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Famous Ranches and Stations

Mount Riddock Station: The Cadzow Family's Poll Hereford Property

Off the Plenty Highway in the shadow of the Harts Range, Mount Riddock is a showcase Poll Hereford station in central Australia.

Where is Mount Riddock Station?

Mount Riddock Station is a cattle property in central Australia, in the Northern Territory. Visitors and cattle trucks reach it by turning off the Plenty Highway. According to an Outback magazine profile, it sits in the shadow of the Harts Range, with wildflowers covering the country boundary to boundary in a good season.

A Wikipedia-derived summary places the station at 23 degrees 02 minutes south, 134 degrees 40 minutes east, and gives its area as about 2,633 square kilometres. Dates of the original lease are not given in the sources used for this profile, so this page does not state a founding year.

Who are the Cadzows of Mount Riddock?

The Outback magazine piece says Dick and Ann Cadzow first visited the station in 1986. Dick told the writer it was very rundown but had a strong reputation, and that reputation was the main reason they bought it. As of the 2013 article, the family had spent about 30 years developing the property and three generations were running it.

Outback magazine also notes that Dick had worked in the district before buying, clearing scrub on neighboring Kangaringa Station.

Poll Herefords and quality stock

Mount Riddock is known for Poll Hereford cattle, the naturally hornless line of the Hereford breed. Outback magazine describes it as a showcase cattle-breeding property known for quality stock. A Wikipedia mirror also lists the property as having organic certification, although the Outback article does not discuss it.

The sources used do not detail the station's breeding program, herd numbers or sales, so none are described here.

The Key to the Cadzows' Success

Documentation about the day-to-day management of Mount Riddock is limited, so the lessons below are drawn from the Outback magazine profile only.

No figures on herd size, production or profit are available in the sources used, and none are offered here.

  • Bought a run-down property because of its reputation, and then spent about three decades developing it.
  • Focused on one breed, the Poll Hereford, and on quality stock.
  • Brought the next generations into the business, with three generations involved by 2013.
  • Worked from local experience: Dick Cadzow had already cleared scrub on neighboring Kangaringa Station.
  • Operated in central Australian country where wildflower seasons and the Harts Range define the setting.

How pastoral leases work in the Northern Territory

Cattle stations in the Territory are normally pastoral leases. The National Archives of Australia notes that the South Australian government administered the Northern Territory from 1870 to 1911, and that in the late nineteenth century pastoralists acquired a substantial part of the Territory under pastoral leases issued by that government. Its fact sheet on the Northern Territory pastoral industry describes stations as often the only reference points on maps and the main community centers.

The same fact sheet says stations provided employment and residence and were sites for births, deaths and government services such as education, health, welfare, census collection and law enforcement. Environmental Justice Australia adds that pastoral leases cover about 45% of the Northern Territory and are governed by the Pastoral Land Act 1992 (NT).

Records and further reading

The National Archives holds a 1935 Pastoral Leases Investigation Committee report, in series F49 and F50, that records each lease as it stood in 1935, usually with stock numbers, bores and a map, which is a useful place to research a Territory station's early history. The Wikipedia article on Mount Riddock Station gives a short overview.

For more on cattle country around the world, browse the ranching section on farm.FM or read a farm.FM story about Hereford cattle on an Australian station.

Timeline

  1. 1870South Australia begins administering the Northern Territory
  2. 1911South Australian administration of the Territory ends
  3. 1935Pastoral Leases Investigation Committee records leases across the Territory
  4. 1986Dick and Ann Cadzow first visit the station
  5. 2013Outback magazine reports three generations of the family running it

Frequently asked questions

Where is Mount Riddock Station?

In central Australia in the Northern Territory, reached by turning off the Plenty Highway, in the shadow of the Harts Range.

What cattle does Mount Riddock Station raise?

It raises Poll Hereford cattle and is described by Outback magazine as a showcase cattle-breeding property known for quality stock.

Who owns Mount Riddock Station?

Outback magazine reported in 2013 that Dick and Ann Cadzow bought the station and that three generations of the family were running it.

How big is Mount Riddock Station?

A Wikipedia-derived summary gives about 2,633 square kilometres, but that figure could not be confirmed against a primary source.

Sources and further reading

Profiles are compiled from public sources and reviewed against them. See our editorial policy to suggest a correction.

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