CAED researcher, Montana Baddeley, immersed herself in the mustering cultural of a large cattle enterprise in the Goldfields for a week in early July, 2024.
Hosted by the station owners, Montana was able to build relationships with the entire muster crew, including the station managers, helicopter pilots, truck drivers, and station hands, learning about the important role each plays in the muster and their varied experiences within the cattle industry.
She saw all aspects of the muster and processing, including:
setting-up of portable yards
mustering cattle using of a team of helicopters, buggies and motorbikes
selection process for the sale cattle from the mustered mob
transport of sale cattle to permanent yards
drafting and tagging of sale cattle in preparation to be transported to their backgrounding property in the south west.
Montana also enjoyed experiencing the afterhours activities including feeding the poddy calves, educating weaner heifers, maintenance of vehicles, bonding over a few games of cards, and the team’s end of muster BBQ celebrations.
The main purpose of the visit was to gain a better understanding of on-ground practices to inform research and a case study in the BeefLinks Feedlot project, but it also provided the opportunity for information sharing and relationship building.
Her insights into the daily operations of a large-scale cattle enterprise are helping the team to better understand the challenges and opportunities for adoption of research outputs. Additionally, the contacts made during the visit have connected the team for further research opportunities.
Look out for the upcoming outputs from this Feedlot Performance Project.
For more information:
Fiona Dempster: fiona.dempster@uwa.edu.au
Montana Walsh Baddeley: montana.walshbaddeley@uwa.edu.au
Phil Vercoe: philip.vercoe@uwa.edu.au
Feedlot Performance Project: See Flyer
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