3rd ON-PROPERTY SALE - WEDNESDAY 7th OCTOBER 2026
Helmsman Auction on AcutionsPlus, with on-farm Open Day and live interface
6/4/2026
Autumn start up
Davo and Ted have been hard at work over Easter getting everything in place for autumn start up, spraying and sowing and chopping firewood. They were rewarded this morning with 3mm of rain on the freshly sown paddocks, so it's now a well-deserved day of rest. Shout out to LKF Contracting for the magnificent work put in by Hadwig.
In fact it's been a busy few weeks all round. Davo has been delivering the last of the 2025 bulls which are now all sold. The calves were weaned which brought the usual momentary dramas when naughty calves short the electric fences and end up in the wrong pen. Having the bull calves grouped together we can see there are some real standouts and it will be exciting to see how they grow now they are out grazing on lucerne. We also had the cows preg tested to identify any empties - there were none, which makes culling decisions all the more difficult - and were impressed with the portable ultrasound preg testing kit that the vets are using.
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18/3/2026
Skipper is an international pin up!
The American Murray Grey Association have done a very stylish and profession job of their magazine - and we were very proud to see Skipper's image on the front cover. See here for the full flip book: https://amgamagazine.aflip.in/6162a4ed97.html
21/2/2026
200d weights
Last weekend before Uni starts back and we enjoyed a family day in the yards vaccinating, tail hair sampling and recording 200d weights. Despite the heat we worked well as a team and it's great to be working as a unit with the kids. We've had a couple of outstanding results - Willeh's growth rate was a remarkable 1.79 kg/d and he's a low birth weight bull too so we are looking forwards to seeing what he can do in the next 6 months. These results are especially pleasing as we've been feeding out hay, with no pasture available since November - can't wait to get some green grass again. Woomargama (pictured below) is a full brother to last year's top-priced lot - showing lower birth weight and even better growth than his brother.
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Mount Major Woomargama DVD25W33 |
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30/1/2026
Beef Week Tour
Davo and Ted took to the road again this year with a bunch of Dookie farmers for days 5, 6, 7 & 8 of Beef Week - this Beef Week tour is becoming a bit of an annual event! They covered 1500km, viewing about 22 studs over 4 days and had heaps of fun, stopping in at Atriem Murray Greys and Lindsay Murray Greys as well as seeing Angus and Herefords. Davo said it was fantastic seeing all types of cattle and to see what people are doing with different presentations and different set ups and he's already planning next year's trip! He was particularly interested to see the Boonaroo Heifer Challenge entry, who were the eventual winners, and Cluden Newry Uppercut, an impressive $275,000 Angus bull. Davo said Uppercut was the best footed Angus bull he has seen and has EBVs to match with a very desirable frame score - pretty much a complete package and a credit to the people that bred him. He'd be an elite bull no matter what breed he was in.
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Beef Week - Heifer Challenge
We have been enthusiastic entrants in the Heifer Challenge since we have had enough heifers to produce an even line, and in 2019 we were finalists, so were very happy to see the competition back again this year after a break. Ted & Davo both thought the Boonaroo heifers, the eventual winners, were the stand out group, having seen them on their mega Beef Week tour. We had to choose 10 heifers from the 16 that we have on hand so we were very proud to be able to put together such an even line of heifers. The judge said he was super impressed with the length and depth of the animals and was surprised how much weight they were carrying for their age. Judging took place in the afternoon on the 7th consecutive day of temperatures in the 40s - so gruelling for everyone involved. Hats off to the judge and Annie for the hard work they put in.
28/1/2026
Drought feeding, heat stress and bushfires
It's been a challenging start to the year with drought and extreme heat. We've had over 7 days of 40+ degrees in a row and some nights not falling below 26 degrees. We've managed by making sure the cows have plenty of shade, plenty of access to water and feeding in the mornings when it is cooler to keep them eating. Just making sure they were as comfortable as possible in trying conditions. We've currently just put in some new fencing to create extra treelines making sure that all paddocks have ample shade. Normally when we plant new trees we just pop them in and leave them to it, but this year we have been making sure they get watered to keep them going.
Davo took part in the emergency response for the bushfires and it was just such great peace of mind for him to be able to go and know that Ted was at home looking after the cows. A couple of clients have been burnt out and our thoughts are very much with them as they navigate their recovery. We'll be helping out where we can.
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Already in the shade at 8.30 am |
