THE drought of 1991 was the catalyst for Terry Kenny to drought-proof Llanarth Station, a block cut from Yacamunda Station which he drew in a ballot at the age of 23.
That year was not hard for him to remember as he had just married Ros, his marble in the ballot was No.66 and the year was 1966. The couple took up residence in a caravan and tent on the 16,000-hectare, unfenced, brigalow and gidyea block situated 29km east of Belyando Junction.
Llanarth was one of 10 blocks cut from Yacamunda, which had been named by the Welsh land officer who surveyed the property.
Terry's parents owned a 4800ha property in the Clermont district where they ran 6000 sheep and 500 cattle, and Terry remembers the Korean War-induced wool boom of the early 1950s.
Wool during the boom was worth a pound a pound, and the nation rode on the sheep's back, rather like the mining boom of today.
One of the conditions of the Llanarth lease was a requirement to clear 2800ha of scrub in the first seven years.
However, the bank would only lend them enough money for a boundary fence and an old Toyota ute, which spent much of its time broken down.
There were also 2400ha of rugged unusable hills that needed to be fenced out of the grazing country.
The Kennys were able to buy an 18m x 9m shed after two years, and concreted the floor and built living quarters in one end, living there for another seven years. The cost to connect to the electricity grid was $6000 payable over 10 years.
The initial clearing cost them $12.50/ha and was done with two bulldozers towing 90 metres of chain and a ball. They met the government's clearing requirements in three years.
The pulled scrub was burnt and the area seeded with buffel grass, and after it had taken hold, stores were purchased for growing out.
"That was the sweetest feed we ever had," Terry said.
"The bullocks fattened quickly but now they don't do as well."
The bought-in stock only supplemented the breeding program on the property which began with Herefords, which were quickly crossed with Brahman to give them tick and heat tolerance and by 1972 the herd was almost full Brahman.
The clearing took 30 years to complete, as did the internal fencing and laneways, many of which are now being upgraded
"With farm labour impossible to get, we now rely on helicopters for mustering," Terry said.
"A chopper can be here in 45 minutes and at $350 an hour, it's the easiest way to muster as the cattle are put into the laneway and we pick them up from there."
To drought-proof the property after the 1991 drought, the family decided to develop irrigation on the Suttor River flats, and now have 320ha of laser-levelled country at Llanarth and another 200ha at Belyando Junction fed from two ring tanks filled from the river with a total capacity of 3500ML.
That was done at a cost of $300,000, with the assistance of state government infrastructure taskforce funding of $60,000.
Llanarth is a family operation, with son John looking after the irrigation, which this year includes 263ha of genetically modified cotton. The rest of the area is sown to corn for silage and grain for the 1000-head feedlot. Cattle operations are handled by son Clay.
Cotton was grown at Llanarth from 1996 until 2000 when the price dropped and transporting bales 300km to the Gin at Emerald became too costly. Today the price is around $1000/bale.
Although the forward-priced proportion of the crop was locked in at $600 and it cost $600,000 to grow, with 10pc going to Monsanto for use of the BT Roundup Ready seed, with an expected harvest of seven bales/ha, it will be a worthwhile addition to the cash flow this year.
A small feedlot was started at Llanarth in 1996 and they soon found the pure Brahman didn't grow as quickly as the crossbreds. After establishing the 1000-head registered lot in 2003, they re-organised their breeding program and changed to a Santa Gertrudis female herd over which they put Brahman to keep up the level of climate adaptability.
The program also includes a range of British and Euro terminal sires including Murray Grey, Angus, Shorthorn, Charolais, Limousin and Senepol.
With a ratio of one bull per 25 cows, pregnancy testing of the 1500 breeders is showing a conception rate of 75pc with the empties being culled.
The corn grown for silage yields around 70 tonnes/ha, while the maize grown for grain yields 5t/ha which, with a few additions of concentrates, enables the cattle in the feedlot to average a 2.5kg/day weight gain.
The steers enter the lot at an average of 260kg; they are fed for 90 days and exit the lot at an average of 585kg to produce a carcase of 325kg-335kg.
A hobby of Terry's is breeding and racing thoroughbreds and he has had some success over the years and this year offered two colts and a filly at the yearling sale at Rockhampton.
