Remembering our Roots
Connection to the land and breeding beef cattle has been in my family for generations. My grandfather, Jack Faulkner, was a blacksmith and later a business man who bought a grazing property in the 1940’s at Moogerah. The Copley‘s were my mother’s family and were early pioneers at Stanley House near Esk. Much of their property went underwater with the construction of Somerset Dam but enough remained to sustain two family beef cattle enterprises.
Reynolds Head Droughtmasters is a part of what was once my father’s large grazing property known as King Pah. It is located in the foothills of the Great Dividing Range and we are extremely lucky to have beautiful creeks running through our paddocks. The name Reynolds Head comes from our property being at the head waters of Reynolds Creek, the main feed for Moogerah Dam. My father Don, had a great reputation for producing Jap bullocks. Dad ran a closed herd starting with Hereford cows which he crossed over Santa Gertrudis bulls. He produced a strong line of cross bred bullocks that were held in high regard, winning many categories at both Boonah and Ipswich fat cattle judging for more than 20 years.
In 2008 my husband and I began breeding a few commercial Droughtmasters along with some crossbred cows to a registered Lake Moogerah Droughtmaster bull. We called this bull Steve, but his registered name was X7.66. We believe he was a PP bull as most of our cows were horned but their calves were polled. Steve’s father was Vet School Xpense and he had Minlacowie and Rundle Park bloodlines. Steve’s mother was a Clonlara cow with Aldinga and Fairhaven bloodlines. Steve’s offspring became the basis of our foundation herd.
Over the years our stud sires have produced a strong line of heavy boned, structurally sound and forward moving animals.
We treat our cows with respect and compassion. We recognise that cattle are social animals and perform best when consideration is given to family and herd groupings. Our yards are extremely well designed using Temple Grandin’s cattle management principals. We have calm cattle because of our management techniques and breeding program. We recognise the quality of both our commercial and stud herds to produce the frame and bone to suit the commercial market. Our cattle have the coat to cope with parasites and the temperment to mother and protect a calf while remaining calm and respectful both in and out of the yards. We keep a close eye on nutrition, structural soundness and mothering ability.
We are passionate about the Droughtmaster breed and excited to continue the legacy of the 50+ years of genetics from the Lake Moogerah bloodlines. We are thrilled to have Ashley Stevens, the founder of Lake Moogerah Droughtmasters, still working with us and mentoring us to improve our herd. We are thrilled with the 2022 purchase of High Country Koax, who already has some impressive calves on the ground. In September 2023 we purchased two young Glenlands Bulls, Glenlands D Emperor and Glenlands J Even Break.
These are very exciting times and we look forward to the birth of every calf as their potential is our future.
The photos below include a pen of my father's Jap bullocks that were off to the Boonah Show in the 1980's and the old ‘King Pah’ Hut in the 1940's with my father and grandfather. The final photo is Ashley Stevens and I on the day Reynolds Head Droughtmasters purchased the last of his original line of 20 Lake Moogerah cows and calves from Phil and Sue Gutzke as a part of the final stud dispersal. We are very grateful to have been given the opportunity to continue his impressive line of Droughtmaster cattle.
