7 days ago
Great Australian Cattle Drive in Qld raises money for food charities
As the last of the day's light retreats across the paddock, boss drover Billy Prow is checking the cattle one last time before joining his comrades around the campfire.
Like the weary cattlemen of days gone by, his time stewarding this mob across the stock routes of outback Queensland is coming to an end.
But the scene on the outskirts of Roma, 470 kilometres north-west of Brisbane, is not from a history book — it's a modern depiction of the generosity of the bush.
An epic 770-kilometre trek, the Great Australian Charity Cattle Drive has something special in common with the droves of old — it is about making sure people get fed.
Anthony 'Bim' Struss's connection to the cattle industry spans generations.
He previously served as the president of farm lobby AgForce's cattle board, and runs his own property, Havelock, with wife Susan.
In 2021, he joined the board of BeefBank, a Brisbane-based not-for-profit that distributes meat to food charities struggling to access protein.
"The BeefBank chairman Andrew Rogers mentioned to me one day an event where we could put a few cattle together, drive them down the road and sell them and we could take the profits from that," Mr Struss said.
"I told him he was crazy at that point and I still think that Andrew is crazy.
"It has been a lot bigger event than that."
It took three years to pull the event together, but when the drovers finally set out from Longreach in May, Queensland Governor Jeannette Young and her husband Graeme Nimmo were there to send them off.
"What a great couple they are, just full of laughter, full of fun," Mr Struss said.
"I'll never forget Her Excellency said that she was always taught never to swing on a gate but [she said], 'Bim, I'm going to swing on the gate today and I'm the boss so I'm going to do it.'
"Everyone saw her swing, it was on national TV.
"It was a tremendous start for us."
What followed was three months of long days and some cold nights herding 1,670 head of donated cattle, volunteers and participants along historic stock routes.
Stock routes were once the circulatory system of the livestock industry, a network of arteries and veins connecting station to saleyard and pumping cattle to consumer.
Following river systems, Indigenous trade routes and trails, drovers walked cattle to market in the days before trucks and trains.
Some routes eventually became roads while others fell into disuse as transport improved, but many remain, providing pasture in times of need and safe passage for migrating wildlife.
Head drover Billy Prow has been moving stock along these paths for three decades.
"I would have done that route [Longreach to Roma] numerous times, I don't know how many times but done it quite a fair bit," he said.
"Some years were flat out, and then other years I've had a couple of quieter years compared to some blokes around.
"It's all about the stock routes to me ... hopefully they keep maintained so travelling stock will always get through."
Participants were provided a horse, meals and transfers to the nearest town — a "bit different" to the drives Mr Prow was used to.
"I've never had that many people around me before around the mob of cattle," he said.
"They've been pretty good ... they always try to listen to what you're trying to say. They don't get in the middle of them [the cattle] too much."
Affectionately called the "tourists" around camp, there were plenty of authentic droving moments for volunteers along the way, such as bad weather and the herd spooking.
For "tourist" Dean Nalder, the event was a chance to get back in the saddle for the first time in 20 years.
"I grew up in the bush and we had horses on the farm when I was a kid," he said.
"A lot of people back home in Perth were horrified that I was doing such a thing.
"But I've been pleasantly surprised. I've got a great horse, he was quiet, the cattle are fat and happy, so it was just a quiet ride."
Given a unique opportunity to work alongside Mr Prow, he felt like an apprentice watching a master ply his trade.
"We admired what he could do with his dogs and the horses and his awareness of the cattle," Mr Nalder said.
"We could walk up amongst the cattle on horseback and they were quite comfortable with us being there, it was just really fantastic.
"I would do it just for the adventure, but the fact that it helps people at the same time is what, for me, takes it over the top and makes it something quite special."
Jaide Donnellan, 16, has only been riding horses for three years, but was part of the droving team that brought the cattle into Longreach from Muttaburra.
"The kids made it fun ... I learned a bit from them too, how young they are and how they can ride so easily because they've been doing it their whole life.
"It's pretty amazing to watch."
Mo Bassett spent seven weeks volunteering on the drive.
"We just had to do our job, help move gear along to the next spot. That was our job and we did it. I loved it," he said.
As the cattle settled into their pens at the Roma saleyards, the final count of how much money was raised along the way is still being tallied.
The animals will either go back to the feedlots and pastures they came from, or be sold to meatworks, eventually making their way onto dinner tables around the country.
Whatever the total raised turns out to be, the collaborative effort is enough to make even stoic cattlemen like Mr Struss a little sentimental.
"Sometimes it's just that one or two meals that gives that person the dignity to get up and get going again.
"I think it's important that we all understand that we have a responsibility to look after these people.
"The whole thing has been an extraordinary adventure for us all."
