Third-generation Scartwater grazier Bronwyn Pedracini was feeling confident after last Friday's Wilangi Invitation Sale, with the 24-year-old walking away with 19 new bulls and a renewed hope for her station's future within a turning market. Ms Pedracini paid $12,000 for her top bull, adding some quality polls and herd bulls to her livestock collection. "We're just trying to get good quality. Some of their frames for the meat looked nice...some of those younger ones were nice framed and could grow into nice and bigger, better bulls," she said. "We're just starting off. We're not at the top yet, but we're working our way at the bottom. "Our aim is to get into stud but at the moment we're just trying to get that basic line there and our future goal will be to one day sell our bulls." Ms Pedracini's Scartwater station, located 180km south-east of Charters Towers, has been passed down from two generations before her, with the 67,900 ha property coming into the family 28 years ago. Having grown up on the station her whole life, Ms Pedracini has seen the ebbs and flows of the market, but feels confident about the future despite a tough market in recent months. "I'm pretty positive...we're pretty good. Every year we get rain, some years are better than others, but each year it's standard, it's good, and it's continuous," she said. "For us to be confident enough to get some bulls and keep going...(is) positive. "It was a bit rough there at the middle (of the year) with the market, but the last couple of months it did sort of pick up. "We're pretty confident that next year, with all this rain, that it will pick up and come good again." The 67,900ha Scartwater Station boasts around 30,000 breeders, with their steers sold into Charters Towers heading to live export or to local butchers. "We normally do steers and we normally sell them through the sales in Charters Towers."
