Camfield 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.
It is situated about south east of
Timber Creek and west of
Daly Waters. The
Buntine Highway cuts through the property for a distance of . Camfield currently occupies an area of and is owned by the
Australian Agricultural Company
The Australian Agricultural Company (AACo) () is a public-listed Australian company that, as at 2018, owned and operated feedlots and farms covering around of land in Queensland and the Northern Territory, roughly one percent of Australia's la ...
. The property is able to carry a herd of 32,000 head of cattle and is currently running
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 ...
.
Camfield is broken into 22 paddocks, seven holding paddocks and three sets of steel yards. About half of the property lies within of permanent water with another 37 watering points available for stock.
The property was once part of
Victoria River Downs Station
Victoria River Downs Station, also known as Victoria Downs and often referred to as The Big Run, is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Location
It is located about south east of Timb ...
but was resumed as part of a returned servicemen scheme in 1952 and taken up by the Vandeleur family who won the leasehold in a ballot.
In 1968 nine
Indigenous
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention
*Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band
*Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
stockmen and their families walked off the property to join the land claim protest at Wattle Creek at neighbouring
Wave Hill Station
Wave Hill Station, most commonly referred to as Wave Hill, is a pastoral lease in the Northern Territory operating as a cattle station. The property is best known as the scene of the Wave Hill walk-off, a strike by Indigenous Australian ...
. The
Gurindji walk off was caused by the government not granting about to build a settlement on the Gurindji tribal lands.
In 1977 the Malaysian state of
Sabah
Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory o ...
bought Camfield for 1.8 million to ensure regular supplies of reasonable priced
beef
Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus'').
In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantit ...
for their domestic market.
Camfield sold for 1 million in 1979.
See also
*
List of ranches and stations
This is a list of ranches and sheep and cattle stations, organized by continent. Most of these are notable either for the large geographic area which they cover, or for their historical or cultural importance.
West Africa
* Obudu Cattle Ranch
* S ...
References
{{Coord, 17.036, S, 131.294, E, type:landmark_region:AU-NT, display=title
Stations (Australian agriculture)
Pastoral leases in the Northern Territory