Sometimes bribery and corruption is needed. Our recently weaned babies and growers haven't had a lot of experience with concrete. To get them to move from their current Blackwood Dam Paddock to the lush grass of Driveway Paddock took a hay trail from their gate to the new paddock. Some rushed across, some took some time to learn about hard surfaces. Most of our major internal roads are concreted, so this is a great learning for them.

One of the constants in Southern Australian beef production is that you are unlikely to be set stocking. The Northern Territory where I worked as a flying veterinarian on millions of acres properties can't and don't rotate stock. After annual mustering, branding, marking and weaning in groups of many thousands of head, they go back out into vast unfenced landscapes. 

We on the other hand on our 160 acres move our stock very regularly. With our 16 paddocks and (currently) 4 stock groups we are constantly moving everyone to try to ensure that individual grass swards are grazed only once each rotation and the grass production and so cattle production is optimised.

So we are usually moving mobs every one to three weeks depending upon season, mob size and climatic variations.  This takes the form then of a short term routine within longer term uncertainty.

The world turns, we do what we do, we try to make our lives and our community a better place. 

Everyone moved and happy in their new paddock

NT reality: huge mobs, huge spaces and road trains. I had a blast up there flying my Cessna 182 around from property to property. 

Priseile and one of our steers in lush Winter ryegrass  

We are grass farmers