Kalli Station is a

pastoral lease A pastoral lease, sometimes called a pastoral run, is an arrangement used in both Australia and New Zealand where government-owned Crown land is leased out to graziers for the purpose of livestock grazing on rangelands. Australia Pastoral lease ...

that has operated as both a

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

and

sheep station A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

Description

The property covers an area of and has traditionally farmed

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

for the production of

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...

. The station is located in the

Shire of Murchison The Shire of Murchison covers a large area of the Murchison sub-region of the central part of Western Australia, northeast of Geraldton. The shire and the older 'Murchison' region and goldfield are now part of the designated Mid West region. I ...

in the

Mid West The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

region of

; the nearest town is Cue. The soil has a low level of

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...

, with 91% of the land being described as nil or minor. The perennial vegetation condition is poor, with 47% of vegetation cover being described as poor or very poor. Kalli adjoins

Boolardy Boolardy Station is a remote former sheep and cattle station in the Mid West (Murchison) region of Western Australia, about north-north-east of Pindar and west-south-west of Meekatharra. It is within the Shire of Murchison and situated on ...

, Meka, Mileura and Madoonga Stations.

History

The station was put on the market in 1918 by John Patrick McGrath. McGrath had previously owned the Peake and left to establish Kalli Station. In 1918 the station covered an area of . The property eventually sold to Ted Church in 1920 and later sold again to John Forrest in 1927. 304

wethers Wethers is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Brian Wethers (born 1980), American basketball player * Doris L. Wethers (1927–2019), American pediatrician See also *Grey Wethers, two neolithic sites in England *Wether (disambigu ...

were sold off from the station in 1926. Three trucks of cattle were sold and moved from the station via

Day Dawn Day Dawn is a ghost town in the Mid West (Western Australia), Mid West/upper Murchison River (Western Australia), Murchison region of Western Australia. It was a significant mining town and mine in the late nineteenth century. Located a short ...

to Midland Junction in 1928. The area was struck by

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

in 1936–1937 when the station was owned by Mr A. Lloyd who said "if it had not been for mulga cutting he would have no sheep left at all"; the rains came in April 1937, allowing stock to be turned out. The property was put on the market in 1948 as part of the estate of E. J. Church, along with the flock of over 5,200 sheep. In 1989, an inspector from the Department of Agriculture stumbled across a large

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: ''Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternatively ...

crop at Kalli Station. Following a police investigation, Operation Cerberus, another crop was found at Gingin and another was planned to be planted at Mount Elvire by the L'Onorata Syndicate. As a result, ten men were arrested including Rocco Versace and Sebastino Pizzata, who were the ringleaders. The head of the operation Bruno "The Fox" Romeo was arrested years later. The

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentar ...

regional land classification system uses the name taken from the station to describe plains of red sand over

laterite Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by ...

. The current lessees are Ross and Ailsa Ariti. Kalli is operating under the Crown Lease number CL574-1966 and has the Land Act number LA3114/670.

References

{{Stations of the Mid West Western Australia Mid West (Western Australia) Pastoral leases in Western Australia Stations (Australian agriculture)