Outback Queensland Tours - Cunnamulla - Australia - Out The Back Australia Tours

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Published on Saturday, 10 December 2011 05:07

Written by Peieta

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Asparagus
Asparagus is grown on one of the local grape farms as a second income source. It is such a durable and robust plant. It is harvested during the winter months and trucked via refrigerated vans to local markets in the city.

Beekeeping
Migratory beekeeping has been practised in the area since the 1960s and is a growth industry in Cunnamulla, and westwards to Eulo, Thargomindah and north-west to Quilpie.
Beekeepers favour the Yapunyah, a type of box tree, which can yield nectar prolifically for several months. The beehives are generally moved back south or east after the Yapunyah tree has finished flowering (October). Local beekeepers then take advantage of the Poplar Box (or round leaf box), River Red Gum and Coolibah during the summer months. Bloodwood and Lignum (a type of swamp plant) may be useful if weather conditions have been reasonable.
As Australians are not large consumers of honey, most honey produced in Australia is exported to the Middle East and Great Britain for the food and cosmetic industries.

Cattle
Cattle breeds in the area include Herefords, Shorthorn, Black & Red Angus, Santa Gertrudis, Droughtmasters and Brahmans plus many crossbreds, including Simmental and Charolais. Newer breeds of cattle including Brahmans, Droughtmasters and Santa Gertrudis have become more predominant in the area due to their suitability to the hard drought conditions.
The large body of feed in the area during 2010, due to the highest rainfalls since the 50’s has created fabulous breeding and grazing conditions for cattle in the region. In the early part of December 2010 cattle prices were reaching $1.90kg live weight for bullocks and up to $2.20 per kg for yearlings which is a pretty positive result for cattle producers. With the grass drying off in January and February 2011 bush fires have been a threat to many.

For information regarding cattle in the South West, please call McLarens Rural Agencies & GDL Ph: (07) 4655 2038

Commercial Wildlife Harvesters
In Cunnamulla there are 30 registered licensed commercial wildlife harvesters. Queensland is split into three regions and Cunnamulla is in part of the central region, which is the largest area with the highest quotas for kangaroos and wallabies
The wildlife harvested is for human consumption for growing markets in Russia and Europe and the average price paid is .85 cents to $1 per kg. Like many other rural industries, this industry is largely affected by seasonal conditions and drought. 2010 has been a tough year for this industry as high rainfall and floods have limited access to properties in the region.

Cotton
Cotton has been grown very successfully on two of the local irrigation farms in Cunnamulla. The hot dry climate is ideal for growing cotton and with new breeds available there is little effect from insects or weeds. Unfortunately due to the oversupply of cotton from USA, India and China farmers have opted to grow fodder for drought affected producers within the region.
In 2010 a cotton crop was planted as it offered the grower a better opportunity to market the crop heavy rainfall and constant flows in the Warrego River will ensure good water supplies also.

Goats
From time to time producers in the area have farmed goats, however it has not developed to a significant level. Most producers round up feral goats each year with numbers varying from 100 to 5000 head. The price has been reasonably consistent paying from 80 cents to $1 live weight per kg. The average goat weighs approx 40kg. In the Cunnamulla area over 100,000 goats are mustered and sent to the meat works each year making this industry worth more than 3.2 million per year.

Meat Sheep
Meat sheep are becoming more and more popular within the South West in light of the devastating impact of the drought, and the decline of the wool industry. Some producers are switching to a dual-purpose meat/wool animal and others are going all the way to a pure meat sheep. The future for lamb on the domestic and export markets is promising, producers are also looking at converting to organic certification to be able to receive up to a $30 premium for their finished lamb compared to the conventional animal.

Organic Farming
Organic wheat is grown in the district by a long term, highly motivated and innovative grazing and farming family. Organic status was sought to achieve premium prices and penetrate niche markets. The third crop was sown in 2009 and when harvested was freighted directly to an organic chicken farmer. Due to the difficulty in 2010 of securing a contract for an organic crop the tough decision was made to plant a crop of cotton which offered much more flexibility to the producer to market.

Organic Lamb
A number of local graziers have sought organic status over the past four to five years and are now producing organic lamb. The organic status earns premium prices in the market as many consumers demand clean and green produce. The two most prominent breeds being used in the area are Dohne and Dorper both South African. If you’d like to sample the organic lamb, it’s roasted and served up at the campfire dinner held nightly at Out the Back Australia.

Peanuts
Peanuts were grown once in the Cunnamulla area however while the quality was high the soil type proved to be too heavy in clay making them difficult to cultivate.

Regional Tourism
Since 2006, Out the Back Australia has offered a range of tourist opportunities for the region, encompassing the towns of Cunnamulla, Eulo, Yowah and surrounding districts. By working closely with local businesses, tourism operators, clubs and property owners, Out the Back Australia has packaged world-class tour products, characterised by unique, genuine bush experiences specific to the area.
In addition to showcasing the region, one of the primary objectives of the company was to forge a new industry and generate new business and employment opportunities within the local communities.
To date, the tours have attracted hundreds of tourists from around the globe and owner Peieta Mills is committed to building a lucrative tourist industry with long-term economic benefits for local businesses and the wider community.

 

Shearers
Shearer’s remain an integral part of the pastoral industry in this area. The conditions of the first shearers were rough, shearing manually with blades in sheds constructed of bark and canvas. 60 – 80 sheep shorn per day was considered a good day’s work. The man who could shear more would be known as the “ringer” of the shed.
Today, a shearer normally shears around 140 to 300 sheep a day. Teams of shearers travel from property to property during the season. A flock of 5000 probably requires a 4-stand shed with shearing machines and equipment for four shearers. Most sheep are shorn once a year. Merino wool grows about 7 to 10 cm in that time.
Charles McKenzie initially came to Cunnamulla as a shearer and soon developed his own contracting business. Charles and his MHR Shearing have revolutionised shearing taking it from traditional sheds to the paddock with his cutting edge, portable shearing and crutching truck. The truck allows for Charles and his team to crutch the sheep in the paddock eliminating much of the effort required for mustering, reducing stress on the sheep during times of drought and ultimately, saving valuable time and money for the producer.
Most Friday’s you are able to go on a guided tour of a sheep property where you can see shearing, wool handling, preparation, bailing and weighing along with a sheep dog demonstration and talk on their Dohne operation.

Table Grapes
Table grapes have become a permanent and sustainable industry in the Cunnamulla area over the past decade, producing thousands of boxes of table grapes for the local and export markets in December and January every year. The Cunnamulla grape industry has proved to be one of the best quality and most reliable fruit crops in the state due to the sustainable water supply from the Allan Tannock Weir and weather conditions in the region. A visit to one of the local grape farms is included in a town tour.

 

Wool
From Cunnamulla’s inception, wool has been the primary industry of the area. In the early years, many properties in the region were producing thousands of bales each year, with up to three families living on-site along with many staff.
From the nineties however it is a different story as graziers had to contend with many modern day challenges including industry de-regulation, selling of the stockpile, a crash in wool prices, the government sheep shooting program and crippling droughts.
In December 2006 most producers in the area were down to approximately 30-40% of their original flock numbers. Even with an immediate break in the drought, it would take 2-3 years for many producers to rebuild their numbers without purchasing stock. Many have made a shift to include cattle or meat sheep in an effort to diversify their enterprise and spread their risk.
These events have seen large scale change in the industry with the number of sheep being farmed for growing wool in Australia going from 180 million head down to only 71 million head. In December 2010 graziers that continued to grow wool saw the highest prices for 20 years due to a shortage in the world wool market.
Whilst prices have been high, the high rainfall during 2010 has had a devastating effect on wool production with large amounts of vegetable matter, downgrades in the fleece from discoloration, lower yields and increased need for pesticides for blow fly and other pests as Merino are a dry weather animal.

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