48-505: 28°53′35″S 136°10′10″E / 28.89306°S 136.16944°E / -28.89306; 136.16944 Anna Creek Station is the world's largest working cattle station . It is located in the Australian state of South Australia . Anna Creek Station has an area of 23,677 km (9,142 sq mi; 5,851,000 acres). It is 8,000 km (2,000,000 acres; 3,100 sq mi) larger than its nearest rival, Alexandria Station in
96-580: A Queensland Utility Strap which can be used as a belt, neck strap, lunch-time hobble or a tie for a "micky". This attire is still used in Australian Stock Horse competitions. Pocket knives may be used to castrate and/or earmark an animal, to bang cattle tails or in an emergency to cut free an animal entangled in a rope or horse tack . Specially designed and cut for riding, oilskin Driza-Bone coats are used during wet weather. The horse typically wears
144-593: A better future in the beef cattle industry. The North Australian Pastoral Company Pty Limited (NAPCO) is now one of Australia's largest beef cattle producers, with a herd of over 180,000 cattle and fourteen cattle stations in Queensland and the Northern Territory. The Australian Agricultural Company (AA Co) manages a cattle herd of more than 585,000 head. Heytesbury Beef Pty Ltd owns and manages over two hundred thousand head of cattle across eight stations spanning
192-589: A chain of cattle stations along the sources of water, from the Gulf of Carpentaria , into South Australia to be within easy droving distance of the Adelaide markets. Aborigines have long played a big part in the cattle industry where they were competent stockmen on the cattle stations of the north. In 1950 it was legislated that the Aboriginal workers were now to be paid cash wages. Many cattle stations were established along
240-603: A consortium led by the Chinese group Dakang Australia Holdings. Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison blocked the sale later that month, in the national interest. Anna Creek is located in a weapons testing range. Morrison had previously blocked the sale of Kidman to related Chinese company, Pengxin Group. In December, Anna Creek was finally sold to the South Australian family business Williams Cattle Company, at an estimated $ 16 million, while
288-486: A feature of agricultural shows such as the Sydney Royal Easter Show . Stockman challenges are also gaining in popularity across the eastern states of Australia. In this event competitors show their skills by whipcracking , packing a packhorse (to be led around a course), bareback obstacle course, cross country, shoeing and stock handling competing in a single Australian Stock Saddle . The best will compete in
336-433: A final with a brumby catch and a second final section of a stock saddle buckjump ride where they have to mark out carrying a stockwhip, or a timed obstacle event. The role of the stockmen has often been celebrated in various media, with the stockman being generally more highly renowned for his ability to bring down a bullock than an outlaw and for sharp wit rather than sharp shooting . Two well-known songs commemorate
384-430: A large part in the successful running of many stations. With their intimate bonds to their tribal places, and local knowledge they also took considerable pride in their work. After the gold rushes white labour was expensive and difficult to retain. Aboriginal women also worked with cattle on the northern stations after this practice developed in northern Queensland during the 1880s. A Native Administration Act later stopped
432-498: A livestock export ship, or with a stock and station agency. Stockmen who work with the cattle in the Top End are known as ringers and are often only employed for the dry season which lasts from April to October. A station hand is an employee who is involved in routine duties on a rural property or station, which may also involve caring for livestock. With pastoral properties facing dire recruitment problems as young men are lured into
480-563: A locality by the Government of South Australia on 26 April 2013 with the name 'Anna Creek'. Despite its size, in 2007 Anna Creek Station was carrying only 1,500 head of cattle due to the 2000s drought . In 2008, when the station was owned by S. Kidman and Co Ltd , there were eight full-time staff and they were destocking all their cattle. Following floods in 2010, conditions improved and the station restocked. It had 10,000 head of cattle in May 2011 and
528-498: A ringhead bridle, a saddle cloth, a leather Australian stock saddle , which may be equipped with a breastplate in steep country, and saddlebag and quart-pot. Stockmen traditionally ride horses , use working dogs and a stockwhip for stock work and mustering , but motorised vehicles are increasingly used. Sometimes the vehicles that are used are four-wheel drive (4WD) "paddock-bashers", which are often old unregistered utilities. These vehicles may also be modified by removing
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#1732868684598576-736: A state or federal award, which is reviewed regularly. A stockman is responsible for the care for livestock and treatment of their injuries and illnesses. This includes feeding, watering, mustering , droving, branding, castrating, ear tagging , weighing, vaccinating livestock and dealing with their predators. Stockmen need to be able to judge age by examining the dentition (teeth) of cattle, sheep and occasionally horses. Those caring for sheep will regularly have to deal with flystrike treatments, jetting animals, worm control and lamb marking. Pregnant livestock usually receive special care in late pregnancy and stockmen may have to deal with dystocia (abnormal or difficult birth or labour). A good stockman
624-514: Is William Creek (which is surrounded by the Anna Creek station), but the nearest town for freight is Coober Pedy . The property was originally established in 1863 but moved to its current location in 1872. It was originally used for sheep, but due to losses from dingo attacks, they switched to cattle. The land occupying the extent of the Anna Creek Station pastoral lease was gazetted as
672-401: Is a felt Akubra hat; a double-flapped, two-pocket (for stock notebooks) cotton shirt; a plaited Kangaroo leather belt carrying a stockman's pocket knife in a pouch; light coloured, stockman cut, moleskin trousers with brown elastic side boots. The moleskin trousers have now largely been replaced by jeans. The plaited belt is often replaced by a working stockman or ringer with a belt known as
720-420: Is aware of livestock behavioural characteristics, and has an awareness of flight zone distances of the livestock being handled. Apart from livestock duties a stock person will inspect, maintain and repair fences, gates and yards that have been broken by storms, fallen trees, livestock and wildlife. A head stockman is responsible for a number of workers and a range of livestock and property operations including
768-542: Is capable of carrying up to 16,500 head of cattle during a good season. They raise Santa Gertrudis cattle as they are suitable for hot, dry climates. In mid April 2016, it was announced that the South Australian cattle company Williams Cattle Company was to acquire Anna Creek from S Kidman & Co, subject to approval by the Foreign Investment Review Board of the sale of the remainder of the Kidman holding to
816-457: Is necessitated in Australia by the large size of the "properties" which may be called sheep stations or cattle stations , depending upon the type of stock. In the inland regions of most states excluding Victoria and Tasmania, cattle stations may exceed 10,000 km with the largest being Anna Creek Station at 24,000 km (6,000,000 acres). The traditional attire of a stockman or grazier
864-577: Is not connected, electricity is typically provided by a generator, although solar electricity systems have become increasingly common. Children were originally educated by correspondence lessons , often supervised by a governess , and via the School of the Air , but many children in remote areas went to boarding school for their secondary education. The Royal Flying Doctor Service is available to remote stations in outback Australia. Historically, an outstation
912-578: The Great Dividing Range where only cattle raising was possible because of dingo attacks on sheep. The original Kunderang Station, on the eastern fall of the Great Dividing Range was taken up by Captain George Jobling as an outstation, and later sold under the Subdivision of Runs Act 1884. Kunderang was one of the few Great Dividing Range stations which was inhabited. The isolated homestead here,
960-512: The Top End heat and cattle ticks . The Brucellosis and Tuberculosis Eradication Campaign (BTEC) was a national program to eradicate bovine brucellosis and bovine tuberculosis that commenced in 1970 after years of local jurisdictional activities. In the 1970s, interest rates soared and the American beef market collapsed causing the beef depression. A fat bullock was then worth less than a pair of locally made elastic side riding boots. The cattle herd
1008-522: The 21st century class actions for these " stolen wages ", as they have been dubbed, have taken place in Queensland, Western Australia and the NT. In 1911, rural stockmen received only £1 to £1/5/- a week plus keep after a decision was made by the Arbitration Court. The award of 1918 increased wages by up to 50 per cent to a minimum of £2/13/-. Head stockmen received about £1 extra. Stockmen now work under
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#17328686845981056-499: The American ranch ), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a grazier . The largest cattle station in the world is Anna Creek Station in South Australia , which covers an area of 23,677 square kilometres (9,142 sq mi; 5,851,000 acres). Each station has a homestead where the property owner or the manager lives. Nearby cottages or staff quarters provide housing for
1104-547: The East Kimberley, Victoria River and Barkly Tablelands regions in Northern Australia. Cattle station has a parallel term, sheep station , for those stations carrying sheep rather than cattle. In most cases the stations are in a rangeland context on pastoral leases . Many are larger than small countries. Some stations are not exclusively sheep or cattle stations but have a mix of cattle, sheep and even goats to make
1152-475: The artistic creators of the opening ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, were also the co-creators of the musical, The Man from Snowy River: Arena Spectacular . A further tribute to the stockman derives from the fact that for a number of years the promotions of the Sydney Royal Easter Show have referred to it as "The Great Australian Muster". In Longreach , Queensland, a museum and memorial called
1200-439: The booming mining industry, young women from the cities are becoming a common sight on outback stations, often attracted by the chance to work with horses. An associated occupation is that of the drover , who, like the shearer may be an itinerant worker, and is employed in tending to livestock while they are travelling on a stock route . A station trainee is known as a jackaroo (male) or jillaroo (female). The role of
1248-510: The bread supply has been exhausted. It is made with self-raising flour, salt and water and is usually cooked in a camp oven over the embers of a fire. In these areas the days in the saddle are often very long as the cattle have to be mustered and then driven to yards or a paddock where they can be held. After the stock have been yarded they may then require drafting prior to branding, shearing or whatever procedures are required or have been planned. The employment of mounted workers to tend livestock
1296-410: The cattle can be branded and also transported from these yards if required. Lambs are also often marked in temporary yards as a means of reducing infection. A number of equestrian sports are particularly associated with stockmen. These include campdrafting , team penning , tentpegging and polocrosse , as well as working dog trials. The sports are played in local and state competitions and are often
1344-628: The country's Northern Territory . It is over seven times the size of the United States ' biggest ranch , King Ranch in Texas , which is 3,340 km (830,000 acres; 1,290 sq mi). The station is arid pastoral country. As of 16 December 2016, the station is owned by the Williams Cattle Company , a family business that bought Anna Creek from S. Kidman & Co , doubling their total area held under pastoral leases . The nearest township
1392-687: The death of a stockman, the anonymous "Wrap me up with my stockwhip and blanket" and Rolf Harris 's " Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport ". Through the 19th and early 20th centuries the writing of balladic poetry was a favoured form of literary expression, and the public recitation of such pieces remains a feature of Australian folk festivals . The majority of the most popular ballads deal with rural subject and many are specifically about stockmen. These works include Adam Lindsay Gordon 's Bush Ballads and Galloping Rhymes which includes " The Sick Stockrider ", and, most famously, Banjo Paterson 's epic poem The Man from Snowy River . "The Man from Snowy River"
1440-443: The employees. Storage sheds and cattle yards are also sited near the homestead. Other structures depend on the size and location of the station. Isolated stations will have a mechanic's workshop, schoolroom, a small general store to supply essentials, and possibly an entertainment or bar area for the owners and staff. Water may be supplied from a river, bores or dams , in conjunction with rainwater tanks. Nowadays, if rural mains power
1488-555: The employment of women in the cattle camps. Aboriginal people often received only food and clothing to retain their labour, until they began to be paid a small cash wage in the 1950s and 1960s, much less than their white counterparts. In 1966, Vincent Lingiari led Gurindji workers on the Wave Hill walk-off , a strike on the large Vesteys cattle station in the Northern Territory , which brought about wage parity two years later. In
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1536-524: The homesteads are very isolated, they have satellite telecommunications including television and internet. The Coober Pedy Oodnadatta One Day Mail Run delivers mail twice a week and can bring a small amount of freight. The Peake Ruins , including those of a former telegraph office, cemetery, mine site and lime kilns at the outstation, are listed on the South Australian Heritage Register . The Strangways Springs Telegraph Station Ruins on
1584-447: The large, often unfenced, properties necessitated the role of the shepherd to tend the flocks. Early stockmen were specially selected, highly regarded men owing to the high value and importance of early livestock. All stockmen need to be interested in animals, able to handle them with confidence and patience, able to make accurate observations about them and enjoy working outdoors. Aboriginal Australians were good stockmen who played
1632-455: The mounted stockmen came into being early in the 19th century, after the Blue Mountains , separating the coastal plain of the Sydney region from the interior of the continent, were first crossed by Europeans in 1813. The town of Bathurst was founded shortly after, and potential farmers moved westward, and settled on the land, many of them as squatters . The rolling country, ideal for sheep and
1680-452: The mustering and surveillance of livestock and their watering points. Cattle mustering in the Outback and the eastern ‘Falls’ country of the Great Dividing Range often necessitates days camping out in isolated areas and sleeping in a swag (bedroll) on the ground with limited food choices. Damper is a traditional type of bread that was baked by stockmen during colonial times, or nowadays when
1728-434: The owner less vulnerable to changes in the wool or beef prices. The phrase is also in traditional Australian English to denote something large and/or important. Stockman (Australia) In Australia , a stockman (plural stockmen ) is a person who looks after the livestock on a station , traditionally on horse. It has a similar meaning to " cowboy ". A stockman may also be employed at an abattoir , feedlot , on
1776-423: The performance opened with 121 stockmen and women riding Australian Stock Horses in a tribute to the Australian pastoral heritage and the importance of the stock horse in Australia's heritage. The pastoral tribute took place to music written by Bruce Rowland , who composed a special Olympics version of the main theme for the 1982 movie " The Man from Snowy River ". David Atkins and Ignatius Jones , who were
1824-432: The rest of the Kidman empire was sold to a consortium comprising mining magnate Gina Rinehart 's Hancock Prospecting , owning 67%, and the Chinese company Shanghai CRED, owning 33%. The Williams family planned to invest heavily in new waters and trucking yards in order to facilitate an increase in the number of stock carried on the station. There is a main homestead at Anna Creek and an outstation at The Peake. Although
1872-473: The station are also listed on the Heritage Register. Once there was a large workforce of stockmen at Anna Creek, who mustered the cattle on horses. Today light aircraft are used for spotting animals which are rounded up by stockmen riding motorbikes, requiring a much smaller workforce. Cattle station In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm ( station is equivalent to
1920-420: The supervision of operations that includes feeding, mating, managing artificial breeding and embryo transfer programs; managing vehicle and equipment maintenance; repair and maintenance of property structures; supervising and training of staff. Mustering is done with horses or vehicles including all-terrain vehicles (ATV), and some of the large cattle stations use helicopters or light aircraft to assist in
1968-458: The top and fitting roll and bull bars for bull or buffalo catching. Some stations are now making changes for the employment of women by building female living quarters and installing hydraulic cattle crushes etc. Transportable steel yards are now often carried on a truck to an area where stock-work can be completed without having to drive stock long distances to permanent yards. Stockmen and their horses can be unloaded at these yards and then
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2016-672: Was a subsidiary homestead or other dwelling on Australian sheep or cattle stations that was more than a day's return travel from the main homestead. Although the term later came to be more commonly used to describe a specific type of Aboriginal settlement, also known as a homeland community , it is still used on cattle stations today, for example the Sturt Creek Outstation of the Ruby Plains Station in The Kimberley , among others. The cattle station now known as Pigeon Hole
2064-1138: Was associated with the opening up and stocking of several cattle stations in the Victoria River district and the Ord River region. The Gordon brothers and Nathaniel Buchanan took up Wave Hill on the Victoria River in 1883, one of the first cattle stations established west of the Telegraph Line. Their nearest neighbour was 200 miles (322 km) away. By 1898 James Tyson (8 April 1819 – 4 December 1898), held 5,329,214 acres (2,156,680 ha) including 352,332 acres (142,585 ha) freehold. His stations included Bangate, Goondublui, Juanbung, Tupra and Mooroonowa in New South Wales; Heyfield in Victoria; and Glenormiston , Swanvale, Meteor Downs and Albinia Downs, Babbiloora, Carnarvon, Tully, Wyobie, Felton, Mount Russell and Tinnenburra in Queensland. Sidney Kidman (1857–1935) set up
2112-675: Was built of solid Australian red cedar ( Toona ciliata ). Several major events have affected cattle stations starting with the Second World War and including the beef depression of the early 1970s, the technological achievements of the 1980s and the advent of live export markets in the more recent years. Roads and communications were greatly improved as a result of the War. Many of the Northern Territory cattle stations had been previously owned by English companies who also did not pay tax in Australia. The 33,280 square kilometres Victoria River Downs
2160-555: Was reduced to 21.8 million by 1978 in the wake of this crash. Roads and communications were further improved as a result of the Tuberculosis Eradication Campaign. In 1979, a disastrous drought struck and continued into 1983 becoming one of Australia's worst droughts. Helicopters were now being used to assist in mustering in the 1980s. Australia entered the Japanese beef market in 1988 with improved expectations for
2208-809: Was sold in March 1909 to Lord Luke's Bovril Australian Estates for AU£180,000 and until 1950 they were not paying taxes to the Australian Government. In 1950 income tax was introduced to Northern Territory land owners. The very large stations were subdivided and country was available with reasonable conditions of tenure. This saw an influx of adventurous, working stockmen, with many doing well by mustering 'cleanskins' (unbranded cattle) on their new land. Zebu cattle were imported from Pakistan in 1956 and Brahman cattle were also brought from United States at about that time. Many new breeds were developed from these imports and this led to cattle that were much more tolerant to
2256-471: Was to become the source of three movies, one in 1920, and another in 1982 to be followed by a sequel. A TV series followed called Banjo Paterson's The Man from Snowy River . In 2002 the story was shown as live musical theatre called The Man from Snowy River: Arena Spectacular . The inspiration for this musical performance came from the Opening Ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, when
2304-532: Was until 2000 an outstation of the Victoria River Downs Station . Charles Brown Fisher and Maurice Lyons, a Melbourne magistrate stocked Victoria River Downs in the early 1880s. Drover , Nathaniel Buchanan (1826–1901), overlanded 20,000 head of cattle from Wilmot to Victoria River Downs in c.1881 to establish their cattle venture. Previously Nat had from 1860 to 1867, stocked and managed Bowen Downs Station near Longreach, Queensland . Buchanan
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