Quiet has become the key word at Murchison House Station, located 570 kilometers north of Perth, where a groundbreaking approach to managing feral goats is transforming traditional mustering practices. Once reliant on the roar of helicopters and motorbikes, the station now employs a 9-kilometer fence that quietly reduces livestock stress and slashes operating costs.
“Effectively what we have built is a total grazing-management trapyard,” said Murchison House owner Calum Carruth. This innovative yard, which can be operated remotely, marks a significant shift in pastoralist strategies.
Modern Technology Meets Traditional Practices
While using yards to trap animals is a time-honored method among pastoralists, the Carruths’ system is distinct in its integration of modern technology. The trapyard’s 10 entry gates can be closed via smartphones from up to 20 kilometers away, and seven water tanks equipped with sensors provide critical data on animal movements.
“When the gates are closed and the goats are trapped, they are herded to a holding yard at one end, loaded onto a truck, and taken to market,” Mr. Carruth explained. “Not only is it more cost-efficient, it’s safer for staff and friendlier on the animals. It’s low-stress stock handling.”
The Economic and Environmental Impact
Feral goats, while considered a destructive pest in Western Australia, also represent valuable livestock. Goat meat is highly sought after across Asia, the Middle East, and increasingly in the United States. The Carruths, who have owned Murchison House for over 30 years, capitalize on this demand by selling goats caught on their property annually.
“We have got the goat numbers down to something we think is sustainable, environmentally, ecologically, and hopefully economically,” Mr. Carruth noted. Despite their efforts, the Carruths acknowledge that complete eradication of goats from the landscape is unlikely.
Protecting the Pillawarra Land System
The idea for the trapyard originated from the need to protect the fragile Pillawarra land system, a unique area of the station recognized for its fossil, geological, and historical significance. The land is characterized by a giant limestone escarpment with erosion-prone clays.
Mr. Carruth explained, “The Pillawarra has long sections of freshwater soaks and springs in the bottom of it, and very good grazing. The goats would come for the water and wouldn’t leave.”
When the Carruths purchased the station, they found approximately 5,000 sheep, 2,000 cattle, and 20,000 goats. Their destocking program showed significant recovery across most of the property, except the limestone hills of the Pillawarra.
Innovative Telemetry Network
At the heart of the trapyard’s operation is an extensive telemetry network, featuring tiny solar-powered antennas that receive signals from a meshing network to trigger actions such as closing the gates. The Carruths collaborated with Annie Brox and her team from Origo.ag to design and implement this system.
“At the homestead, there is an internet connection, so signals go from this private meshing network to a gateway between the private network and the internet,” Mr. Carruth explained.
Potential for Broader Applications
The Carruths believe their trapyard concept could be adapted to manage other feral populations in remote areas of Australia, such as wild pigs or camels. “The fences obviously would need to be much more robust and therefore more expensive, but electric fences will hold a lot of those animals pretty well,” Mr. Carruth said.
Looking to the future, the Carruths plan to expand the trapyard, with aspirations to replace most traditional motor-based mustering on the station. “Since Belinda and I have been here, all we’ve ever wanted to do is leave it better than we’ve found it,” Mr. Carruth concluded.
