Angus and Kimberley McKay are modestly building a cattle dynasty in the desert, making daring purchases and adopting a conservative cattle administration technique to take care of their land.
Table of Contents List
Key factors:
- The McKay family settled on Umbearra station in 1962
- They have certainly one of the largest herds of Red Angus cattle in Australia
- Red Angus originated in Scotland and have been imported to Australia in 1990
Mr McKay was simply 24 years outdated when his father handed Umbearra Station to him and his young spouse Kimberley.
The property is in spectacular desert nation on the border of South Australia and the Northern Territory.
It was initially a part of Crown Point Station owned by Sir Sidney Kidman, who ran cattle and bred remount horses for World War I troopers.
The McKay family settled on Umbearra in 1962. Angus and Kimberley are the third technology to boost the family in a yard of spiky spinifex and pink mud.
“We could not have completed what we have completed since then without him setting us up like that.”
But it hasn’t been simple. It meant onerous work and withstanding the worst drought on file.
“We went via some robust instances final yr, and we had the most wonderful crew to again us up although it wasn’t good for them to do it they actually backed us up all the manner via,” Ms McKay stated.
Red Angus cattle
The McKays have round 4,500 Red Angus cattle, certainly one of the largest herds of its form in Australia. The breed originated in Scotland and was launched domestically in 1990. They are thriving on the desert property.
Despite the ongoing dry, the McKays have at all times been very cautious with the numbers they handle.
They are additionally natural operators, making them a part of a rising pattern throughout central Australia.
“It was a monetary determination.” Mr McKay stated.
“We knew the different guys round working natural and all of us function organically anyway, so it was simply a paper path that we needed to form of observe.
“So, it suited our organisation fairly properly and simply gave us a premium to do what we do out right here clear wholesome beef producers.”
As if running 3,600 sq. kilometres wasn’t sufficient of a problem, simply as they welcomed their third child two years in the past, the McKays determined to purchase the neighbouring 462,000-hectare Idrawora Station which had been in the arms of Abu Dhabi royal Sheikh Hamad Bin Hamdan Al Nahyan since 2007.
Opportunity throughout a drought
Mr McKay stated he and his spouse knew theirs had been a courageous name throughout a crippling drought however needed to stability that in opposition to the uncommon alternative to purchase a property in the area.
Ultimately the McKays wish to run as much as 13,000 head of cattle throughout each stations whereas remaining cautious and never overstocking and “flogging” the nation.
The McKays utterly destocked their new property and eliminated a whole lot of feral camels and donkeys.
“We mainly started from scratch. There’s a lot of labor there. So, we have been pulled out of our consolation zone now. And we’re again to the drafting board once more, growing one other large block,” Mr McKay stated.
Their objective is to finally move the properties on in the manner it was to them.
“We wish to give these children the similar alternatives we had after we have been youthful. So, you realize, we have an obligation to attempt to move that on to them,” Mr McKay stated
It is a calling their young kids will likely be solely too comfortable to take up if their enthusiasm in the cattle yards is something to go by.
Watch this story on ABC TV’s Landline at 12:30pm on Sunday, or on iview.
