News
Culture of Care Philosophy - Victorian Farmer Winter 2022
The pastoral based, family owned company in Western Victoria runs a fully integrated, highly productive farming system in conjunction with a high value conservation management program.
Eleven thousand hectares in six separate business units are managed by five separate farm managers and a conservation manager. Livestock enterprises run 38,000 sheep and 4,000 cattle with a stocking rate of 86,000140,000 dry sheep equivalent (DSE).
In an ambitious undertaking, this year 85,000 trees will be planted in a registered carbon program, part of the 20 per cent native vegetation target for each of the properties under ownership.
There are Bush Broker blocks for environmental offsets, a high end hotel with an accommodation business and two prestigious restaurants, plus valuable properties in the Kimberley and Northern Territory. The acquisition of 2,428ha at Blackwood in 2019 and 1214ha at Devon Park the following year, was part of an important geographical consolidation strategy.
All facets of this unique business operate under the umbrella of Dunkeld Pastoral Company (DPC). Read More
Bandicoots are surviving in western Victoria thanks to guardian dogs - 22 June 2021
Bold, fluffy and ready for action, Wednesday and Terzo are on a mission — to protect endangered bandicoots.
The unlikely union between the Italian sheep dog and the tiny marsupial is at the centre of a research trial by Zoos Victoria to see if maremmas can be successfully used to re-establish bandicoot populations on mainland Australia.
Last week, 20 eastern barred bandicoots were released at Zoos Victoria's second research trial site several hours drive west of Melbourne. Read more
This 17,500-year-old kangaroo in the Kimberley is Australia’s oldest Aboriginal rock painting - 22 February 2021
In Western Australia’s northeast Kimberley region, on Balanggarra Country, a two-metre-long painting of a kangaroo spans the sloping ceiling of a rock shelter above the Drysdale River.
In a paper published today in Nature Human Behaviour, we date the artwork as being between 17,500 and 17,100 years old — making it Australia’s oldest known in-situ rock painting. Read more.
Conservation canine-style: the dogs keeping embattled native Australian species from extinction – 10 September 2020
These dogs deter predators with their scent and also keep watch throughout the night, helping our most embattled native species.
In 2004, there was no way David Williams, then an environmental science student at Deakin University, in Victoria, could have predicted the chain reaction a last-minute assignment submission would create. Read more.
Gwion paintings in the Kimberley were created around 12,000 years ago, wasp nests suggest – 6 February 2020
Enigmatic human figures with elaborate headdresses, arm and waist decorations adorn rock shelters in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Read more.
Cane Toad Coalition – 13 October 2019
Watch the bulletin that was featured on Channel 9 News here.
New population of aquatic carnivorous plant found in the Kimberley – 2 May 2019
Scientists have discovered a new population of the critically endangered waterwheel plant after a 10-year search. Read here.
Kimberley cattlewoman is given Order of Australia – 29 Jan 2019
Kimberley pastoralist Susan Bradley has been recognised for her contribution to the cattle industry, and the wider Kimberley community, with an Order of Australia Medal. Listen here.
Success for Dunkeld Pastoral Co Pty Ltd Quoll Breeding Program - 18 September 2018
Dunkeld Pastoral Co. is thrilled to announce the arrival of six baby eastern quolls. Extinct on mainland Australia, this is an exciting step in the breeding partnership with the Tasmanian Quoll Conservation Program. Read more.
Media Appearances
Kimberley’s ancient environmental past a click away - 14 November 2018
The environmental and climate history of the past 60,000 years of Australia’s Kimberley region is set to be uncovered by a multidisciplinary team led by a University of Queensland scientist. Read more.
First helicopter drops of cane toad sausages prompt design tweak - 16 June 2018
Stinky sausages made of cane toad flesh have been scattered from helicopters in a wide-scale trial that researchers hope will give native animals a fighting chance. Read more.
Core company values the weigh forward for Dunkeld Pastoral - June 27, 2018
The son of a butcher, one of Australia’s most famous barristers, Allan Myers has built an empire in and around his hometown of Dunkeld. Read more.
