the private farmer for a long time to come, but there would be a gradual process of amalgamation and consolidation which would mean that there would be areas which would he held and farmed more efficiently by large concerns with boards of directors and an executivetype management with the efficiency of scale that such management would bring. Among properties Mr Elworthy visited was Melinda Downs of 45 square miles which is owned by a veterinary surgeon who spends the hot season practicising his profession in New South Wales and the rest of his time looking after his property. It runs 700 breeding cows and about 1500 head of cattle, all told. Granada Station, of 180 square miles, was owned by a large English financed land-holding company, Australian Estates. It had 3000 breeding cows and about 5000 cattle all told. And Wandoola, of 1000 square miles, owned by Dalgety and New Zealand Loan, carried 9000 breeding cows and some 14,000 cattle altogether. This property was managed by a 27-year-old, indicative of the fact that this development had attracted a lot of young men with opportunities for responsibility and initiative. Mr Elworthy found that the cost of this land ranged from about $2O to $4O per beast.