Page 28 - Ourstories_Preview

28 | OUR STORY: MUMFORD

Ron and Ben Mumford at Wandearah trying out the new air seeder in
Ben Mumford with his cattle in the feedlot at Redhill. 1993. Picture supplied

“My father more or less gave my brother and
myself a farm each and sent us on our way and I
would like to give my sons the same opportunity
so we all have our heads down collectively and Myultimatemotivationistogivemy
our foot on the throttle, doing what we can to
expand.” sonsthesamestartinlifethatmy
Charlie said they needed to expand large fathergaveme.
enough to split the farm three ways.
“In the current times, you cannot have a small - BEN MUMFORD
farm and make money from it,” he said.
There have been some great moments in
the past few years, but one of Ben’s favourite
moments of being on the farm was only last
harvest when his three sons were working side-
by-side to get the job done. with 7000 head when they took it on.
“I created my own workforce,” he said. “But as we got to spend more time here, we
“I had one in the header, one in the chaser bin rolled it into a crossbred ewe enterprise by 2003,
and one in the truck.” and then added cattle at the same time as well,”
Ben said the biggest problem the family faced he said.
was spreading themselves too thin and making “We have gone from shearing our wethers and
sure, even though they were getting busier producing 200 bales of wool to running a cattle
and busier, they were still completing tasks at a feedlot.”
standard they were happy with. They run a black Angus-Simmental cross cattle
“It’s not a labour issue, it’s making sure the herd.
quality of our work doesn’t drop off just because “We are trying to produce beef with more meat
we are getting busier,” Ben said. and less fat so the buyer gets a better eating Ben, Charlie, David and Bronwyn Mumford with
“We have five full time employees just within the quality,” he said. Lachie Mumford sitting above them on the Case
family - we have a casual on Kangaroo Island to Like his father and brother, Sam has been 450 Quadtrac.
help us too.” working to expand, starting from the Deep Creek
Settling into island life homeblock and adding farms at Landsdown, “Logistics is just an everyday task which needs
Gosse and Northside, which butts alongside the
While Ben stayed on the Redhill property, Sam property Ben owns. to be considered by all.”
took on the KI block, bought by Ron in 1979. Farming on KI brings with it some specific Bushfire threatens cattle genetics
“When I came home from school, I’d come challenges.
down and do the crutching and shearing so I was “Ferries are always going to be an issue One of the toughest times for the family was in
spending more time here than I was at Redhill,” because we live our life around the boat to be 2019-20, when the Black Summer fires burnt
Sam said. able to get stock away,” Sam said. 211,500ha across the island, including their
He met Helen while he was playing hockey at “I cannot blanket book a carrier and fill the truck farm.
Port Pirie - “we thought she was attending to or cancel a booking and I need to know two Sam said they lost 4500 crossbred ewes and
watch her brother play”. weeks out if there is room on the boat.” 820 cows.
They were married in 1997 and then made the Ben said dealing with this involved considerable “We were left with about 120 calves and 50
move to KI. planning. cows - we kept the heifers and have slowly
Helen, a pre-school teacher, travels to Kingscote “We are planning far enough in front to ensure rebuilt,” he said.
to teach from their Deep Creek property. we don’t face roadblocks such as booking freight “We are mating 460 of our own cattle - we
Sam said the farm was just a wether enterprise for the boat,” he said. haven’t purchased cattle back in, so we are

Ben Mumford with his header in 1992. Picture supplied Ben Mumford moving sheep in 1993. Picture supplied