Central Station and Yougawalla Pastoral Company Blast off for 2015
Host: Yougawalla Pastoral Co.
Written by Jane Sale – Manager, Yougawalla Pastoral Co.
The Sale family are ready for take off.
It’s 2015 and Central Station is coming to you for its third year. Thanks to you, we have a huge following and interest in what the people of the Northern Beef Industry are up to in their everyday lives.
Why are people reading Central Station and what does 2015 hold in store?
As Farmers our values are, I would say, the same as most Australians. Family, animals, our homes, and friendships are all held very dear. It is in our day to day lives that we differ from most . . .
We live with space and beautiful landscapes all around us. We manage our lives around the weather and at times, the harsh reality of what it can reap for our cattle and our livelihoods. We ride motorbikes, horses, helicopters, trucks, and heavy machinery – all in a day’s work. We school our kids over the computer. Their satellite internet and laptops connect them to their teacher, schoolmates, virtual white board, and is the key to their formal education. We breed and care for our cattle and we manage and nurture our land. We bottle feed our orphan calves and rear puppies. We raise, grow, and process our own meat and vegetables to feed the troops and nothing here works to a timetable or average 9am to 5pm work day. When something goes wrong the buck stops here. You work it out and you fix it or gather the people and parts that will haul you out of the bog, fix the bore so the cattle get water, mend the fence so the cattle don’t get out, fix the generator so the homestead has power – the list goes on and on, but, at the end of the working day if the sun is still up you can enjoy a spectacular sunset with your work mates and family or if you choose in complete isolation. All thanks to our weekly hosts that have opened their farm gates and lives up to you so you can read about the ups and downs of station life right here.
The National Library of Australia has asked for permission to archive and make our blogs available in their database as they see the contents of this site to be of great historical significance. This is because of our weekly hosts, their time, care, and the thoughtfulness and personal nature of their stories throughout the year. In 2013 Stephanie, our editor and I were struggling to get the posts up on time and fill the weeks with hosts that might have the time to talk about their lives and businesses for a week. Before the 2014 blogging season was over we had filled the 10 month period for 2015 with a new station or industry business every week. So a huge thank you to all our hosts for taking the time to continue this powerful and positive story of our industry and thank you to the readers for your time and interest in following our page.
Thank you also to our sponsors whose contribution allows Stephanie Coombes to do the wonderful job she does as Editor of Central Station and our sponsors also help us to spread the word. So on that note please recommend us to any friends you think may be interested, especially if they are living in the more populated areas of Australia.
This website came out of a very dark time for our industry. When the live export ban made it clear to us that the urban and rural divide was far too great and there was a huge lack of understanding of what our role is as farmers and food producers for Australia and other countries. Central Station came about to make this information available to anyone who is interested and hopefully people who have no connection with rural life.
So, from an extremely isolated station in the East Kimberley, the live export ban and Central Station have introduced me to so many amazing people, I have made a lot of friends and learnt so much. The personal outcome of Central Station has been for me, the realisation that we are not alone in our isolation.
This clip shows the highlights of 2014 for Yougawalla Pastoral Company and gives you a sneak peak of what you will see this year, so stay tuned for Central Station 2015.