Ownership fulfils station dream

The couple decided to dive head-first into a new adventure of being agricultural business owners, not just by purchasing a farm property like most first-timers, but snapping up the 200,000-hectare Murgoo station at Murchison.

One of the oldest stations in the Murchison area, Murgoo was settled in 1873 and in its early days was a well-known Merino stud, as well as producing quality sheep and cattle meat.

Josh, Jocelyn and daughters Bella, 6, and Eliza, 4, moved to Western Australia from Victoria in June 2016, seeking more affordable land, particularly as they were trying to enter the market.

“I have always wanted to own a station – I had been dreaming about it since I can remember and we won’t be moving in a hurry,” Josh said.

Jocelyn said the station life also suited her well with the peaceful open country and spending more time together as a family.

“I like the isolation and having our own space away from it all,” Jocelyn said.

“The community is great and life is very flexible out here, particularly with home schooling the girls.”

Having previously worked as a jackeroo and manager at various properties in New South Wales for F.S. Falkiner & Sons, including at Boonoke and Haddon Rig, Josh had accumulated plenty of experience running Merinos and managing livestock, specialising in Merino stud breeding.

“I tended to the sheep’s needs and worked with sheep every day for 20 years and at night would research and dream of breeding better sheep,” he said.

“I have taken the same approach at Murgoo, focussing completely on the stock.”

The young couple runs 400 head of Droughtmaster cattle plus followers and 4000 head of Dorper and Damara crossbred ewes with their progeny.

Josh said he opted for these breeds of cattle and sheep for their suitability to the pastoral country as they’re gentle on the land, easy to handle and are low cost.

Going from a manager to sole owner, Josh said “the biggest difference has been the cheque book”, as well as the nature of the work.

“Not having to worry about shearing, crutching and spraying is great – there are no deadlines and running costs are much lower,” he said.

“But then that time is now taken up with other things – we seem to always be busy.”

The Pumpas purchased Murgoo through Ray White Rural director Simon Wilding, and said they were pleased with Simon’s service and the great condition of the station, particularly the fences, windmills and country.

Although it has taken a lot of work, time and effort, they have started to put their stamp on Murgoo, recently working on fences.

“I have always specialised in livestock so having to tend to other station needs like grading, fencing and the homestead has been really difficult,” Josh said.

An overall muster is done twice a year and takes the pastoralists about two weeks, including using a aeroplane and three to four people on motorbikes for about two days.

In between these musters, they also track stock when required in their program by mustering in paddocks around water points.

“We are fortunate that Murgoo is extremely well fenced – the sheep and cattle are broken up into little lots and the country is fairly open country,” Josh said.

“So we have the ability to track them down off water for calf marking and the odd sales for which we use motorbikes.

“Then twice a year we hire an aeorplane and several helpers on bikes to get a clean muster and to get an idea of numbers and have a tidy up.”

Murgoo’s water supply is from about 70 windmills and the Sandford River flows through the property that provides a large floodplain during the wet season.

Upon first arriving to Murgoo, combatting wild dogs has been a priority for the Pumpas and with consistent baiting and trapping, luckily they haven’t felt a major impact on their livestock, but it is a very timely issue to manage.

Education for regional students has been under the spotlight with various State government decisions showing neglect to the schooling of some of WA’s most remote students.

Since moving to Murgoo, Bella and Eliza have been home schooled by Jocelyn through the Meekatharra School of the Air (SOTA) and the girls could have been collateral damage of the proposed education cuts from last year’s budget which were later repealed.

“If funding for SOTA had been cut, the girls would have had to do SIDE (School of Isolated and Distant Education) and who knows how well that would have gone,” Jocelyn said.

Josh said the uncertainty of the live export market was a major concern for their operations.

“It is 100 per cent of our sheep income and our cattle go to local and live export markets, so it would have a major affect on us,” he said.

Station life doesn’t just require dedication and resilience but a ‘have-a-go-attitude’ can also be a valuable tool and Josh and Jocelyn have that down pat.

“We are not afraid to take on a challenge and we are not afraid of failure,” Josh said.

“If it all fails and we have to go back to managing, then so be it.

“I think our biggest challenge will be rainfall – we have had two good seasons which has been good, so we just need that to continue.

“But rainfall is out of our control so we try to focus on things we can manage.”

For many country people, it’s the Australian dream to buy a property to work the land and some livestock and as the saying goes, ‘sometimes bigger is better’ – well this seemed to be the view in Josh and Jocelyn’s eyes.