Beef price boost for Australia’s Tipperary Group cattle
THERE’S no doubt about it, the ongoing increase in beef prices have been a welcome boost to the coffers of the Tipperary Group of cattle stations in Australia’s Northern Territory.
However, the general manager David Connolly knows he can’t rest on his laurels as the situation could change at any time if market dynamics follow a different path.
The Tipperary Group consists of three stations, namely Tipperary Station, Litchfield Station and Douglas West Station, which accumulate to over 4,000 square kilometres or 1.2 million acres.
That’s a huge area to farm for the 45 staff, but it’s not just cattle that bring in the bucks on the stations, as new enterprises are now part of the business infrastructure.
David said: “I have been the general manager for the group since February 2015. The group is owned primarily by Allan J Myers QC, a renowned barrister from Melbourne, and his investor partners. Allan has owned the group for 20 years.
“Tipperary Station runs primarily Brahman cattle that can handle our high heat and low nutrition fodder in the dry season and humid conditions in the wet. They are indeed a very hardy animal.
“We run about 10,000 breeding females and purchase in 25,000 to 30,000 trading cattle per year in an all open range system. The optimum numbers are 42,000 head with cattle flowing from Tipperary and Douglas West to Litchfield for floodplain finishing.
“As well as the cattle farming, the business is quite diverse syncing with horticulture as we have 10,500 lemon trees and 4,000 mango trees.
“Adding value crops is another string to our bow as we grow 2,800 hectares of cotton as well as hay, silage and sorghum to sell. Plus we offer carbon farming and farm stays for tourists,” he said.
Running such huge cattle stations in Australia require a lot of water sources to keep the animals alive. In this part of Australia there are only two seasons, wet and dry, which both bring their own set of challenges to farmers.
David said: “Tipperary Station is situated about 220kms south of Darwin on the confluence of the Douglas and Daly River systems, so we have plenty of naturally available water.
“We are in the sub tropics here so we have monsoonal rainfall from November to March annually. Most of our stock is sold in the wet season to attract the premiums.”
All of the breeding stock at Tipperary are naturally mated. Then, twice per year, David’s team muster all the cattle to wean them off their mothers.
David said: “We muster all the cattle twice per year, first round in May to wean and brand calves, and then a second round in October or November to muster turn-off cattle to market in December to February.
“We sell almost exclusively into the live export market to Indonesia and Vietnam with cattle weights ranging from 350kgs liveweight to 480kgs liveweight at 18 to 24 months old.”
Staff at the stations vaccinate the young cattle against clostridial diseases and the breeding cattle vaccinated against Botulism.
David said: “We have to supplement the pastures heavily for phosphorous. Breeding cattle in this country last anything from 11 to 14 years, but we do have predators to look out for that increase the mortality rate.
“Our main predators are crocodiles, dingoes, wild pigs and actually humans trespassing. We would normally lose around one per cent per year to these predators. Humans trespassing that kill our cattle for meat is also becoming a huge issue.”
When it comes to selling cattle, there is a strict protocol to follow especially with the animals that are destined for the overseas markets.
David said: “We use our own mustering camp as well as assistance from outside livestock contractors to gather the cattle for drafting.
“Cattle are then drafted for sale and selected by the buyer and sent to a 48 hour quarantine in a licensed facility, before they can make the trip across the sea.
“The cattle market is at an all-time historic high. Whilst this is good for sellers it has put massive strain on the supply chain for meat works processors and our export customers.
“The price is now at a level where Vietnam buyers are sourcing alternate supplies due to affordability issues and Indonesia may soon follow suit. I don’t think there will be a slump as cattle numbers are in such short supply.
“It will take a rise in overall cattle numbers to really set this market back. Seasonal conditions, with much of Australia enjoying good rainfall, is also a factor. Prices will move up and down as usual but the underlying demand is such that prices are likely to remain high in the foreseeable future due to short supply,” he said.
In one sale the Tipperary Group sent 6,000 steers over to Indonesia, which is one of the regular markets for its cattle. There are indeed some ‘invading’ livestock that has to be managed on the stations that can be a threat to the cattle by bringing in diseases and competing for the forage.
“We have a percentage of what we call cleanskin stock, basically unbranded cattle and buffalo which are harvested off the property. They are running wild so we need to control their numbers. Normally, we would catch and sell about 500 of these buffaloes per year,” said David.
David is indeed an expert on the cattle industry in Australia as he is the current president of the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association.
He said: “In this role I oversee the board and executive management of Australia’s premier Cattlemen’s Association. Our mission is to serve and protect the interests of Northern Territory cattlemen. It is a voluntary position that works with governments of all types to protect cattlemen’s interests.”