A set of historic scales once gracing the cattle yards at the Australian headquarters of King Ranch now make a unique display on a southern NSW property.
The old fashion cattle scales, complete with a life size statue of a bull and historical memorabilia, have been unveiled at Killimicat Station, Tumut, to mark 45 years of stud cattle breeding by the Lucas family.
The late Roland and Eileen Lucas had bred Angus cattle commercially for many years before founding their stud, Reiland, in 1972.
The couple managed without cattle weigh scales until their son Owen sourced the original set from the Australian headquarters of the famous Texas based King Ranch.
King Ranch had bought Milton Park, at Bowral, in 1960 to showcase its Santa Gertrudis cattle and Quarter Horses.
National records were established at the Milton Park annual stud stock auctions.
The King Ranch scales went on to weigh thousands of cattle at Reiland Angus until replaced by modern digital scales.
Owen, of Sutton Forest, and his brothers, Mark and Harry, acknowledged the significance of the original scales to the nation’s cattle industry, and wanted to make these a showpiece at Reiland.
These are now housed in a portable and weatherproof shed at Reiland, along with a life-size statue of an Angus bull, named Reiland Standstill, and a set of digital scales.
Owen had seen a fibreglass replica of a Santa Gertrudis bull at the Roebuck Bay Roadhouse, in Western Australia and tracked down the sculptor, Natureworks, in Queensland.
A life-size statue of an Angus bull was commissioned and now takes pride of place in the display.
Documents and photographs on the history of the Angus breed and Reiland Angus were gathered by Mark and Anna Lucas to complete the visual display.
It was unveiled to the public at the Reiland annual autumn bull sale on April 19.
“Everyone was interested to walk through, have a look and a read,’’ Owen said.
“It will be permanently on display at Killimicat Station and celebrates 45 years of breeding Angus cattle by the family.
“The family history traces from dairy farming at Wildes Meadow to the establishment of the Reiland Stud.
“The display has been a real family effort with different members helping with the shed, floor, photo frames, painting and historical information.’’
Mark Lucas said the Australian beef industry was at a “cherished point in time” with this set to continue.
“With feeder steer prices at 360c/kg, the industry has risen to a profit pinnacle not previously experienced.’’
