Page 27 - OurStories-2022_Preview

OUR STORY: GREENFIELD | 27
H Y D R O S M A R T

FAMILY TIES: John, Paul, Kate, Bob and
Nic Greenfield are keeping the family’s
legacy at South Gap alive, farming the
property 140 years after their ancestor
William Henry arrived.

rifle, a pocket knife and a sugar bag and I’d shoot one of the best choices Bob had ever made. bulls to diversify the herd and value-add to the
three or four kangaroos. “All the cattle we’ve got here at South Gap have business.
“I’d make as much money from the skins as come from those 10 cows and one bull,” he said. Paul has also bought in cattle to fatten in recent
what I was getting for a wage!” “I’ve never bought any in. years from the North West Pastoral and WA.
“We’ve had different bulls from different studs “We just wanted to make a bit of a composite
over the years, but our herd has all descended
Cattle gamble pays off and put a bit of thickness in the body of the
from that 11 head.” cattle,” Paul said.
Generational life on the station does not just But cattle were not always in situ at South Gap. “It capitalises on the market’s love of black
extend to the Greenfield family, with the property’s “Funnily enough, my grandfather would not have Angus and it’s more of a guaranteed sale for us.”
cattle herd all descending from one small herd in a bar of cattle,” Bob said.
the early 1980s. “My great grandfather did, but my grandfather
Bringing the 1800s into the 21st century
“Droughts are the worst, especially in 1982 - wouldn’t and he died in 1957 so in ‘58 we bought
every dam on the property went dry,” Bob said. a couple of hundred cows and calves from near Across the 140 years, the station has had many
“We sold all our cattle except 11, which couldn’t Oodnadatta. advancements in farming technology, from horses
fit on the truck. I they had fit they would’ve been “Then 1958 was a terrific season, we had to motorbikes, manual tiling to tractors and
gone too. about 15 inches (245 millimetres) of rain when everything in between, but one of Bob’s favourite
“All we had was 4000 sheep on the place, the our average year is about seven (115mm) or just inventions has been the post-hole digger.
cattle and about eight to 10 horses.” below. “My dad wouldn’t buy me a tractor with a
In one of the toughest periods he can recall, “We had that much feed and we bought that post-hole digger on it and I reckon I dug a few
Bob said he was forced to cull his livestock just to mob of cattle just to get some of it down and it thousand holes with a crowbar and shovel,” Bob
stay afloat. started something we’ve continued today.” said.
Luckily, the tide turned the following year and Shorthorns have always been the cattle of “More like a few million,” Paul joked.
with solid rainfall, the station was thriving again choice for Bob, who said the ability to tell them “That was tough work, but technology
just three years later. apart and grow connections while mustering has nowadays is amazing,” Bob said.
Although an inconvenience at the time, keeping been a happy memory on the property. “The machinery we’ve got today saves so much
the 11 cattle on property during that period was In recent years, Paul has brought in Angus money.

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