Hyde Park Station eyes polled future with their red Brahman operation near Charters Towers

Owned by Brian and Lorraine Corbett, and managed by their daughter Rebecca and her husband Leslie Lamont, the family run between 5000 to 7000 head of cattle, predominantly red Brahmans, at their property, 220km south west of Charters Towers.

Their business generally targets the young cattle market, offloading their weaner steers at around 250-350 kilograms at eight months old.

Their young cattle are weaned at around 150 to 220kg, depending on potentially tough seasons or if there has been substantial rain.

While the seasons have varied over the years for Hyde Park, Rebecca Lamont acknowledges they have learnt to stay resilient to better manage their cattle operation.

"We have just come through a nine year drought, which really teaches you to stay resilient and manage things better and improve," Ms Lamont said.

"We will always face droughts, floods and fires. The biggest hurdles have been droughts and being able to restock in such a strong market after going through numerous years of drought.

"Knowing what your operation requires and needs though is a big step in the right directions when it comes to handling challenges that are dealt out on the land."

Ms Lamont said they follow all markets closely and their cattle themselves are gaining a very high reputation for temperament and growth from all their clients.

"We have numerous repeat buyers chasing the line of cattle that is being bred," she said.

When the property was purchased in 1992, Ms Lamont said the herd consisted of predominantly Droughtmaster cross Brahman.

"Fast forward to now and we're running a very nice line of predominantly red polled Brahman cattle with great frame, excellent temperaments and we are seeing great weight gains for age in all our young cattle," she said.

A long term goal of Hyde Park Station is to have a red Brahman poll base herd.

"Back in 2016, my husband and I suggested to my parents that we purchase all red polled Brahman bulls moving forward so that there is less stress on the animals' dehorning," Ms Lamont said.

"We feel the polled genetics will also reduce our work load, when it comes to processing the cattle."