For Bill and Alison Ryan of Lower Acacia Creek, getting their cattle yards to work was a key aspect of the redevelopment of Acacia Downs on the northern NSW border.
Their 500 acre property is currently running one hundred Angus breeders. “We source the best quality we can from our neighbours down the road, and with our planned improved pasture we’re looking to run up to 150 head.”
“We’ve got a ten-year plan. We’re just over half way and feel we’re on track. The new yards were a major part of that plan as we were just wasting far too much time in the old timber setup.” Said Bill
“And the safety aspect” mentioned Alison, “We had a few close shaves and when we brought cattle into the old yards, a rail would break and we’d have to start over.” “They were 50 or 60 years old and because of the time it took to do the cattle work we’d often be caught out at night. It was too dangerous and very unsafe.”
Bill and Alison decided to contact ProWay Livestock Equipment after talking with their fencing contactor. “ProWay Designer, Damien Halloway visited the property and measured everything up. It was an excellent experience and we were impressed by the way that we could leave the trees and incorporate lane access.”
“Damien worked on a design with our input and I’m extremely happy with the result”
“It’s just so easy. By putting in these yards we’ve saved sixty to seventy per cent of our time handling cattle”
“This time of year would be the busiest. Even though we’re a small operation, we would rather stay on top of everything and do everything correctly. We get paralysis tick here as well, so we need to be vigilant.”
“The rotary force works really well and the bigger cows just keep walking right up to the crush without stress. That animal welfare aspect is very important to us. Now we can take the cattle through nice and gently and make it less traumatic as possible.”
“The best thing about it is, it is just state of the art. No more headaches. No more cattle going over or through fences.”
“Every time we do our cattle work, we high-five. It’s almost like you want to get them in every four or five days to work in your yards, that’s how good it is.”