Bukartilla Beef in Kuitpo, South Australia, Australia | Agricultural cooperative

Bukartilla Beef

Locality: Kuitpo, South Australia, Australia

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25.01.2022 There’s one in every crowd.

23.01.2022 So close to finishing spring calving. The girls have really sped up the pace this week. Even though the cows have spent 10 weeks with a bull or part of an A.I program, I love it when calving is short and the cows calve early in the season... cows have more time to rest and recover, calves grow consistently as a line of cattle making it easier for future selection and marketing, and it gives us more time for other jobs around the farm during this busy time of year. Love you...r work girls! Fresh paddock full of feed awaiting you this weekend! For those interested.... Bundaleer Defence daughter with heifer calf by Malibu M9.

23.01.2022 Well that’s calving done and dusted for 2020! I took some household rubbish and recycling out to the wheelie bins this evening after dinner, and looked up to see Linda M6, the last cow to calve this year, standing watching me in a neighbouring paddock with her new born calf. I’m not sure what sex the calf is yet, but gee she snuck that calf out without anyone noticing this afternoon. I do love our Linda’s, and I’ll admit this girl is a favourite that I always cow gaze at whenever I’m in the paddock.

22.01.2022 Far out it’s bright out here! Costa De La Rose C1, currently our oldest cow in the herd and one of the last daughter’s from Bass Valley Melva, one of our original foundation females. C1 has just given birth to a very lively heifer calf sired by Malibu M9. Oh my goodness, that little face is cute.

22.01.2022 That has got to be some of the biggest white clover flowers I’ve ever seen. Almost as big as the palm of my hand.

22.01.2022 Feeling a little sorry for the calves currently being born in this cold, wet spring weather. But they’re strong, active and doing well, and have very dedicated mothers. I took some hay to Delta D1 and to check her new heifer calf this morning. It’s interesting to note Delta D1 has calved in almost the exact same spot in this paddock for 3 years in a row. I’m not sure if other cows do this, I’ve not paid that much attention quite honestly, but I do recall her other calves bo...rn near a particular tree in this paddock. Let me know if you’ve noticed this before too with other cows. I’d love to know if nesting in livestock is more than just a random location selected. Delta D1 is a daughter of one of our original foundation cows, Bass Valley Melva, and sired by a beautiful Woodbourn bull we owned for quite a while. Unfortunately she’s stuck in the commercial register of the MG Society... when we originally commenced breeding Senegreys, I made those stud cows selected as our foundation Senegrey breeders inactive for a while on the purebred register, but a couple of cows were accidentally moved to the commercial register. Delta D1 is one of those cows. I personally think it’s high time the MG Society had an Amnesty on purebred cows stuck in the commercial register that once were stud registered. I’m sure there’s a lot more than just Delta D1. There’s a lot of herd rebuilding going on at present on many farming properties across the country after drought, fires, and even floods... so it makes sense to me to take this opportune time to add cows to the stud purebred register to increase the breeds numbers. But maybe I’m barking up the wrong tree.

19.01.2022 My early morning walk to check the spring calving cows can only make you smile at the curious little faces.

19.01.2022 A morning of mustering... the cows with their new spring born calves were moved to the Lake Paddock... fresh, lush pasture knee deep awaiting. We’ve had an inch of rain in the past 24 hours, so it’s great timing to now rest the calving paddocks -they’ll flourish with this rain, some fertilisers and a little tlc. It wasn’t an easy task moving the entire mob on my own, especially through an awkward gateway, mud, and then through the overflow of the lake still running, but t...hey all got there eventually safe and sound. I have to say, the sight of a gate opening to a new paddock stirs emotions in cattle that can only be understood by those who stand witness to the moment. I love observing their reactions. The experience of the cows brings loud, ear deafening excitement with varying ranges of pitch. They’re anticipating what’s about to happen and what awaits them. They’ve gathered together awaiting that moment the chain latch is undone and the gates are flung open. I just love Hilma H10’s baritone growl above the rest of the choir of alto and soprano voices. Of course, the noise of the cows excites the calves, and suddenly there are games of chasy, tag, or just skipping, hopping, and doing cartwheels around their mothers. A few strict mothers in the mob suddenly scald their children for their antics with a change of tone and a stern facial expression that all mother pull whilst disciplining children. And as the gates open, it’s like the rush you see at a department store Christmas sale. For a fleeting moment they’ve forgotten about their calves as their focus is on getting their heads down and grazing. Some of the younger calves are left standing in the gateway unsure of why their mothers have made a speedy exit. But soon the cows return bellowing come to me as they gather their calves. With new territory comes new things to explore... it doesn’t take long and soon the calves race off across the Lake Paddock excitedly in a huge pack... it’s complete kaos for a moment as mothers chase after their children negotiating full udders as they run. Things settle after a while and tranquility returns to the farm as calves tire and the cows are distracted by fresh pasture... I do love these girls and their incredible animal behaviour.

18.01.2022 A road trip today to the farming region of Milang in South Australia. The sleepy town of Milang is about a one hour drive south east of us. Milang is the only town located on the shore of Lake Alexandrina and is one of two freshwater lakes at the end of the Murray-Darling River System referred to as the Lower Lakes. In the 1940’s, barrages were built at one end of Lake Alexandrina to reduce seawater intrusion into the Murray Mouth and improve the lakes water quality for env...ironmental and agriculture reasons. Whilst the lakes have been a topic of some controversy in recent years, it’s a region of agricultural diversity - crops and hay production, vineyards and olives, and the production of a multitude of livestock species. The region has had good rainfalls this year, and my drive was so picturesque that I had to stop and take a few photos of the amazing crops lining the roadsides. My journey today was to visit a wonderful family who purchased a special bull from us last year - Nitro N17. In my opinion, he’s one hell of a bull. A son sired by Onward Ned from dam Cratloe Linda F66. We have a handful of stunning young daughters by Nitro N17 with stud registrations currently pending as his original DNA Hair Sample went missing in the post. I’m so glad I could take hair samples again from him today, and have a chance to check out Nitro and some of his newborn calves. I must say, one of his gorgeous owners, an elderly gentleman with a heavy accent, gave me the best endorsement of our cattle today that I’ve ever heard when he said to me... I f#%?ing a love this bull. I do too Joe, I do too.

18.01.2022 Today there’s been a little bit of everything happening, including resuscitating this little red-browed finch after it flew into a window of the house. It took a while to recover, but eventually flew away successfully. Gave me some time to check out it’s amazing colour markings. They are just stunning little birds.

16.01.2022 A cow on the final green of the old golf course this afternoon reminded me of a famous impromptu golfing monologue by Bill Murray from the movie Caddy Shack. Love that movie. I had to change the monologue though a little to suit our lady on the green... What an incredible Cinderella story.... This unknown comes outta nowhere to lead the pack at Bukartilla... She’s at the final hole... She’s about 455 yards away, she’s gonna hit about a two iron, I think.... Boy, she got all of that. The crowd is standing on its feet here at Bukartilla... The normally reserved Bukartilla crowd is going wild for this young Cinderella who’s come out of nowhere. She’s got about 350 yards left. She’s going to hit about a five iron, it looks like, don’t you think? She’s got a beautiful backswing That’s Oh! She’s got all of that one! She’s gotta be pleased with that... The crowd is just on its feet here. She’s a Cinderella girl, tears in her eyes, I guess, as she lines up this last shot... And she’s got about 195 yards left, and she’s got a, it looks like she’s got about an eight iron. This crowd has gone deadly silent. Cinderella story, out of nowhere, former greenskeeper, now about to become the Masters champion... It looks like a mirac . . . It’s in the hole! IT’S IN THE HOLE!!!

16.01.2022 Thinking about finding a new home for our senior sire, Malibu M9. We have had 3 seasons of calves from him now, and they’ve been cracker calves, but I do have new bulls here waiting to be used this season including a son of Malibu. So Malibu won’t get much work. I tried to take a photo of him this morning, but he was preoccupied. ... Of course I did have to ask the 7 year old ‘boss if I was allowed to find a new home for Malibu, considering she is the owner of him. The response was not what I expected... Can we keep him? He’s a great alarm clock in the morning. So if you’re interested in a new alarm clock, PM me.

14.01.2022 Well there’s a little surprise 2 weeks early. Great hiding spot Mum!

12.01.2022 Well of all cows to calve last night in the pouring rain and high winds, it had to be Jameela J1. We were fortunate not to lose her in bad weather during August when she went down and we needed vet assistance. I was very happy to see this little guy alive and well this morning and his dam doing well. Brookie Hasler let Angus know he did a great job - J1 and her calf are doing great.

12.01.2022 Farms are such a great place to learn so many things, but sometimes you have to make learning a little less complicated and a lot more fun. This has been a winning idea... so our daughter Jayda can observe things on the farm such as watching her cows calving without having to handle the heavy binoculars, we found an attachment on eBay for the camera tripod that allows you to mount binoculars on. Voila!

11.01.2022 It’s taken me 12 months to restore this Toro Workman RTV, and finally today we were able to bring it out of the workshop for its debut ride across the farm. Purchased last year for a mere $800, it was sold cheap due to a mechanical problem that apparently would take thousands to fix. It had been dumped under a tree where it sat for almost 2 years when I first saw it. But I took a punt on it figuring I could sell it for parts if it was going to be too costly to fix. It has... a 3 cylinder Mitsubishi Diesel engine, and has a carrying capacity of 1 tonne with a hydraulic tipping tray. The engine would start but rev at incredibly high rpms. Everything else worked on it... from the headlights, dash instrument panel, to the power steering. However sitting still for so long outside meant it’s seats had deteriorated badly and the paint work was looking worse for wear. I had our wonderful diesel mechanic take a look at it with me one afternoon. He couldn’t believe my bargain, even offered to buy it off me. To our amazement it turns out it’s mechanical problem was a little circlip worth less than one dollar missing off the arm of the governor to control its revs. We were gobsmacked to have it fixed in less than an hour. Seriously, you’d be kicking yourself if you knew you sold it so cheap because of a missing circlip. Since then I’ve re-painted all its framework, chassis, tray, and rims. Ive also fitted new seats with seatbelts, put a new water pump on it and new front tyres. Its had a full service - emptied all its fluids and started again with new filters, etc. I just have a few minor things to fix and finish giving it a good grease. It replaces our other RTV that seized its engine last year which has now been sold. Pretty happy how the Toro is looking, and it drives and runs beautifully. Not a bad effort for a Sheila.

11.01.2022 It’s going to be a busy week ahead with cows due to calve to A.I Senepol Sires, in addition to cows continuing to calve to our senior Murray Grey sire, Malibu M9. Today Cratloe Linda F66 calved, a bull calf sired by Malibu M9. We have a stunning older full sister to this little guy in the yearling heifer mob, so he’s going to be a calf to watch as he develops.

10.01.2022 You may remember this post from earlier this week. Whilst my intention is to pursue this further, I haven’t as yet had time to do so. Well it just so happens that this morning I came home to a contractors ute almost bogged on our farm... it was a supervisor checking on the tree trimming completed earlier this week. How convenient that I should just so happen to park our 4 wheel drive in the gateway exiting our farm. We’ve had a lengthy discussion and inspection of the dama...ge to our hay paddock, and this supervisor is in agreement with me regarding the situation. So I just wanted to assure everyone that made contact with me during the week, that the wheels are in motion for this issue to be resolved. Thanks for your suggestions and support folks. https://www.facebook.com/594950583949993/posts/3020520818059612/

08.01.2022 A little bit of rain expected to hit us overnight, however this front on Saturday is the one to watch. If you’re in an area prone to flooding, you probably should make some preparations just in case.

08.01.2022 I’m lost for words... This morning a contractor arrived with an army of trucks to trim trees near powerlines on our farm. They gave us 30 minutes notice of this via a phone call before arriving, then promptly drove 4 trucks through one of our hay paddocks without any due consideration. It’s still damp here, so not only did they flatten pasture but left tyre ruts across the paddock. Now I understand that they have an important job to do. And if they had given us more notice ...I would have been more than happy to assist in showing them the best possible route to where they needed to go on the farm without trashing paddocks. I just see this as disrespectful and an abuse of their authority. The time and money spent to create hay crops and pasture, and then you watch this happen... I find it frustrating and disheartening. What if there was livestock in that paddock? And what about our biosecurity? Truly, some days it would be easier just to not farm at all.

08.01.2022 Love this Onward Ned heifer. But how can you look that good minutes after giving birth.

08.01.2022 Clean boots.... it can only mean one thing... a road trip to look at some cattle.

07.01.2022 It’s the thought that counts... My daughter picked me some flowers and arranged them in a glass of water. #capeweed #lovethiskid

06.01.2022 Woaw, I haven’t seen a serious fight between 2 cows in a very, very long time. I’m not sure what the argument is about, but it’s not looking like this is going to end well. This is Murray Grey versus Senegrey, and I refer to this as dirty fighting. It’s not just a clash of heads together, but as you can see they’re parallel to each other, each with their head under the other cows flank spinning in circles. This tactic is ruthless, a way to immobilise the opposition by trying to break their stifle joint. They’re born with this skill as I’ve seen calves playing doing this to each other. These 2 cows are both heavy in calf and I couldn’t watch this any longer. I had to intervene with a box of zucchini’s. No I didn’t hit them with the box of zucchini’s, they ate them.

06.01.2022 I saved a few pumpkins for a couple of bulls and put them on the bonnet of the tractor. But I turned my back for just a minute, and just like magic they mysteriously disappeared. I have no idea what happened to them.

03.01.2022 Day 1 of Covid-19 lockdown here in South Australia.... queue crickets chirping. It’s being said that our lockdown is the strictest in Australia to date. It’s hard to imagine that especially when you’re still looking out across paddocks of cattle grazing quietly amongst gum trees like any other day. Infact, I felt the need to contact my husband this morning, who’s transporting fresh fruit and vegetables in Adelaide, and ask him what’s happening in the outside world? The photo he sent of Pultney Street in Adelaide said everything. Stay safe folks.

03.01.2022 Oh you sweet old girl Rainbow F75, you’ve calved overnight! You’ve got one heck of a calf asleep there. Sure, no problem, I’ll come back later and check if it’s a bull or heifer.

03.01.2022 Born this morning, his nose and eyelashes are soooo black they look like they’re painted on.

03.01.2022 Excitement plus! The Senegrey calves have started arriving overnight, and boy, they’re gorgeous! For the first time, we’ve had a RED Senegrey born, a heifer calf from purebred Murray Grey dam Jitterbug M2, by Australian Senepol Sire, Namoona Jason Alexander. Purebred Murray Grey dam Hilma L2 also calved to this same Senepol sire overnight giving us a black Senegrey bull calf. ... More to come but from some North American Sires... really hoping they calve before this storm heading our way.

03.01.2022 Cow gazing... I bet every cow farmer in the world does it. Sometimes it’s nice to just take a break, shut out the world, and admire your cows. It’s very therapeutic. Akin to watching fish in an aquarium. The spring calving females are heavy in calf but looking pretty good I must say. Amazingly quite a few were also feeling photogenic, so I took a few snaps so you too can cow gaze with me. I’ll put some notes with each photo for those interested in who these few gorgeous ladies are. Enjoy!

02.01.2022 Early this morning I was doing my usual trudge through the mud and water to check the calving cows. I looked back at the house and see this, and couldn’t help but think... yep, that’s very funny Mother Nature, point out the warm, dry spot on our farm.

01.01.2022 We have been working on a conservation area for some years now at the back of our property to save rare, unusual, and even specific flora and fauna that are only found in this region. We have had one section of our scrub locked off from livestock now for almost 10 years... it’s been amazing watching it evolve. Still a work in progress with weed issues, but such an enjoyable place to visit on the farm. One species I’m really loving learning more about are the native orchids. T...hey are a very important part of our environment having specific roles in our ecosystem, and will only grow when native vegetation is healthy. Today we made time as a family to go on a native orchid seeking adventure through our scrub. And boy, we were rewarded with some amazing finds. We need to go back once we’ve had a few days of sun and see if others have flowered. In the mean time, check out these native orchids we found growing in abundance... I’ve put their names in the comments of each photo. To really appreciate them, make sure you zoom in to see their incredible detail. You’ll soon realise how they got their names. Enjoy!