Adria Downs
Adria Downs Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in the outback of Queensland.
It is situated approximately 100 kilometres (60 mi) west of Birdsville bordering the Simpson Desert National Park.[1] The Georgina River flows through the property in channels that are approximately 60 centimetres (24 in) deep but spread out on floodplains over 20 kilometres (12 mi) wide.[2] The river eventually runs into Lake Muncooney which is also situated within the lease.[3]
The property occupies an area of 8,750 square kilometres (3,378 sq mi)[4] and the current owner is David Brook and the current manager is Don Rayment. In 2012 the property was running 16,000 head of organic cattle.[1]
The property was established in 1912 and in 1916 was owned by Macdonald and Alexander and managed by Clarence Miller.[5]
The Brook family have lived in the area since the 1880s when David's great-grandparents were married in Birdsville. His grandfather managed Annandale Station for Sidney Kidman in the 1900s. His father, Bill Brook, worked on Cordillo Downs Station but in 1942 he acquired a 200-square-mile (518 km2) block of waterless land west of Birdsville known as Adria Downs.[4]
The Brook family acquired other surrounding leases such as Annandale which were incorporated into the Adria Downs lease.[4]
David Brook entered the organic market in 1997 when he founded OBE Organic along with 32 other family farmers in the area, with a combined herd of approximately 90,000 head of cattle. His son also runs Cordillo Downs Station and his daughter, based in Hong Kong, runs the export side of the business.[6]
See also
References
- 1 2 Conor Duffy (8 May 2012). "Desert rain brings boom to Birdsville". Australia: ABC News. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
- ↑ Evan McHugh (2011). Birdsville. ReadHowYouWant.com. ISBN 9781459621374.
- ↑ Rex Ellis (2012). Boats in the Desert. Boolarong Press.
- 1 2 3 "David and Nell Brook" (PDF). World Hereford Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
- ↑ "Some Western Queensland Reminiscences". The Australasian. Melbourne, Victoria. 9 September 1916. p. 6. Retrieved 1 September 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
- ↑ Liz Cotton (19 November 2011). "Nation's big agricultural holdings are still mostly family held". The Australian. Retrieved 1 September 2014.