Outback cattle flown to Kazakhstan

Nearly 300 head of cattle from a station near Alice Springs have been flown to Kazakhstan, in what local producers hope is the start of a new market.

The distance from Alice Springs in the middle of Australia to Kazakhstan is roughly 10,000 kilometres.

Ben Hayes from Undoolya Station said he got a call from his livestock agent one day with an interesting offer.

"He asked if we had some heifers for this Kazakhstan job and we did," he said.

"The buyer from Kazakhstan actually flew out here [with an interpreter], took a quick look and ended up taking them.

"They got trucked down to Melbourne, where they stayed in quarantine for about a month and were then loaded into crates and onto the plane."

Mr Hayes said the animals were flown from Melbourne to Singapore and then onto Kazakhstan.

"I understand Kazakhstan's government have an initiative to boost their cattle breeding numbers, so they've taken some of our Herefords and will hopefully take some more next year."

"There was a weight limit on them of about 180 to 250 kilograms and they had to be preg-tested empty."

He said the money paid for the animals was "on-par" with what he would normally receive in the Australian market.

But he said the chance to be involved in the sale to Kazakhstan was "very special".

"To know that our heifers are now becoming breeding stock for Kazakhstan is a feather in our cap, in Australia's cap," he said.

"Our cattle are off to Kazakhstan to help their industry and their breeding numbers."

ABC Landline has been told some cattle from Mt Riddock Station in the NT were also purchased for the consignment.

According to data from the Federal Department of Agriculture, there were two flights of breeder cattle out of Victoria last month totalling 1,252 head.

Another flight to Kazakhstan took 1,617 breeder sheep.

It is understood Australia last exported cattle to Kazakhstan in 2019.

History of Undoolya exports

This is not the first time Undoolya Station has flown cattle to a distant market.

In 1981, Undoolya steers were flown direct out of Alice Springs to Korea.

"I was only a little fella at the time, but my father and grandfather flew steers out of Alice Springs on a Flying Tiger aircraft, straight to Korea" Mr Hayes said.

"I don't know why they wanted steers, but that's what happened, Alice Springs is an international airport, it was a good opportunity."

Undoolya Station is the Northern Territory's oldest pastoral lease. Established in 1872, the property has been owned by the Hayes family since 1906.

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