This past week I've had the pleasure of staying and working at Apis Creek in Malbrough, Qld. Apis Creek is the home of Tim and Lynette Olive along with their two daughters Courtney and Alexandra. This 50,000 acre property is located about 50 miles outside of the town of Malbrough where the Olive's run a Grey Brahman Stud and raise Charbray's and Brangus for their commercial herd. Unfortunately Courtney, the eldest daughter, was away at boarding school this week and could not be there.
I first met up with the Olive family at the Paradise Lagoons Campdraft in Rocky, after a long fun weekend it was straight to work on Monday morning. Every day started at 6 am with breakfast and did not end until after dark with dinner...the week flew by! I worked alongside three really great men this week; Mr. Tim and contract musters' Ian and Jamie. These guys are absolutely great to work with, keeping the atmosphere fun and upbeat. On Monday, we mustered a few steer paddocks with the helicopter, bikes and the Ute...not something you see everyday in Louisiana... Needless to say I was in awe of the whole experience and snapped about a million and one photos of the chopper. After the steers were in the laneway, Tony (the helicopter pilot) pulled up to re-fuel; we were hanging around the Ute talking about none other than Swamp People when Mr. Tim says "Brooke you ready to go up?" yep I got to go up in the chopper...best/most nerve-wracking experience ever! If anyone is wondering what it feels like; I felt like I was strapped in an aluminum can whizzing, ducking, and diving above trees, creeks, and cattle! It wasn't until after I got out of the chopper and on the ground that I realized the guys on the bike down below (laughing) could hear me freaking out from the two way on my headpiece...whoops. Long story short, I had a great day and can't wait to go up again!
The rest of the week we processed 1200 weaner heifers, bulls, and steers; dehorning, vaccinating, branding, etc. We also weighed and processed over 400 older steers who were being used in an HGP trial; the steers were broken up into three groups: (1) steers implanted with Compudose 400 (2) steers implanted with Revlorflex (3) no treatment control group, I recorded the initial and final weights of the steers as well as the ADG (average daily gain)%, I'm anxious to see the resutls of the trial in the future. All together, after the mustering, we ran and processed over 3,000 head of cattle through the yards in one week. It was a long week but it flew by, they say time flies when you're having fun!
I was pretty lucky to see both sides of Apis Creek during the week, the commercial and Stud. During a "break" I was able to go for a drive around the paddocks with Mr. Tim, Mrs. Lynette, and Alexandra to look at the cattle and see what was beyond the yards. It was great to see what was behind the weaners and steers we were processing all week. Technically it was not a break because we had to fix a fence along the way!
On Wednesday night, I really felt like part of the family because I watched Alexandra loose her first tooth and be amazed that it did not hurt! She ran around so excited that the tooth fairy would come that night and that she still looked like "Alexandra" and could whistle! One of the cool things I got to experience was distance education; home-school via telephone. Everyday Alexandra has a 45 minute "telly lesson" with her class which is based out of Rockhampton. There are 5 kids in her Prep class and they have a main teacher who communicates with them though the telephone, each child has a headset and says their name when they would like to be called on or have finished an assignment. The teacher will send out course work to be completed over two weeeks so that after the lesson the parents will work with the children to complete the work like a regular school day. Pretty neat, she even had her own little school room!
I became very close with the Olive family working alongside them day in and day out and I'm happy to say that Apis Creek felt like home, thanks again to the Olives for everything, can't wait to go back!
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Fenech Brahman Cattle Company and Lancefield Brahmans
Fenech Brahmans is the home of Tony and Joanne Fenech and their sons Will, his wife Tracey, and Chris. Located in Wowan, Qld, about an hour from Rockhampton, the Fenech's raise registered Grey and Red Brahmans and run a Brahman-cross commercial herd on 10,000 acres.
While at the Fenech's I was able to work with the bulls and females for the upcoming FBC sale in October. Work with the newly weaned heifers and bulls, educating them by tailing them on horseback in a stock saddle, very different from the American Western saddle...no horn! I also got to see a cloned female named Minnie. Miniie was cloned a few years ago and has been doing very well for the Fenech's having a high profiling calf each year.
By far my favorite part about my week at Fenech's was getting to know the kiddos! Will has three children, Rory, Jack, and Harrison...the sweetest kids! They jump right into the action as soon as school let's out, and have so much energy! The hardest part about moving from property to property is leaving great children behind after becoming so close, I've met so many amazing young people during my time here! I love meeting families with children as passionate about the industry as they are.
During my week with the Fenech's, I was able to spend a few days with Lancefield Brahman Stud just down the road. Scott and Lizette McCamley raise a predominately Gray Brahman stud and commercial herd on 70,000 acres. The McCamley's have two sons Ross and Ben who live and work on the property as well. Ross and his wife Jodi have two children Hailey (2) and Brody (4 months) also adorable kids!
I am very excited that I was able to visit Lancefield and see their cattle and the standard in which they select for. I was very impressed with their cattle and string of bulls for their upcoming sale. Although my time was short there, I was able to get to know this great hard-working family and I thank them for taking the time to show me around and making me feel welcome.
While at the Fenech's I was able to work with the bulls and females for the upcoming FBC sale in October. Work with the newly weaned heifers and bulls, educating them by tailing them on horseback in a stock saddle, very different from the American Western saddle...no horn! I also got to see a cloned female named Minnie. Miniie was cloned a few years ago and has been doing very well for the Fenech's having a high profiling calf each year.
By far my favorite part about my week at Fenech's was getting to know the kiddos! Will has three children, Rory, Jack, and Harrison...the sweetest kids! They jump right into the action as soon as school let's out, and have so much energy! The hardest part about moving from property to property is leaving great children behind after becoming so close, I've met so many amazing young people during my time here! I love meeting families with children as passionate about the industry as they are.
During my week with the Fenech's, I was able to spend a few days with Lancefield Brahman Stud just down the road. Scott and Lizette McCamley raise a predominately Gray Brahman stud and commercial herd on 70,000 acres. The McCamley's have two sons Ross and Ben who live and work on the property as well. Ross and his wife Jodi have two children Hailey (2) and Brody (4 months) also adorable kids!
I am very excited that I was able to visit Lancefield and see their cattle and the standard in which they select for. I was very impressed with their cattle and string of bulls for their upcoming sale. Although my time was short there, I was able to get to know this great hard-working family and I thank them for taking the time to show me around and making me feel welcome.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Here there and Everywhere!
I had a wonderful time at Fern Hills with the McCamley family. The two girls Cheyenne and Montana are like night and day, both unique in their own way. They reminded me of my brother and I when we were growing up. Cheyenne is quiet and giving with a heart the size of Texas, always willing to help out and will pick you up when you are down, like my brother. Montana on the other hand is firey and persistent, standing up for what she believes in no matter what, like me. Also, they are two of the most well mannered and well behaved kids I have ever met, they offer to do the dishes and iron! Just goes to show that they have two great parents who have raised their children to be young adults. Janice McCamley is a lovely lady who would do anything for her girls and took me in like one of her own. I cannot thank her enough for that! Brett McCamley is pretty lucky to have such wonderful girls in his life! I learned alot from him while I was there, he is very passionate about his cattle and I thank him for sharing his knowledge of the industry with me.
This past weekend, I attended the Calliope camp draft with the McCamley family. I had a lot of fun watching and snapping photos of the participants. It was nice to catch up with the familar faces that I met at the last camp draft and meet new people as well. I would like to thank everyone that I have met along the way for being so welcoming and making me feel at home!
On Thursday I arrived at "Voewood" home of Dennis, Dennise, and Edward Quinn. The Quinn's run a registered Grey Brahman Stud as well as a commercial cattle herd on 14,500 acres about 45 minutes outside of Calliope. Edward explained to me that they strictly cull their cattle according to temperament and structure; this allows them to run a successful and profitable operation. Over the past few days, I have been able to tour the property and help with the sale bulls for Brahman week. I am looking forward to the rest of my time with the Quinn's and will be heading to Fenech Brahmans at the end of the week.
I hope all is well at home, see you all very soon!
This past weekend, I attended the Calliope camp draft with the McCamley family. I had a lot of fun watching and snapping photos of the participants. It was nice to catch up with the familar faces that I met at the last camp draft and meet new people as well. I would like to thank everyone that I have met along the way for being so welcoming and making me feel at home!
On Thursday I arrived at "Voewood" home of Dennis, Dennise, and Edward Quinn. The Quinn's run a registered Grey Brahman Stud as well as a commercial cattle herd on 14,500 acres about 45 minutes outside of Calliope. Edward explained to me that they strictly cull their cattle according to temperament and structure; this allows them to run a successful and profitable operation. Over the past few days, I have been able to tour the property and help with the sale bulls for Brahman week. I am looking forward to the rest of my time with the Quinn's and will be heading to Fenech Brahmans at the end of the week.
I hope all is well at home, see you all very soon!
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Fern Hills
Good Morning! It's been a cold week at Fern Hills but a gorgeous one at that, not sure if I mentioned it but Fern Hills is surrounded by hills and mountain ranges creating the most beautiful scenery. Since my last post, I have been busy around the property, doing everyday tasks as well as bringing bulls to the Beef Breeding Services to be collected.
While at Fern Hills, I was able to take a day trip out to Rockley Brahmans, a Red Brahman Stud just down the road from the McCamley's. Chris and Ashley Kirk took me on a tour of their property and I was able to look at their sale bulls for Brahman Week in October. I had a great time with the Kirk's, they made sure to inform me that they would be watching "my people" on TV this week....yes everyone Swamp People has just recently aired in Australia.
Wednesday I traveled to Emerald which is about 3 hours from Bajool for the Agrow field day. This was a huge event featuring everything in agriculture. The main part of the field day was the bull sale featuring mainly Charolais bulls. After the sale, Janice and I walked around the shops and to my mother's surprise I did not spend all of my money! I had a very nice time at the field day and was able to see some very interesting things, like a stuffed dingo...which scared me to death!
I hope everyone has a great rest of the week and good luck to all of the exhibitors at the All American!
While at Fern Hills, I was able to take a day trip out to Rockley Brahmans, a Red Brahman Stud just down the road from the McCamley's. Chris and Ashley Kirk took me on a tour of their property and I was able to look at their sale bulls for Brahman Week in October. I had a great time with the Kirk's, they made sure to inform me that they would be watching "my people" on TV this week....yes everyone Swamp People has just recently aired in Australia.
Wednesday I traveled to Emerald which is about 3 hours from Bajool for the Agrow field day. This was a huge event featuring everything in agriculture. The main part of the field day was the bull sale featuring mainly Charolais bulls. After the sale, Janice and I walked around the shops and to my mother's surprise I did not spend all of my money! I had a very nice time at the field day and was able to see some very interesting things, like a stuffed dingo...which scared me to death!
I hope everyone has a great rest of the week and good luck to all of the exhibitors at the All American!
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Much Needed Update
Since my last post alot has happened, and I have finally found time to blog about it! Sorry about the long wait, I'm staying very busy and have barely any time to write so this will be a long one!
I attended the Proserpine Show with the Camm family and headed back to Rocky with Timbrel Brahman Stud. At the prossie show, I was able to help Timbrel exhibit a few of their cattle and also participated in Paraders where I placed second. I've met some really great people over the past month and have made lasting friendships. We had a bit of a rough take off from the Prossie show, once all of the cattle and equiptment were loaded onto the cattle truck and packed in the Ute, one of the cattle trucks would not start...not going to lie, I was kind of glad it did because it was pretty cool to see how they fixed these massive trucks. Once off, we had a 6 hour drive to Rockhampton.
Back in Rocky, I had a day to wash clothes, re-pack, and prepare everything for the Junior Beef Show. This show was alot of fun and very different from our Junior shows. It is for anyone who wants to participate up to age 25. Once signed up, every Junior has to participate in every event, separated by different age groups. O and here is the catch, parents are not allowed to do the bulk of the work, basically they can be there to supervise and thats it. Kenrol brought three heifers and two bulls for the juniors to show, once there I was assigned four kids to be on my show team: Tyler, Nathan, Paris, and Axel. We had a great week, fantastic kids who grew over the weekend, the cattle did as well....I'm surprised any of them still had hair left!
Day one: On the first day we attended learning sessions in our age groups, I attended the Preg-testing session and was able to preg-test on a dummy cow. In that session, we also learned how to AI and feel real reproductive tracks from different females. Also, I attended a NLIS, National Livestock Identification System, session where they discussed the proper way to tag animals and the benefits of the NILS tags and so forth. Finally, we attended a steer and stud cattle judging demonstration to round out the day. After tea (dinner), each group participated in "Bush Olympics" which reminded me of the '08 All American in Fort Smith, Arkansas when we played "Barnyard Olympics" for the first time and everyone loved it!
Day two: At 8 am sharp, all 120 exhibitors loaded two charter buses dressed in slacks and sportscoats, headed to the Gracemere sale yards to judge prime, it was a long morning. After judging four classes and each age group speaking on a different one, we headed back to the show grounds for lunch and to judge stud cattle; three classes of stud cattle and reasons on one set. I was pretty pleased with myself, I placed second in prime and thrid in stud cattle for the age group 18-25. Everyone tested their singing abilities that night with team karyoke...yikes. The red stars, my team, won third!
Day three: Show day, the most important day. The morning started off with Interbreed led cattle judging and rounded out with Junior Paraders. Our team did fantastically, Tyler won fifth with Shindowa, Paris won thrid with Polly, Axel won first with the polly red bull, and Red Lady won first in class and Reserve Calf Champion. In Juniro Paraders, I placed thrid in my age group. Honestly this was the hardest showmanship competetion I've ever participated in. We walked on lap around the ring, set up, and then the judge took our showsticks away! We had to show the rest of the class without a cane! Also, we switched calves just to make it more interesting..pretty intense. All in all, it was a great show and I really enjoyed working with the young people. Once again, thank you to the Australian Brahman Breeders Association for allowing me to participate in Junior Beef 2011.
Finally, we are caught up! On Friday, I arrived at Fern Hills in Bajool, a small town on the outskirts of Rockhampton. Fern Hills is a Red Brahman cattle stud home to Brett and Janice McCamley and their two daughters Cheyenne and Montana. Satuday and Sunday, I attended my first Camp-Draft with the McCamley's. It is very hard to explain since I have never seen anything like it in the states. There are two sections of the ring, the camp and the course. Exhibitors have to first cut a calf from the camp and take it out onto the course and complete and clover leaf pattern around two pegs and finally take the calf through the gate. The first peg will earn you two points, the second peg one point, and the gate one point for a total of four points on the course. Exhibitors are also judged on horsemanship and ability to cut the calf from the camp and so one. I had alot of fun this weekend and am very excited to attened the Calliope Camp-Darft next weekend.
I will try and update my blog as much as I can, thanks for following my travels, see you all very soon! I cannot believe that it was a month yesterday since I've been here, time is flying.
I attended the Proserpine Show with the Camm family and headed back to Rocky with Timbrel Brahman Stud. At the prossie show, I was able to help Timbrel exhibit a few of their cattle and also participated in Paraders where I placed second. I've met some really great people over the past month and have made lasting friendships. We had a bit of a rough take off from the Prossie show, once all of the cattle and equiptment were loaded onto the cattle truck and packed in the Ute, one of the cattle trucks would not start...not going to lie, I was kind of glad it did because it was pretty cool to see how they fixed these massive trucks. Once off, we had a 6 hour drive to Rockhampton.
Back in Rocky, I had a day to wash clothes, re-pack, and prepare everything for the Junior Beef Show. This show was alot of fun and very different from our Junior shows. It is for anyone who wants to participate up to age 25. Once signed up, every Junior has to participate in every event, separated by different age groups. O and here is the catch, parents are not allowed to do the bulk of the work, basically they can be there to supervise and thats it. Kenrol brought three heifers and two bulls for the juniors to show, once there I was assigned four kids to be on my show team: Tyler, Nathan, Paris, and Axel. We had a great week, fantastic kids who grew over the weekend, the cattle did as well....I'm surprised any of them still had hair left!
Day one: On the first day we attended learning sessions in our age groups, I attended the Preg-testing session and was able to preg-test on a dummy cow. In that session, we also learned how to AI and feel real reproductive tracks from different females. Also, I attended a NLIS, National Livestock Identification System, session where they discussed the proper way to tag animals and the benefits of the NILS tags and so forth. Finally, we attended a steer and stud cattle judging demonstration to round out the day. After tea (dinner), each group participated in "Bush Olympics" which reminded me of the '08 All American in Fort Smith, Arkansas when we played "Barnyard Olympics" for the first time and everyone loved it!
Day two: At 8 am sharp, all 120 exhibitors loaded two charter buses dressed in slacks and sportscoats, headed to the Gracemere sale yards to judge prime, it was a long morning. After judging four classes and each age group speaking on a different one, we headed back to the show grounds for lunch and to judge stud cattle; three classes of stud cattle and reasons on one set. I was pretty pleased with myself, I placed second in prime and thrid in stud cattle for the age group 18-25. Everyone tested their singing abilities that night with team karyoke...yikes. The red stars, my team, won third!
Day three: Show day, the most important day. The morning started off with Interbreed led cattle judging and rounded out with Junior Paraders. Our team did fantastically, Tyler won fifth with Shindowa, Paris won thrid with Polly, Axel won first with the polly red bull, and Red Lady won first in class and Reserve Calf Champion. In Juniro Paraders, I placed thrid in my age group. Honestly this was the hardest showmanship competetion I've ever participated in. We walked on lap around the ring, set up, and then the judge took our showsticks away! We had to show the rest of the class without a cane! Also, we switched calves just to make it more interesting..pretty intense. All in all, it was a great show and I really enjoyed working with the young people. Once again, thank you to the Australian Brahman Breeders Association for allowing me to participate in Junior Beef 2011.
Finally, we are caught up! On Friday, I arrived at Fern Hills in Bajool, a small town on the outskirts of Rockhampton. Fern Hills is a Red Brahman cattle stud home to Brett and Janice McCamley and their two daughters Cheyenne and Montana. Satuday and Sunday, I attended my first Camp-Draft with the McCamley's. It is very hard to explain since I have never seen anything like it in the states. There are two sections of the ring, the camp and the course. Exhibitors have to first cut a calf from the camp and take it out onto the course and complete and clover leaf pattern around two pegs and finally take the calf through the gate. The first peg will earn you two points, the second peg one point, and the gate one point for a total of four points on the course. Exhibitors are also judged on horsemanship and ability to cut the calf from the camp and so one. I had alot of fun this weekend and am very excited to attened the Calliope Camp-Darft next weekend.
I will try and update my blog as much as I can, thanks for following my travels, see you all very soon! I cannot believe that it was a month yesterday since I've been here, time is flying.
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