Hayden Sale, GM of Yougawalla Pastoral Company, reflects on over a decade using Milne’s Early Weaner across the Kimberley and Pilbara. Cutting second musters, improving cow condition, and lifting weaning rates on some of Australia’s most extensive cattle country.
When Hayden Sale, General Manager of Yougawalla Pastoral Company, first saw calves being fed Early Weaner pellet at Jubilee Downs, he wasn’t looking at a new product — he was looking at a solution to one of northern Australia’s most expensive problems: the second muster.
That was back around 2012. More than adecade on, in a new Feed for Thought episode, Hayden reflects on just how much Early Weaner has reshaped the way Yougawalla Pastoral Company runs cattle across its Kimberley and Pilbara properties, and why the product has become a permanent part of how the business manages weaning at scale.
The economics are straight forward. Mustering is the single biggest cost in a northern beef operation, and historically, producers needing to wean small or light calves had little choice but to run cattle through the yards twice: once to draft off the herd, and again once lighter calves were ready to leave their mothers. Early Weaner changed that equation. By feeding the lightest 10–15% of calves a high-protein pellet (21% protein, 13% energy) alongside hay, producers like Yougawalla Pastoral Company can wean the whole herd in one round and get calves as light as 80–130kg safely onto pasture without a second muster.
But the savings on mustering costs are only half the story. Hayden points to a second, less obvious benefit that compounds over time: cow condition. A breeder that isn’t dragged through a second round holds her body condition better, which flows directly into higher rejoining rates and, ultimately, higher weaning rates the following year. In an industry where weaning rate is the single biggest driver of profitability, that flow-on effect matters as much as the direct cost saving.
There’s also real science behind why Early Weaner works for such young calves. The pellet’s formulation, combined with high protein, supports early rumen microbial development and papillae growth — the structures that let a calf’s rumen absorb nutrients and volatile fatty acids effectively. Getting that development right early gives calves the best possible start at converting pasture into growth once they’re weaned.
For an industry managing cattle across some of the most extensive, remote country in Australia, Early Weaner has become as much a part of blanket-weaning season as the muster itself. Yougawalla Pastoral Company’s experience, refined over more than a decade of practical, in-paddock learning, is a reminder of how much value a well-targeted nutritional product can unlock when it’s matched to the realities of a northern operation.
Watch Hayden’s full conversation with host Holly Ludeman, including his practical tips on yard set-up and drafting schedules, in the video linked above.
