Hello Folks,
Tomorrow, 4th June, marks the 48th anniversary of when I started working in the pastoral industry. Have worked for the same company through those years, though only on a casual basis, since we retired in Jan 2009.
Back in 1964, it was still hobble chains and horse bells, large horse plants up to 80 horses, a large indigenous work force and pretty rough conditions(by todays standards.) The first photo was taken at Saddle Ck yard, not far off the highway between Timber Ck and the WA border. They were good years, and the job was a way of life, not a business.
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When I'm not a steering attendant, on Barkly & Landsborough highways, I go back down the Diamantina and drive the
grader through the winter months. Gives one a chance to get plenty of sleep, stop & smell the roses, & take a few photos. And the Bride is always pleased to see me, when I've been out bush for 10 days or so.....!!!
Recently I gave the
camp a hand in the yards, as they were short handed, and thought this second photo indicates where the beef industry is these days. All the cattle in the yard (in fact the entire company herd, over 500K head) will be put onto the laptop, using the tag reader to read each beast's electronic tag. The reader is also wireless so as they are read, each one goes straight onto the laptop. The Honda is the perfect companion for this task, quiet and unobtrusive.
The cattle are handled through an air operated vet crush, which is good, but not as positive, nor strong, as a hydraulic set-up. This reduces the number of staff needed, to some extent, and speeds up the processing.
And for those Honda owners who get a bit anal about their unit's aircleaner, that EU20 went for about 8 or 9 hours, in terrible dust conditions, and the filter element had barely a speck of dust on it. But that was on the Econo setting.
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And these days it's usually 3 or 4 motorbikes, and a helicopter, instead of up to 20 horsemen, to go mustering. The troops go back to the station, or outstation, get good meals, have a hot shower, and sleep out of the weather, though still in their swag.
Maybe the Romance of the Swag is gone, but these
young people work just as hard as we did back in the good ol' days,
Bob.