MITCHELL grass has recently grown back due to consistent rain, meaning longevity for cattle stations.
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Boulia mayor and Goodwood Station owner Rick Britton said the growth of the grass supplies a year’s worth of feed for cattle.
Grass and the positive cattle market were good signs for the industry.
“It’s not often an opportunity like that to get the ducks lined up,” Councillor Britton said.
“It’s so widespread, that’s the benefit of it. There’s not many gaps that would not have relief rain now.”
“The only negative thing is trying to stock up.”
And that’s what many stations would be doing having offloaded their cattle to survive years of drought, the mayor acknowledged.
Cr Britton was keen to learn whether the traditional wet season in summer would continue to bring rain for the region.
“All the old school older people say droughts are broken by winter rain,” he said.
“So it’s interesting to see what the summer will do.
Cr Britton was a guest speaker at Headingly Station, owned by the Australian Agricultural Company and managed by Jim and Sandra Hagan.
On Saturday the station celebrated 100 years of being owned by the company.
Owners celebrated by offering tours of the station. During the tour employees noted how much greener the 1.1 million property was compared to previous years – although there were still dry areas.
A forecast of rain was predicted for the day, which ended up being clear and sunny.
Cr Britton said there were two family operated properties in his shire that had reached the centenary milestone.
The milestones proved the sustainability of agriculture, although the industry had struggled with the suspension of live trade exports on top of drought.
“100 years this property has been here. I can guarantee this property has produced more beef than 100 years ago. There’s more ecosystems here than 100 years ago. Show me a mine that can do exactly that.”