AS CATTLE graziers across the country weighed up their options amid last year's late market downturn, third generation grazier Alan 'Griff' Symonds was preparing himself to take a massive gamble.
The end of 2023 was tough across the board for graziers, with a late year downturn seeing a flood of cattle hit the market and prices plummet.
"We normally pull our young weaner heifers off and basically stockpile them, retain those until we complete our round of mustering. That gives us an opportunity to go through them and keep selecting heifers for breeders," the Mt Flora Cattle Co grazier said.
"We always sell off a percentage of those heifers. The market reduced that significantly last year. Our best was about $1.50.
"We had enough grass and enough room to retain them. There was close to 1000 of them. It was a gamble doing that if the season didn't break...it would turn out to be a disaster."
But the gamble paid off, with the Symonds getting an average of $3.30/kg in return at Gracemere.
"As it turned out, the weather forecasters got it wrong. It rained and we sent 460 or so to Gracemere over consecutive weeks...It certainly paid off," Griff said.
A remarkable turn around and at such a pace that Griff had not witnessed before.
"At the end of the day, you've got to make a judgemental decision...there was one (forecaster) in particular...he was forecasting that BoM was wrong from about June/July 2023 and he was giving explanations and reasons why...based (on) similar observations (of old forecasters back in the day)," he said.
While weather forecasters have been widely slammed for their El Nino forecast, Griff said he - like most graziers - have relied on multiple sources of weather forecasting.
"All those people were sitting on stock, with the recent dries in their back of their mind, and they thought 'we're not going to get caught again and pay for expensive feed and watch stock die'. They had to sell. They probably thought they were doing the right thing," he said.
"We had 100mm in June/July, which gave us a very open winter in a sense and there was not a lot of frost to burn the grass off. We were very fortunate."
Griff said the long-term ramifications of incorrect predictions impact graziers at the hip pocket, with more work needed for reliable forecasting not just based on computer modelling.
"Farmers bought cattle in 2022 who probably sold for a huge loss," he said.
"In 2022, we sold on average all our weaners, close to 2500 for that calendar year for an average of $1850. People have put those on grass to grow to bullocks.
"They're...lucky to get $800 for the same sized steer.
"The reflection came back through processes, because they were getting overwhelmed with numbers coming forward, so accordingly they reduced grids and rates they were paying for slaughter cattle. It really had a snowball effect right across the border."
Griff, wife Janet and his team run around 4400 at Mt Flora and around 2100 head at the neighbouring property, Oxford Downs, including 6500 head of breeders across both properties.
Sitting around an outdoor table beneath swinging ferns and the sound of parrots and cows carried in the Autumn breeze, the Mt Flora Cattle Co team finishes their lunch, pulls on their Akubras, and strolls out to their horses, ready to move another herd of cattle.
It's another Tuesday for the team, headed by Griff, and while they've faced some tough trials, the positive start to the year has left a certain spring in their step.
"I'd have to say the last three years have just gone from good, to great, and this year is looking like it's the best," Griff said.
"I'm not only talking about the price recovery, but this season would have to have set Mt Flora up to have the most grass it's had on it in...35 years."
The vast property, situated on the Peak Downs Highway between Nebo and Moranbah, is thriving - with shiny, healthy cattle enjoying the sprawling pastures of abundant, green grass.
"Every other week we seem to be getting 5-10mm. It's just keeping everything alive. (Our) grass has not had the opportunity to go to seed repeatedly for a long, long time," Mr Symonds said.
"All the cattle are in exceptional condition. We only had a short supplement feeding season last year, but they're all looking a million dollars.
"The paddocks, while we're still probably down on numbers from...(up to) eight years of dry, we're rebuilding our numbers.
"Even with last year's forecast, we probably were a bit cautious...we could have probably retained more heifers but it's nice to see paddocks with grass in them. We had that many years where they were just like that concrete slab."
The Symonds family first set down their roots in 1954, when Griff's grandfather, Thomas Charles 'TC' came to Mt Flora from Bloomsbury.
Expanding his cattle enterprise with three more properties, TC purchased Mt Flora - a Brigalow block that had been cut up off larger properties - and sold his land at Cockenzie, moving upstream to the Mt Flora station, where the family has remained since.
"He sort of strategically set up a grazing enterprise because there were no livestock carriers or road transport for livestock. They used to do a lot of the droving," Mr Symonds said.
Griff, who did his schooling at Rockhampton Grammar School before two years at Emerald Agricultural College, returned home at 20 after building up his skills through working on properties around the region.
"Like (my son) Brett, I gradually worked my way up, learning along way," he said.
"It's a succession thing, your children are your future going forward and you hope you can hand it down so they can carry on the business."
When his father Mick passed away 11 years ago, the reins were firmly within Griff's hands.
Griff and Janet have three children - Brett, who works alongside Griff and transports the cattle via truck, Natalie who works as a veterinarian nurse, and Jayne who plans to study radiology after graduating high school this year.
The poignancy of the Symonds legacy and succession is not lost on Brett.
"It's very important," he said.
"There's a wide variety of what we do. (I) go to sales and do the hard yards to get them there and make sure everything runs smoothly. I cart them around and get them where they need to go."
Tough rates, market downturns and weed management - the realities of grazing life can be tough.
"We just identified some (Rat's Tail Grass)...on the rail corridor," Griff said.
"The only thing (around when I was growing up here) was Parkinsonia, but we've spent 25 years spraying it. It's just a yearly maintenance thing.
"Another one we've been focusing on at the moment, for the last couple of years...is Bellyache Bush. It's in one of our waterways.
"A few years before that we had a pretty big infestation of blue agave...from an old mining area...it just went wild.
"When we have watercourses going through the place, you are only as clean as whoever is being proactive upstream."
Cyclones in the 1990s were "devastating" for the Symonds.
"We had cattle washed from here down to Tartrus near the Lotus Creek Rd...it was very hard to say (how much we lost)...we found a lot of dead ones," Griff said.
"Way back then, the cattle here were very much out of control. There were a lot of lean skins and a lot of feral cattle.
"More so, cattle perished and died from exposure...cattle were quite poor (after a lengthy dry period) and they just couldn't get to bloody high ground
"We've safeguarded ourselves (by fencing our flooded country). If they say there is a cyclone building in the Coral Sea this week, we just ring our helicopter guy and he'll come over and push them out."
Further continuing to adapt to the cyclical seasons of the north, Griff has installed windmills and solar pumps to ensure his dams do not go under, and cattle can drink from the trough, limiting the risk with poor or weak cattle.
Between both properties, Griff has about 185 bulls, and when it comes to the Symonds name, it's "consistency" that he believes his family is renowned for.
"Sale presentation is everything...a lot of buyers and people have commented to me; 'do you clone (your weaner steers)?" he said.
"They all look like peas in a pod.
"You've got to have conformation. While we're not stud breeders, we've sourced a lot of our genetics from good breeders (focusing on confirmation, fertility and good bone structure), and I think that shows.
"It's worth spending a little bit more on quality because it pays off."
Exciting times lie ahead for the family - with a new change on the horizon for their breeds.
"We're putting some Charolais over our Droughtmaster cross heifers and they're looking really good," Griff said.
"We started to pursue (polled genetics)...back when the sheep graziers were having all that drama with the mulesing. Dad and I thought it's going to really affect our interest with...cattle with de-horning.
"Not only that, if you don't have to de-horn them, you're not setting them back, it's one less job for you to do.
"Our herd is probably around 70 per cent poll...but there's another old saying; 'you can breed the horns off, you breed the bone out of them'. That's sort of where our herd started to lose a bit of frame.
"We were looking for a sire so we could keep that blend in a sense but lift our growth rates and weaner weight averages."
Looking at the future, Griff said there are a range of possibilities for more development.
"Twenty-five years ago we developed 18-20,000 acres of Brigalow country. We've got a continuation of that," he said.
"With the cost of fuel...we've gone away from the blade ploughing so we've heavily invested on putting on Graslan pellets...it's more so a time saving measure.
"We've upgraded our yards in the last five or six years...for low stress stock handling. It makes it time efficient and safer on staff.
"Most of our breeding groups got bigger and we really outgrew the yards so it came to a point where we upgraded the yards...and I think it's probably cut our cattle work time by at least 30 per cent...it's easier on the cattle too."
