Stockyards on Bullo River Valley - 1962(1)

Raymond Locke supplying the stockman on Bullo River Valley - 1962(1)

Bullo River Station also once known as Bullo River Valley Station, is a pastoral lease that operates as a

cattle station In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm ( station is equivalent to the American ranch), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a '' grazier''. The largest cattle stat ...

in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

of Australia. Situated close to the border of Western Australia, approximately north west of Timber Creek and north east of Kununurra. The Victoria River flows through the property. It is bounded by Newry Station and

Auvergne Station Auvergne Station often just referred to as Auvergne is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia. Location It is located about west of Timber Creek and east of Kununurra, in the Northern Terr ...

to the south and by Spirit Hills Station to the north and west, and lies on the traditional lands of the Mariu people. The property occupies an area of and can support a herd of over 9,000 heads of

Brahman cattle The Brahman is an American breed of zebuine-taurine hybrid beef cattle. It was bred in the United States from 1885 from cattle originating in India, imported at various times from the United Kingdom, from India and from Brazil. These were mainl ...

. The property was established by Raymond Locke who was granted the lease for the area in June 1960 under Pastoral Lease No. 568 over . The lease was known as Bullo River Valley Station and was pioneered by Raymond and Barbara Locke. The Locke family established bores and fencing and had a herd of over 1,000

Shorthorn The Shorthorn breed of cattle originated in the North East of England in the late eighteenth century. The breed was developed as dual-purpose, suitable for both dairy and beef production; however, certain blood lines within the breed always emp ...

cattle. They also had an airstrip constructed at a cost of 1,200 pounds. Barbara Locke also served as the President of the

Country Women's Association The Country Women's Association (CWA) is the largest regional and rural advocacy group in Australia. It comprises seven independent State and Territory Associations, who are passionate advocates for country women and their families, working ...

- Ord Valley Air Branch during her time at Bullo. Bullo River was owned by the author

Sara Henderson Sara Jane Henderson (15 September 1936 – 29 April 2005) was an Australian pastoral farming, pastoralist and author who became an Australia household name after the publication of her autobiography ''From Strength to Strength'' in 1993 about re ...

and her husband, an American, Charles Henderson. The Hendersons acquired the property in 1963 from the Lockes and moved to Bullo River the same year, Charles died in 1986 and Sara took over running the property with the help of her three daughters. In 2001 Henderson's oldest daughter, Marlee Ranacher and her husband Franz acquired Bulloo from her mother following a legal battle. In 2011 the property was struggling following the live export ban imposed by the Gillard government. Marlee Ranacher led a protest group to Canberra then returned to Bulloo to place the property on the market. Shortly afterwards while aerial mustering her plane's engine failed and she crash landed on a mud-flat before having to swim ashore and activating an

emergency beacon An emergency locator beacon is a radio beacon, a portable battery powered radio transmitter, used to locate airplanes, vessels, and persons in distress and in need of immediate rescue. Various types of emergency locator beacons are carried by air ...

. Authorities contacted her husband who picked her up in his helicopter. The insurance paid out on the plane kept the property afloat until market conditions improved. The station was sold in 2015 to Grant Farris who paid 9.5 million for both the leasehold and 7,000 head of cattle. Farris and his partner, Grant McLeary, announced they would be spending another 1 million to redevelop the property for both cattle and tourism.

References

{{Reflist Pastoral leases in the Northern Territory Stations (Australian agriculture)

See also

References