Cattle work is quite cyclical here.

Summer time means the Spring born calves are ready to brand before being returned to their mothers until Autumn weaning. It also means grass is growing faster and we speed up our pasture rotation so more time is spent moving the cattle. This all means more time in the saddle for all of us.

Tess certainly didn’t mind the time in the saddle over her Christmas break. The frequent riding great education for her three year olds.

Unfortunately branding coincides with the hottest, most humid time of the year. On a positive front, that means grass is both green and nutritious.

Fortunately it also coincides with the school holidays. That bolsters the workforce!

This season has been a little lighter on rain than usual. That’s not to say the big wet is not just around the corner. It is only January.

So with calves to brand, kids keen and able and no rain forecast we start mustering a paddock of breeders.

The cattle are gathered together on horseback, cows collecting their babies from under trees, before walking to a herding place that is usually a watering point.

Once in the yards, the cows are drafted from their calves. This time we dipped the cows to treat them for a tick load that isn’t good for their health.

We generally kick into branding at daylight, while it’s a little cooler.

With 400 odd calves to brand in this mob, starting early was the only way we were going to get the job done in a day.Once marked, the calves are returned to their Mumma’s before going back onto grass.

This mob spent a night in a holding paddock before a long drive to their new grazing cell.

With the summer storms building we marched this mob to Ripplebrook.

 

Arriving just in time before this storefront fired up properly and delivered a very welcome deluge.

What was I saying about the weather?

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