My 2011 Study Tour

MY 2011 STUDY TOUR:
I am a young stud Angus breeder from "Hollywood Angus Stud", Peak Hill, NSW. I was awarded the Matthew George Young Stockman Award for 2010 at the Royal Melbourne Show. In April, I will be heading to Mexico and Canada for a four month study tour to get an overview of the beef cattle industries in these countries. I will be visiting a range of enterprises, including major shows, stud and commercial operations, and feedlots. I wish to thank the Ballarat Foundation for the opportunity to live my dream, and hope to share my experiences via this blog.

"LIVE YOUR DREAM"

"LIVE YOUR DREAM": THE MATTHEW GEORGE YOUNG STOCKMAN AWARD
The Matthew George Young Stockman Award was established as a sub-fund of the Ballarat Foundation in honour of Matthew George of Stockyard Hill, who was tragically taken in a car accident in 2007 at 21 years of age. Matthew had an absolute love of animals together with a thirst for knowledge and a passion for breeding. This annual award provides a young breeder aged 18 to 25 years with the opportunity to live Matthew's dream, and travel overseas to become an ambassador for the beef industry and study other beef cattle breeding programs and developments.
APPLY NOW FOR THE MATTHEW GEORGE AWARD 2011: Applications are now open for this year's Matthew George Young Stockman Award. This is an amazing award for anyone who wants to learn more about the beef industry. If you're aged 18-25, make sure you apply - the opportunities it opens up are just incredible! For application details, go to www.ballaratfoundation.org.au click on 'sub funds' & then 'matthew george award'. Applications close 30 June.

Monday 8 August 2011

Cattle, Horses and the Rockies:

Wow! having only another day or so left in Canada hasn't meant I'm on the slow down - fitting as much in as I can!  And what better way to end my last days than on horseback moving cows in the Rocky Mountain foothills!  It definitely won't be an image I will get out of my mind for a long time - chasing our missing cows and calves and bulls up and down creeks, crashing through the water, riding blindly through the spruce trees, all while being in one of the most magnificent mountain ranges!  The flat plains of Peak Hill are going to take a bit of adjusting to after this!!!  The last few days I’ve been riding a different horse - Charlie  - definitely doesn't act his age (25), but still thinks he young – a tremendously athletic horse who really knows how to work cattle!  As well as this, we’ve being taking bulls out - only 2 more groups to go - and moving the cows around.  Have been trying to bale hay but the weather has had other ideas - the last 2 days we’ve had storms roll in in the afternoon and  had just enough rain to dampen everything and push the moisture content way too high.  Also had the opportunity to go raspberry picking today - absolutely gorged myself on them – they never taste better than when freshly picked from the bush! 
Looking forward to my last day/s here in Canada and getting to end it on a high - will be trailing more cows and calves to the summer pastures, then comes the joys of packing!  Seriously how much stuff can one accumulate in 4 months!!