Farm business varies from home-based farms to acres and acres of land being irrigated.
Most of the farms these days occupy a large space as it is, but just how big can they
get? In today’s video, we are talking about some
of the world's largest farms to exist. These places will blow your mind when you
see just how big they are so be sure to stick around till the end so you don’t miss out
on anything. But before we get started, don’t forget
to like and subscribe to our channel for more videos like this.
That being said, let's get started! Number 10 – Marion Downs
For our first stop, we are going to the Marion Downs also known as Marion Downs Station.
Located about 56km southwest of Boulia, Marion Downs serves as a leased cattle station for
the animals. This farm in Queensland is counted among one
of the largest farms in the world. It occupies nearly the entire locality of Amaroo and even
extends further than that. The sheer size of the farm is no joke as it
occupies a total of 3,070,000 acres. The farm is well watered and kept alive to serve the
purpose of cattle farming. Currently, the property is stocked with about
15,000 head of cattle and is owned by the North Australian Pastoral Company.
But the most unbelievable fact is that the farm only employs 15 people! All this land
and only a total of 15 people to look after it, those people must be seriously skilled
at their job to pull this off. Number 9 – Wave Hill
Settled in the Northern region of Australia, Wave Hill is one place that has a vast history
of its own. The land has seen it all, from exploitation to rebellion.
In 1884, the Gurindji people started farming on this land with 1000 cattle which later
became 15,000 in 10 years along with 8,000 Buffalo. This large-scale farming attracted
outsider attention and soon a station was set on the farm.
The people there became unofficial employees of the government and were provided with,
food, clothes, and tobacco in exchange for their work, and even when they were paid their
wages were 50% lesser than their fellow working Europeans.
But few years down the lane, the Gurindji people finally recognized the exploitation
and went on strikes, moving away from land when their demands went unnoticed. After years
of protesting it was only in 1975 when the Australian government handed over the land
Lease to the Gurindji people. Through ups and downs, Wave Hill still remains
one of the largest farms in the world that heads over 50,000 cattle and surrounds 3,330,000
acres of land. Number 8 – Innamincka
Okay, now enough with the Northern Australian Farms let's move onto the Southern part of
Australia. Located 246 kilometers southeast of Birdsville,
Innaminchka serves is a leased pastoral, it’s been serving as a cattle station for nearly
a century now. The station occupies an area of 13,552 square kilometers and is the second-largest
station in all of Australia. Looking into its history, the station seems
to have suffered a great deal due to Nature. Established in 1872 by Robert Bostock, the
station had over 8,000 cattle by 1881. But the impressive success of the station didn’t
last long as it was struck by the wrath of nature, continuous flood and draught surrounded
the settlement once every few years. A draught in 1914-1916 and killed over 10,000
cattle on the station. And when the area flooded in 1959, with over 21 inches of water within
4 weeks, it was called the ‘vast inland sea' of Cooper’s creak.
But the area management got better with time. Today Innamincka, which means ‘your shelter,
your home' remains true to its name and houses over 13,000 cattle occupying nearly 3,340,000
acres of land in total. Number 7 – Home Valley
Located in Western Australia, Home Valley is one of the most popular holiday destinations
since 2006. But even though it serves a new purpose of serving the tourists, it remains
an active cattle station. The pastoral lease is currently owned by the
Indigenous Land Corporation along with nearby Karunjie Station and Durack River Station,
which together cover an area of 3,500,000 acres.
Being a part of the redevelopment program the Valley was opened to tourists by 2005
before it became an official holiday resort in 2006.
The Valley proved a great secluded place away from the hustle-bustle of the city. The farm
also provides a series of activities like Horseback riding and Hiking.
Number 6 – Davenport Downs Number 6 – Davenport Downs
Davenport is the largest Cattle station in Queensland, Australia. The property is a combination
of two land – Davenport downs and Springvale. The whole 3,700,000 acres of land is used
as a cattle farm and is a part of a bullock fattening operation. It can operate with over
29,000 cattle heads. The whole place is looked over by 10 staff members who live on the property,
the station is equipped with all necessities both for the cattle and the staff members.
The property also has a great water supply throughout the year, as there are many waterways
that taps into the Great Artesian Basin as well as the Diamantina River. Unfortunately,
it also means that the station is prone to floods during heavy rainfalls.
The station has quite an interesting history of drought and floods but what stands out
are a few series of bizarre events that took place here.
In 1930, a body of an unfortunate German traveler named J.J Lelanes was found at a wayside camp
at Davenport. He was said to have died of dehydration at Springvale and his body was
later washed down by floodwater. In 1992, the station was infested with feral
cats and the problem got so out of hand that the government had to send in the sharpshooter
to cull the cats. They shot down 500 cats within three days and it took a while before
the whole problem was sorted. Number 5 – Alexandria
Alexandria is the Northern Territory’s largest pastoral property and Australia’s third-largest
cattle station. If we go 173 kilometers northwest of Camooweal
and 273 kilometers east of Tennant Creak, we reach Alexandria which occupies around
4,000,000 acres of plain land for cattle farming. Alexandria is the biggest and oldest property
owned by Northern Australian Pastoral Company. The farm is covered by Mitchell grass that
supports a herd of 55,000 cattle and even spares some more which allows the owner to
harvest hays to send to other properties. Initially, only the Brahman breed was farmed
here because they are more adept to the heat and harsh environment but as years went by
Belmont and Charbray breed were added to the herd.
The land is managed by 50 people who live and work there, we can only imagine how tough
it is for them when the flood rolls in. Not just that, the farm has quite an interesting
history, where two unfortunate deaths have occurred on this secluded farm.
One in 1885, when a station hand named Ross was killed by an alleged axe-wielding assailant.
Witness said that the murderer was one of the Aboriginal people who were camping nearby
and a search was conducted with no final result. Another man died in the same year, John Corbett
was digging a well when the dynamite he was using exploded prematurely, killing him shortly
after. Accompanied by a series of record-breaking
floods and droughts, for a secluded place this farm sure has a lot going on for itself.
Number 4 – Clifton Hills Clifton Hills is the second-largest farm in
Australia, situated around 4,200,000 acres south of Birdsville.
In an area this big, the nearest population around is still a day's drive away. This is
one of the first farms to use road transport as a means of cattle delivery, aside from
rail transport. The station was established in 1876 and since
then it has had many owners the most recent event was when it was put up for sale in 2018,
the area was put up for sale along with 18,000 cattle heads and was bought by two people.
The farm carries a head of 18,000 cattle and is licensed for up to 21,500 more.
A land as big as a town, we can only imagine how much it sold for because no further information
is available about the trade. Number 3 – Anna Creek Station
Finally, we are down to the top three. Let’s wrap up our Australian farm tour with their
biggest station ever, Anna Creek Station. While all farms on our list are big, the remaining
three farms are ridiculously massive both in size and capacity.
The station is only slightly larger than Israel, occupying a grand total of 6,000,000 acres.
The nearest town to the station is William Creek which is still a day's ride away. So,
if you are planning to visit the station, you better be prepared to stay the night.
Secluded from civilization, the station has every basic necessity to work on its own.
They use motorbikes and even aircraft to round the animals.
The property was established in 1863, it was originally used for sheep farming but due
to constant Dingo attacks causing massive losses, they decided to switch to cattle.
By 2007, it only carried 1,500 head of cattle due to the draughts in the 2000s. The station
only restocked around 2011, now it can carry around 16,500 cattle on a good season.
But did you know that despite being so secluded, the station has access to television and the
internet and every once in a while you can even expect a helicopter to deliver your things
for you! Number 2 – Modern Dairy
For number two on our list, let’s go to the most populated country in the world – China!
In Anhui, China, a farm surrounding 11,000,000 acres is located. Established in 2005, the
farm is equipped with all the modern facilities the technology can offer.
It started with a whooping 40,000 cattle head, but it didn’t fare well at first, in fact,
in the initial years, the dairy struggled to make a profit as a rumor was spread that
they sell milk off cows that are positive with bovine tuberculosis.
But once the rumor was tackled and the farm assured everyone that they produced only the
best quality milk, there was no stopping them. The cattle head increased with years and soon
Modern Dairy became the largest dairy farming in terms of herd sizes, as well as the largest
raw milk provider in China. Number 1 – Mudanjiang City Mega Farm
But the title of the King still belongs to Mudanjiang City Farm. This mega city farm
covers an area of 22,500,000 acres. That’s two times bigger than Modern Dairy and nearly
four times the size of Anna Creek! This is the most recent established farm on
our list, it was established in 2015 as a response to the Russian Ban on Dairy Products,
where it set up to fill the loss of dairy products in the market.
If the sheer size of the farm wasn’t shocking for you, hear this, the farm has around 100,000
cows and can produce around 800 million liters of milk a year.
The farm is equipped with modern farming equipment and is very efficient, over the years the
outlet of the farm only seems to grow bigger. That was it for today guys, which one of the
above shocked you the most? Let us know in the comments.
Thank you for watching, stay tuned for more videos like these.