Despite the challenges of a brutal drought, members of the White Family – owners of the 112-year-old Bald Blair Angus Stud – are proud of their heritage and confident of their future.
Story + Photos Mandy McKeesick
A formidable black beast stands on a ridge line overlooking undulating paddocks on Bald Blair Station, 10km east of Guyra in the New England region of New South Wales. He has a crested, muscled neck, a deep chest and broad hindquarters typical of his Angus breed and he exhibits an air of nobility, to which he is rightly entitled.
He carries in his genes more than 100 years of careful and selected breeding and the blue tag in his ear indicates his pedigree is verified and proven around the world. He is Bald Blair Proceed P243 and he belongs to one of the oldest Angus studs in Australia.
Bald Blair Angus supplies stud bulls to commercial herds across Australia’s eastern seaboard and is owned and operated by Sam and Kirsty White, following a family line stretching back to Sam’s great-grandfather FJ White. FJ and his brother JC bought the property in 1898 and 10 years later the stud was established by Sam’s grandfather Harold. Over a century of history makes for a proud heritage, but Sam and Kirsty are determined to improve on and advance what they have inherited, despite the current challenges of a brutal drought.
This story excerpt is from Issue #129
Outback Magazine: Feb/Mar 2020
