Ben Hayes from Undoolya Station said he got a call from his livestock agent with an offer, before a buyer from Kazakhstan visited the property with an interpreter. “He asked if we had some heifers for this Kazakhstan job and we did,” Mr Hayes said. There was a weight limit of about 180 to 250 kilograms, and they had to be preg-tested empty.
Undoolya Station is the Northern Territory's oldest pastoral lease, established in 1872 and owned by the Hayes family since 1906. It is not the first time the station has sent cattle to a distant market: in 1981, steers were flown directly from Alice Springs to Korea.
Mr Hayes said the purchase price was on par with what he would receive in the domestic market, but being involved in the sale felt "very special". "To know that our heifers are now becoming breeding stock for Kazakhstan is a feather in our cap, in Australia's cap," he said. He understands the Kazakh government has an initiative to boost cattle breeding numbers and hopes more sales will follow next year.
According to the Federal Department of Agriculture, two flights of breeder cattle left Victoria last month totalling 1,252 head. A separate flight carried 1,617 breeder sheep. It is understood that Australia last exported cattle to Kazakhstan in 2019. ABC Landline has been told that some cattle from Mt Riddock Station in the NT were also purchased for the consignment.